Streetwear catches football fever
Football fever
Summer holidays… early 2000s… France… family camping trips… every other boy and girl clad in a football shirt. Wearing your football shirt said something about you before you’d even spoken a word; it was a conversation opener, a friendship maker. In my teens and pre-teens, I LIVED in football shirts, always inspired by my uncle, Ken O’Doherty, who played for Crystal Palace in the late ‘80s. Fast forward to the summer of 2024—a summer of sport with the Euros, the Olympics, and classic, vintage, and retro football shirts are EVERYWHERE! Right now, there is no cooler item of streetwear. So, what’s going on?
What is What?
First off, let’s clarify what we mean by classic, vintage, and retro shirts. In the context of this blog, we use the terms "classic" and "vintage" to refer to original, authentic football shirts from past seasons, manufactured by the official producer for that specific season. These original football shirts were made exclusively for those seasons, meaning there is only a finite number still available. Over time, the number of original shirts from previous seasons decreases, making them rarer and harder-to-find collector’s items.
We refer to "retro" football shirts as modern remakes. More and more clubs are releasing their own retro ranges each season, dipping into back catalogues as recently as the 2000s. Fake football shirts are counterfeit items and are often of poor quality due to a lack of quality control.
Why and Who?
So, who’s on the prowl for these classic, vintage and retro shirts and why? Because football shirts moved off the pitch and onto the street in the early 2000’s, both streetwear fans and football diehards are on the lookout for these shirts. Afterall, streetwear culture is about trying new twists, straying from the norms. And, didn’t football start out on the streets? Oftentimes, the designs of the retro kits are so much more intricate than the designs nowadays and tend to have less of the sponsor’s logo splashed on front. Dua Lipa strutting her stuff in retro football shirts does NOT go unnoticed!
But, there’s more than simply the appeal of the design and the merging of football attire with streetwear culture. It’s called Nostalgia- yes, that yearning for simpler times, or for a time of great victory for the team. Football can lift a nation. For Irish fans, the jerseys worn by the Ireland team during the world cup games in Italy in 1990 remind us of when we qualified for the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out against Romania. There is power in the past when it comes to football shirts.
Nostalgia for peaceful times; we’ve all been reminded with this summer’s Olympics and Euro 2024 that football- and sport in general- unifies us. The closing ceremony in the 2024 Olympics illustrated the power of sport to bring nations together.
The Push Factor
This upsurge in demand for football shirts has not gone unnoticed on the supply side either! Own-brand football streetwear labels have emerged such as Nivelcrack and our own Pellador here in Ireland. Traditional football jersey manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas have pivoted into partnering with streetwear brands to bring collaborative jerseys to market, such as the Adidas and Ljubav collab jersey below.
What Next?
In April this year, Rishi Sunak (then British P.M) apologised to all fans of Adidas Sambas after being accused of ruining their credibility when he was photographed wearing pair…SOOO…provided the politicians stay in their suits and ties,…the rise of retro and vintage football shirt will continue.
