Words by Alex Taylor
The football shirt: once solely reserved for players on the pitch and fans at the pub, cheering on their favourite team from the other side of a widescreen TV and sloshing their pint in anticipation.
But today, football shirts have entered a new league entirely. It’s called fashion, honey.
Alright, alright, so the concept of sport and style going hand in hand isn’t exactly something brand new. Yet, a shift has taken place to get us to where we are today. Players have been wearing football shirts ever since the early days of the game, made from basic materials and designed for practicality above anything else. With the sport’s surge in popularity, fans appearing in the thousands, and progressive advancements in technology, it’s no surprise more attention went into both the look and feel of the kits.
As a byproduct of these changes, we’re now left with a mass of weird and wonderful shirts spanning over many decades. They’re a signifier of unity and pride amongst supporters, who wear their jerseys to every match they watch. And, with fashion being a form of self expression, we can already see how the football shirt sits firmly within this definition. But moving further along to the present day, they’re a whole lot more than that. They’re a collectors item, they’re luxury fashion, they’re a festival must-have, they’re a styling trend, they’re a thrifter’s dream find, and the list goes on.
Taking a closer look at the influences of social media and the luxury world, the latter has seen luxury fashion houses and high-end designers, including OFF-WHITE, Prada, Moncler, Acne, and Balenciaga, entering the chat over recent years and trying their hand at creating beautiful football kits you’d sooner be wearing to your Christmas party than rolling around the grass in.
With social media, if you’re an avid TikTok or Instagram user you’ll struggle not to have heard of ‘bloke-core’. But for those who really haven’t, it’s a trend that saw the apps flooded with get ready with me and how-to videos comprising outfits initially made up of three core elements: football jersey, baggy jeans, sneakers. With both your average user and sportswear brands like Umbro jumping on the trend, this has only elevated the switch towards football shirts being seen as a fashion statement amongst fans and non-fans alike.
All in all, the relationship between sport and style is the most exciting it’s ever been. The journey from functional to fashionable is ever expanding, and the line separating what works on the pitch and what looks good on the catwalk is becoming increasingly blurred.
You’ll see more football shirts than PLT co-ords at festivals these days. I challenge anyone going to Glastonbury this year to leave having not seen at least 10 of them. And of course, celebs are wearing them everywhere you look (to be frank: if Rihanna’s doing it, then we all should be). Which leads me onto the topic of rarity and collectibility. Does anyone remember when Kanye broke the internet back in December 2023 after casually posting a pic of himself wearing a rare jersey originally owned by Portsmouth goalkeeper, Alan Knight, back in the ‘90s? This is a clear signifier of how the football shirt is more than just a piece of clothing to wear to get the job done. People see great value in the design and rarity of a shirt.
This also shows there’s more than just a focus on the new kits we see being produced today – the old is clearly having its moment, too. With Statista releasing 2024 survey results showing that 68% of both Gen Z and millennials have bought secondhand during the past 12 months, it’s clear that thrifting vintage and secondhand is at an all time high, and shopping for old football shirts is no exception.
“Tell us more about this blurred line, Alex.” Of course, I thought you’d never ask. What kind of shirts are actually being made today? These 23\24 home and away shirts by Kappa for Athens Kallithea FC are a personal favourite of mine. Are these functional football jerseys? Yes. Do I want to wear them to every social setting imaginable? Also yes. And it’s not even just about the shirts themselves. It’s the whole package. You can tell the club really cares about the photography, the styling, and the aesthetics behind the shots they’re putting out to their fans. It’s all about playing the sport and looking cool whilst doing it (or just looking cool, that works, too).
The football shirt: now solely reserved for… everyone? Whether you’re a true bloke who just loves a bit of footie, wearing the same jersey you’ve owned since the 80’s, a bloke-CORE fashionista, flaunting your brand new matching shirt, shoe, scrunchie ensemble, or anything in between, I’d say we’ve reached a point where football shirts are fair game for us all.