At sea, everything is interconnected, even such seemingly different phenomena as football and fashion. In fact, it’s simple. Football is more popular than any other sport. Football players themselves appear on the covers of fashion magazines no less often than showbiz stars. Millions of fans readily copy the style of their favorite striker or goalkeeper. However, this is only what is on the surface. In this article, we will tell you about all aspects of football influence on fashion trends.
The Evolution of Football Kits: From Function to Fashion
If you are betting on 1xBet football bookie and are interested in the history of football, then you know that players on the field used to look different.
At the time of the emergence of football, players wore long coats and short pants. This is proven by most old paintings and engravings. By the end of the 19th century, the football community officially documented the first version of the uniform. It consisted of four mandatory components: knee socks, tucked-in pants, a shirt, and a top hat.
Social changes that arose in society contributed to the accelerated development of football. Teams tried to come to a common concept of the players’ appearance and introduced a single uniform. Over the years, football players replaced shirts with sweaters and trousers with long shorts.
In 1904, the Football Association, concerned that shorts were becoming shorter, introduced the following rule: “Football shorts must cover the players’ knees.” However, it did not catch on, since such a length hindered the speed of athletes. Natural cotton, from which the fabric was made, got wet from sweat, which made the clothes heavier. Therefore, from the middle of the 20th century, shorts became short again.
The main change that turned the sportswear industry upside down is considered to be the invention of synthetic fiber. The uniform became as light as possible, practically waterproof both inside and out.
Today, due to the commercialization of football, the appearance of the uniform is constantly changing. New technologies are taking their toll. Nike has managed to achieve that the uniform now weighs 150-200 grams, and the fabric does not absorb moisture, which means that during the game, the weight of the T-shirt does not increase. Modern boots are also lightweight and more comfortable. For professionals, each pair of shoes is “tailored” to a certain weather. The boots have a different number of studs. Football players are given unique shoes that take into account the anthropometry of the foot, ankle, and other factors.
Footballers as Fashion Icons
Football is not only a game of millions but also a game of millionaires. With the development of football, players have turned into wealthy showmen. Now, they are celebrities who not only care about proper fitness and the quality of their own game but also care about their image. Each of the famous players is a separate brand. Each has their own unique style, cars, hair- and lifestyle. A model of style for many is the star of Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese has long been an icon not only of football but also of fashion.
Million-dollar contracts with shampoo manufacturers require Ronaldo to always have a perfect hairstyle, even during matches. Women go crazy about him, and men imitate him. Cristiano himself also had someone to follow. David Beckham is another legend of the game of millions and an undisputed fashion icon. Like Ronaldo, Beckham once played for Manchester United and then moved to Real Madrid. The Portuguese decided not only to repeat the football path of the Briton but also, using Beckham’s example, turned from an athlete into a model. Both are no strangers to advertising and even underwear. Both have their own clothing lines and are the faces of several world-famous brands.
Many players not only advertised but also launched their own brands. Australian football legend, Tim Cahill, launched a clothing line under the Cahil+ brand in 2015. However, the bet on premium clothing did not work out, and the business “failed miserably.” Didier Drogba also tried to “play the designer.” In 2013, he launched the HOM brand with good intentions. Part of the proceeds went to a charity fund to support African medicine, but the brand soon “died.” Jesse Lingard and his brand, JLingz, did much better. The online store jlingz.com, created in 2018, consistently brings a penny to the budget of the enterprising Englishman.
The Role of Endorsements and Sponsorships
Obviously, sport does not exist in a vacuum. Sponsorship money is very important for the game. Very often, you can see high fashion brands creating joint collections with sports brands or a certain athlete. But recently, luxury has begun to collaborate with entire organizations and football clubs to prove that sports stars wear more than just casual and sportswear. Such collections help football clubs prove their importance in the industry, and at the same time gives fashion houses an opportunity to attract new customers from the new generation.
Everyone knows about the collaboration between Cristiano Ronaldo and the CR7 brand.
Ronaldo receives 13% of each item sold by his brand, which is 6-10 million dollars annually.
Cristiano began to conquer the fashion industry in 2013. If he was already on the podium in the football world, then in the fashion world he still had to win a place under the sun. Of course, the big name played into his hands, but that’s not all. The Portuguese attracted the venerable designer Richard Chai, who had worked with Armani, to work on his brand. He did not hesitate to attract the famous Danish underwear brand JBS to collaborate.
