The football shirt used to be a piece of clothing worn by a) players while working and b) fans sported in the stands to show solidarity with the lads on the pitch.
Now, seemingly out of the blue to the uninitiated, they have become the uniforms of British music festivals and the inspiration for major fashion houses.
There were several moments in the 2010s that showed football shirts had become mainstream.
For example, Canadian music artist Drake wore the pink away jersey of Italian giants Juventus for the 2015-16 season, sparking an online discussion among his fan base. Two years later, things changed completely again when Nigeria unveiled its kit for the 2018 World Cup final.
“We’ve been seeing blank jerseys for several years now since 2016,” said jersey collector, designer and influencer Phil Delves. “A lot of people rightly mentioned the Nigeria jersey (2018) and the interest in it, and I think while the design itself wasn’t the craziest design we’ve ever seen, because of the moment it arrived and the fact that everything was Massively enlarged.
juventus pink
2015 – The latest Juventus pink jersey appeared in 2015.
Hopefully there will be another great pink kit soon! pic.twitter.com/BGoucrstPM
— Classic Football Shirts (@classicshirts) August 2, 2018
Before Nigeria even set foot on the field for the World Cup in Russia, the jerseys they wore had taken on a life of their own. Designed by American artist Matthew Wolff, the jersey pays homage to the African nation’s performance in reaching the knockout stages of the 1994 World Cup, their first appearance on the global stage, and features a green and white jersey Alternate torso and black and white triangle patterned sleeves.
The bold and vibrant designs for 2018 represent the country’s history and emerging ‘Naija’ culture, with at its core a hopeful vision for the country’s future, informed by a new generation of exciting participants and a growing arts sector reflect.
Since its release, the jersey has been worn by internationally renowned music artists, including Nigerian singers Wizkid (who borrowed his “Starboy” nickname from Bukayo Saka) and Skepta (a rapper born and raised in London to Nigerian parents). .
Nigeria’s 2018 World Cup jersey was a big moment on the scene (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, England are enjoying their most successful international campaign since the 1996 Euro semi-finals, with both committed and casual fans buying retro shirts to watch.
Shortly after the 2018 World Cup, France’s serial champions Paris Saint-Germain announced a partnership with Nike’s Jordan Brand worth approximately €200 million (£168 million; $223 million at current exchange rates). The eye-catching black and white jerseys produced under the deal have attracted attention around the world as global football superstars including Neymar and recent World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe have worn the logo associated with US basketball legend Michael , plays for Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
This isn’t the first time PSG has drawn inspiration from other areas of fashion – their 2006-07 Louis Vuitton-inspired away kit was the first of its kind – but it marks the first time that fashion and football have ever crossed paths. A period when niche collaboration becomes mainstream.
Paris Saint-Germain’s 2006-07 Louis Vuitton-inspired away jersey (Pascal Pavani/AFP via Getty Images)
“The summer of 2018 was a real turning point for our business,” said Doug Bierton, CEO and co-founder of Classic Football Shirts. “We opened our first retail store in London and we saw first-hand the enthusiasm and enthusiasm. Hype.”
Classic Football shirts were born in 2006 when Bierton and co-founder Matt Dale were looking for Germany’s 1990 World Cup jerseys for a costume party. After purchasing this shirt from eBay, along with an England shirt with Paul Gascoigne’s name on the back, the pair noticed a lack of authentic vintage shirts online.
Bilton and Dell started a company that bought and sold football shirts, reinvesting profits into new stock. Less than two decades later, Classic Football Shirts has more than 1.3 million followers on Instagram, stores in major cities in the UK and US, and revenue is expected to exceed $50 million by 2024.
The company announced several other strategic investors this month, following a $38.5m (£29m) cash injection from investment firm The Chernin Group in May. New investors include actor and Wrexham partner Rob McElhenney, recently retired USWNT legend Alex Morgan, as well as global sports and Entertainment agency Wasserman.
Bilton is as capable as anyone of charting how the industry has grown from a relatively niche collecting industry to one of the most celebrated subcultures in football and fashion.
Models wearing football shirts at Paris Fashion Week 2018 (Christian Vierig/Getty Images)
“It’s more underground,” Bilton said. “Football shirts didn’t start being mass-produced until the 1994 World Cup and the Premier League, so when we set up the company in 2006 we had a limited range to look back on. When we started, shirts were more fashionable in the 1980s. — such as indie-style, skinny Adidas Trefoil silhouettes.
“People don’t buy shirts from the 90s from a fashion perspective because baggy clothes are not in fashion. It’s more like ‘I want a David Beckham jersey because I like collecting jerseys or just like football’. But as the years passed, the children grew up. People are recalling a different era.
Still, die-hard fans are just part of the industry.
Over the years, high-end fashion brands such as Giorgio Armani, Dior, Stella McCartney, Yohji Yamamoto, Balenciaga and others have collaborated with football teams to design special jerseys. Celebrities with no obvious connection to the sport, such as pop stars Rihanna and Sabrina Carpenter – the latter wearing an England shirt at the Capital Summer Ball music festival in the UK during the recent European Championships and Versace dresses—also jumped on the hype train.
