“They think it’s all trending… It is now.”
Excuse the corny title, but it’s true.
World Cup fever will be taking over London Fashion Week Mens this weekend — at least on the streets outside the shows anyway. That may seem obvious, as the two events are happening within days of each other and, like a cherry on top, we just had an English team in the Champions League final, but hear me out — unlike previous occasions when the two events have collided, it’s going to be a focal point.
Momentum behind the trend has been building from the street up for a couple of years, which is what makes the whole thing more interesting and worth noting. The trend has been highlighted in the All Eyes report a couple of times too.
It started with the odd Manchester United 94–95 shirt on the London Underground and the odd Charlton Athletic scarf at a Glastonbury, before I realised the trend had shifted genres. From sub-culture to, well… mainstream. It has since been reappropriated by artists, influencers and collaborating brands.
Look no further than the work by House of Holland x Umbro, Gosha Rubchinskiy x Adidas, Off-White and artist Seletti x Maurizio Cattelan. The peaked interest in the style means that we’ve seen the trend emerging at the last couple of LFW and LFWMs, but the stars have now aligned and it’s time for the look to take the limelight.
As usual, there’s the expected hype over the release of the competition kits in the run up, which saw Nike win battle of the brands with their designs for the official Nigeria and China kits (all 3m Nigeria pre-orders sold out causing bidding wars on streetwear reselling sites). But will they just remind us of another below par performance in a month or two? Probably.
The World Cup will have its lasting impact on fashion trends though. The common thread throughout the last couple of years has been the vintage and retro look. Now my Instagram feed is full of adverts for vintage football shirts and pop-up shops for vintage football shirts in Shoreditch. The brands trying the ‘inspired’ look have done well but seemed to have fizzled out — maybe the catwalk at LFWM will prove me wrong.
Retro and vintage looks will have the legs to go all the way. You just can’t beat an authentic cultural relic that has history, emotion and meaning as part of its very identity.
The impact of the tournament (best attacking football, winners, over-achievers etc) will undoubtedly influence the direction of the trend. However, I have chosen my favourite three timeless, and iconic, shirts for you to start drawing inspiration from:
1. England ‘90–92 Shirt (3rd kit)
2. Holland ‘85–88 Shirt (Home)
3. Soviet Union ‘89–91 Shirt (Home)