The events dedicated to the second collection of underwear became iconic for the fashion world. Outdoor advertising was placed in seven world fashion capitals: New York, Madrid, Berlin, London, Paris, Milan, and Lisbon. At first, the CR7 brand produced underwear and socks. And then they added jeans, shirts and shoes.
Beckham is one of the most recognizable football players of our time. He has already finished his career but continues to “fit in” with interesting collaborations. In 2011, the Englishman signed a contract with the largest clothing retail chain in Europe, the Swedish company H&M. Beckham acted like a “seasoned” trader. He did not risk his own money but gave the financial issues to the Swedish giant. In general, Beckham created his clothing collection, and H&M took over its implementation. David was unstoppable: he created sportswear collections, underwear collections, and collections for children.
Football Influence on Streetwear and Casual Fashion
To understand how fashion influences football fans, you need to look into the past. In the second half of the 20th century, football had already become the most popular sport and had thousands of fans all over the world. The headlines of major media outlets often wrote about scandals and fights that accompanied the matches and less often about the results of the matches themselves.
Hooligans quickly realized that in order to escape police persecution and continue to distinguish themselves in the crowd, they needed to create their own unique style that would not include any club colors or football symbols.
Clothes from C.P. Company, Stone Island, Lyle & Scott, Ellesse, Adidas, and Kappa were not popular in England at that time, and therefore allowed representatives of the subculture to easily distinguish each other and remain unnoticed by the police. This style was called Terrace Fashion after the standing stands at football stadiums, which were often occupied by representatives of the movement.
In the 80s, the London media nicknamed the new football hooligan casuals for their inconspicuous appearance. In doing so, they defined the influence this youth movement would have on modern fashion.
Casuals made everyday style exactly as we know it today. They gave unremarkable European brands world fame and elevated their clothes to a real cult. The daring fans grew up and became decent members of society. They continued to wear clothes of their favorite brands. So, the style of football hooligans has remained with us to this day. And now even those, who have never seen a single football match live, wear clothes of once scandalous brands.
Fashion at Major Football Events
Victories and trophies are, of course, the most important thing in sports. But it is also important for a team to look fresh and beautiful. That is why one of the main news items of late spring is the announcement of new team uniforms for the next season. Football players will play and defend the honor of the club in this uniform throughout the year; fans will buy it, and it will be captured on camera. Much depends on its appearance. Thus, preparing the uniform has turned from a purely utilitarian into a fashionable event.
Let’s remember the national team uniforms that left their mark on the history of the World Cup football fashion.
- Brazil 54. The Brazilian national team used to play in white, but the uniform was considered unlucky after losing the decisive match of the 1950 World Cup at home. It was a real national disaster. Then Aldir Schlee designed a new uniform for Brazil. It consisted of a yellow shirt with a green collar and blue shorts. And in 1954, the whole world was presented with the new outfit. It did not bring immediate success, but four years later, Brazil won the first of five World Cups.
- England 66. For England, the red uniform has always been an away one, but the British won their only title in red: they beat the Germans at the home World Cup at Wembley. In 2019, this uniform was voted the most legendary for the national team in England.
- Germany 74. What should the German national team’s uniform be like? White with a black collar, of course. And necessarily from Adidas. In 1974, Gerd Müller and company won the title in shirts that became the ideal uniform for the German national team.
- Italy 78. The blue color of the Italian national team shirts is another eternal classic of the World Cup. In 1978, the Italians didn’t even have shirts, but rather turtlenecks – tight-fitting with a high collar. It looked extremely stylish.
- Belgium 82. This kit is memorable because of the vertical lines that extend to the shorts. An interesting visual solution, although many consider these stripes to look like suspenders.
At the same time, fans do not lag behind their idols and often surpass them in their desire to stand out. Each World Cup brings dozens of photos of fans in, to put it mildly, extravagant costumes. This perfectly matches the atmosphere of the holiday and carnival but has little in common with everyday fashion.
Conclusion
The world’s number one sport inevitably influences its fans. It creates and consolidates possible trends, and the footballers themselves often convey their vision of fashionable clothing in their own collections. This is a truly large-scale phenomenon, especially if you look at it from the very beginning of football.