With the rise of “blokecore”, an internet trend popularized on TikTok, people of all ages and genders are wearing retro football shirts with casual outfits, with no restrictions on who wears them or where.
“Last fall we did a series of pop-ups across the U.S. and the turnout was amazing,” Bilton said. “We had lines all over the block in Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
“It’s incredible to see people wearing all kinds of clothes. It’s a group of die-hard fans who love the game and want a jersey to show their knowledge and enthusiasm, as well as some who think a football jersey would be cool to wear. People. We had people ask customers why they were wearing old Sheffield Wednesday shirts and they responded, “I don’t even know what Sheffield Wednesday is!”.
Some old football shirts are more valuable than others (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
As the industry has grown, the chance of walking into a charity shop and finding a rare shirt with a unique design has declined significantly.
People are more aware of the cost of second-hand football shirts, and dealers and large third-party retailers have raised prices to reflect demand. In some cases, authentic high-quality shirts in adult sizes, such as the Netherlands’ jersey from their Euro 1988 victory, can fetch more than £1,000 ($1,300). Authentic USMNT ‘denim’ graphic shirts worn by the hosts during the 1994 World Cup regularly sell for more than £500.
With the price of modern shirts continuing to rise, with ‘replica’ versions often costing around £60-80, and ‘player’s edition’ versions produced for Premier League clubs costing over three figures, fakes are now being sold in increasing numbers Increase. The online market for counterfeit football shirts from Premier League clubs has grown to £180m a year, according to Corsearch, a global leader in trademark and brand protection.
“In the last two or three years, there have been more fakes,” said Jack Mcandrew, owner of Sound Trout, an independent online antiques retailer. “This is due to social media and influencers who have been wearing football shirts, in some cases wearing fakes without even realizing it, indirectly increasing demand and creating opportunities.
“I’ve met a lot of people, even sellers that I know are reputable. But because these shirts are in such high demand and are of such high quality, people just fall in love with them. The funny thing is, because fakes are made The factories don’t even just make products that are considered cool and coveted, like the 2004-05 Spider-Man Kit Sponsored Atletico Madrid home jersey, they also make random generic products.
“I have to be more careful. If a shirt is from the 1990s and it’s in ‘new’ condition, nine times out of ten it’s probably too good to be true.
Authentic USMNT ‘denim’ graphic shirts worn during the 1994 World Cup typically sell for more than £500 (Ben Radford/Getty Images)
For independent shop owners like McCandrew, the growing counterfeit market means they have to be extra careful when buying shirts from online stores or checking them out in person at car boot sales.
Classic Football Shirts is a much larger operation with more than 160 employees who screen fakes and source legitimate retro classic jerseys from around the world.
“We have a rigorous certification process,” Bierton said. “This involves looking at labels and product codes and comparing them to the shirts we have. We used to have a thick written manual, now it’s computer-based, but we have a team of about 20-plus people working on this Process. It gets more challenging, especially with the quality of the fakes being produced these days, but once you’ve been working here for a few months, you can usually tell the difference.
“More than half of the classic shirts are still sold to us by people through the website. But there are some crazy jobs within the company, which are basically hunters, and their role is to go out and find shirts for us in the wild. They travel all over the world. , looking for old shirts through connections.
As this trend has gained popularity, it has become an international industry. While there have always been collectors around the world – Classic Football Shirts sold its first shirt to a Liverpool fan in Norway and has attracted interest from ‘hardcore’ shirt enthusiasts in South Korea since its inception – the development of the subculture reflects people’s specific interests.
“Especially in the United States, many fans are attracted to the ‘hero print,'” Bilton said. “It’s as much about the players as it is about the teams. I think American customers have a similar view of Italian football in the 1990s as I do. I don’t necessarily support any team, but I like the idea.
“I want a Parma jersey, a Sampdoria jersey, a (Gabriel) Batistuta, (Francisco) Totti or (Roberto) Baggio jersey. For many American fans For example, this is the Premier League. They may like Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney or Sergio Aguero. They tend to be more interested in the technical aspects of Asia and prefer the player version.
The 1990s remain a golden age for long-time shirt collectors and those more recently obsessed with trends. Manchester United and England shirts with Beckham’s name on the back are among the most popular classic football shirts, competing with those of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Legends of the era such as Zinedine Zidane and the original Brazilian Ronaldo remain relevant to younger generations with the launch of ‘Icon’ cards in the EAFC video game’s Ultimate Team mode with their jerseys Still one of the most coveted jerseys.
Football in 1997 – players’ kits were noticeably baggier (Alex Livesey/Allsport)
“The 1990s were the high water mark,” Bierton said. “There’s more freedom of expression in the kits. They’re bolder and they’re looser. Instead of ‘Fly Emirates’ it says ‘Fly Emirates’ on the front of the jersey. It feels pre-commercial. It still feels like there’s something pure about these shirts.” thing.
“There was something about the 1990s and early 1990s that successfully captured the imagination of the younger generation.”
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(Top: Getty Images; Design: Dan Goldfarb)
