Nike, adidas, and Umbro. Three principal makers of football gear and, consequently, football fan merchandise, have recently shifted the vibe of their casualwear collections.
While most football-oriented product releases focus on retro jerseys or the scarves handed out before games since time immemorial, this triad of sportswear giants has turned to tailoring. Forget tracksuits, they’re creating actual suits.
Kith and adidas’ football-specific subline are the latest to join the formal bandwagon. Modelled by none other than World Cup champion and Ballon d’Or winner Kaká, the duo is releasing a gray three-striped suit, matching beige mac, and an elderly rope knit sweater to go with it all.
It’s the kind of conservative menswear you’d expect to find on Savile Row, not your local adidas dealership.
The Kith collaboration, (which does include some more typical footy gear) isn’t only made to look like luxury menswear, it also includes high-end fabrics: One of the trench coats is made from high-grade nappa leather, while the double-breasted jacket and double-pleated trousers are made from what Kith describes as “a premium wool-polyester blend.”
It’s undeniably luxurious stuff. However, it doesn’t quite hold a candle to the craftsmanship of Umbro’s collaboration released just last week.
Together with Italian fashion label LC23, Umbro launched a similar product range to Kith and adidas — a trench coat joined by a full suit — however, its collection is entirely made in Italy using fabrics sourced from longstanding Italian mills.
Then there is Nike, whose collaboration with Martine Rose was actually worn by the American women’s football team. No points in guessing what that collaboration consisted of: A trench coat, a suit, a shirt… yup, it’s all the same formal attire.
While it’s true these sportswear labels will occasionally dabble in traditional formalwear for the odd one-off collaboration, it’s interesting that they’re choosing to do so with a football-infused twist.
The last few years have seen luxury labels aplenty copying and creating the clothing of football players: Turning boots (also known as cleats) into high-end sneakers, recreating vintage kits into extortionately priced luxury tops, and even designing on-field sports gear where possible.
High fashion brands have come for football, reappropriating the beautiful clothes of the beautiful game for their own benefit.
You can see these tailored creations as sportswear brands flipping the script. After having their area of expertise encroached on by a growing nucleus of expensive, trend-chasing fashion labels, sports brands are proving they can do elegant tailoring too.
There’s never been so much crossover between the football industry and the fashion industry. And it’s causing sportswear labels to go beyond their usual remit of lightweight athletic gear and into the old-school world of tailoring.
