Let me get this out the way now: I don’t really like football shirts. Even though I’d consider myself a die-hard football fan and I founded a female-focused fashion and football platform SEASON. I’d much rather throw my Chelsea FC scarf over my shoulders (an eagle-eyed find at a Berlin thrift store) or slip my club beanie over my braids on my way to Stamford Bridge or Sziget. Shirts just fit me awkwardly being almost six foot tall with small boobs, a well-defined waist and hips. They’re also much tricker to style, more technical than trophy overall, especially for someone who hasn’t worn jeans in almost 10 years. In lieu of a football shirt, I’ve been known to put Chelsea blue in my hair and wardrobe instead — one of my greatest vintage finds was a 1990s CFC shirt dress. God forbid anyone else marks my Mansur Gavriel bucket bag with a red interior.
So this World Cup has been a flukey anomaly for me. On and off the pitch, with England’s men’s team getting to their first semi-final since 1990, the year before I was born, and the fact that I can honestly say I’ve never worn so many football shirts. I reckon I’m smiling extra-wide in the Nike England campaign because the training top design is unexpectedly so great.“It’s been so nice to pull out my collection of England shirts, sporting a different look for each game,” Trisha Lewis, Romance FC manager and freelance stylist said, reflecting on an memorable, meme-filled month of football. And I agree, although my own collection of country jerseys has only expanded from the grand total of one — a French shirt which I can never wear, as marvelously navy and minimal as it is, — I’m not French. I’ll display it in my future home instead.
My fascination with football goes way back to Euro 2004 and a young Cristiano Ronaldo’s disappointed tears after hosts Portugal lost the final to underdogs Greece. Years before I discovered fashion and went to Central Saint Martins to study Fashion History and Theory. I decided to support Chelsea because my Dad always had and I’m a South West Londoner like him. Jose Mourinho's cocky opening smile at his infamous ‘I’m the Special One’ press conference only lured me in further. I’m rubbish at sports so playing myself has never been part of my engagement with the beautiful game.
But I didn’t actually get my first official replica Chelsea shirt until we won the Champions League in 2012. I wanted to taste European success and associate the jersey with pride and passion, before committing to matching father-daughter outfits. Had Chelsea not been so successful since with five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, one Champions League title and one Europa League title; I don't know if I’d be so hooked or wear football apparel at all.
As a bookworm who evolved into a fashion magazine-worm, football also became an unexpected portal into menswear and fashion. Footballers’ remarkable sartorial influence as models, designers and tastemakers: particularly David Beckham and the rise of the football style press. While researching my final year thesis at Central Saint Martins in 2012, I came across a brilliant book The Fashion of Football by Paolo Hewitt and Mark Baxter which chronicled the connection between fashion and men’s football from the 1960s until the early ‘00s. But they were no women in it, so I wanted to address that and highlight contemporary crossovers somehow.
“To be quite fair, the revolution for women in football has come to life with SEASON. Before everything was extremely male-centric. There are only few platforms for women like us to express our football interest,” said freelance creative consultant Naomi Accardi, daughter of retired footballer Giuseppe Accardi, who’s well respected in football fashion circles. She’s right. Even though women can arguably be a lot more creative when expressing their fandom using style and beauty, this interplay is arguably centred on the men’s game and with male players.
And that’s where SEASON comes in, to counter the male, pale and sometimes stale state of modern football culture by telling stories that showcase, celebrate and empower female fans authentically as well. Football fashion is another area where women had previously been under-represented beyond the WAG stereotype, cheesy shoots and objectifying ‘sexist fan’ imagery that comes up in a ‘female fan’ google search. Adding a fashion and style element to SEASON, the distinction being that how you wear and put things together as opposed to cyclic fashion trends, makes it a combination of my favourite topics which sets us apart from other female fan initiatives.
There’s always at least one fashion month show that references football. Think Stella Jean spring/ summer 2017, Louis Vuttion Resort 2017, Fenty x Puma autumn/winter 2017 and for spring/summer 2018 and pre-fall 2018, Koché’s impressive collaboration with PSG. Our ‘Covet me feature spotlights the most desirable football and fashion products and collaborations: Gosha Rubchinskiy x Adidas in issue 04 and Umbro x Christopher Raeburn in the current issue 05; while our editorials deliver imaginative and inspirational ways to style fashion and football apparel.
For our latest issue we put together a timely masterclass in styling football shirts, courtesy of stylist Daisy Deane [two images from this are shown above], that I’ve certainly heeded in recent weeks. For one game, I took a step outside my sartorial comfort zone by wearing the vintage red England cropped away jersey over a leopard midi dress. I’d usually wear my bright white England home shirt by Nike or the all over chevron Nigeria shirt with a high-waisted black midi skirt and statement earrings.
Speaking of the Nigeria kit — the sell-out shirts sparked a bigger furore than Gareth Southgate’s now iconic M&S waistcoat, with the lines of hopeful shoppers you'd typically only see with Supreme. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the home shirt and model the away one. Being half Nigerian myself, they communicate my identity as much as my style. They also represent the recent developments in fashion and football. Namely, how the football shirt can be considered the new It bag, a status symbol that has crossed over from pitch to street to street style fodder with progressive design, customisation and brands jumping on the bandwagon along the way.
Versace, Palace, Urban Outfitters and more have all commandeered the football shirt, sentimental symbols of fandom, and created versions for the masses. Independent fans and designers like @SETTPACE and Jason Lee of Fokohaela are also releasing insta-famous concept kits they’ve created themselves. “There seems to be a lot more purchase in the game than participation. It's great that football is once again getting bigged up in the fashion world but it's starting to feel like an ego game — who can do it bigger and better,” Trisha observes. “I have learned to roll my eyes and keep going. Next season they [fashion editors and non fans] will be wearing the next trend so it’s not going to be forever. Sometimes I laugh because they look ridiculous,” Naomi adds.
So where does all this leave me and my new-found affinity with football shirts? I'm now willing to overlook the fit to show my pride for my team and appreciation for great design and innovations. You’ll see me on Instagram in Chelsea’s excellent 18/19 shirt complete with horizontal flashes of red and white soon enough.
Tapping into and transcending the World Cup (essentially a football pilgrimage every four years) with an enlightening conversation between ITV World Cup pundit and former Lioness Eni Aluko and her friend and broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye, open fan letters, football hijabs and more; SEASON issue 05: religion is out now and available at www.season-zine.com/shop.
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