The player wears Prada: The rise of luxury fashion and football collaborations

When sportswear is mentioned within fashion there may be certain brands that come to mind, Nike? Adidas? Puma? All the above would not sound unfamiliar within the world of sports fashion. However, we are seeing a union between more designer and sportswear brands, working together to bring two opposite ends of the industry together and onto the pitch. 

Stella McCartney/Arsenal Women

The collaboration between Stella McCartney and Adidas has been a long running one, with both working together on sportswear for women since 2005. They had a focus on making high performance sportswear more sustainable, whilst adding a flair of colour and design. This collaboration has recently advanced to the Arsenal Women’s team who have had multiple shirts designed to stand out. The first release was in 2022, which involved a football shirt donning the famous leopard print pattern of the collaboration and stand out colours. This month an exclusive shirt has also been released which has become the first time that a women’s team will have a separate away kit to the men’s team. 

Prada/Adidas

Earlier this year, Adidas and Prada collaborated to release their first ever football boot. The elegance of Prada and the skill of Adidas combine to create a boot which not only provides performance of the pitch but also the qualities of a luxury brand. With the collab spanning across boots such as Crazyfast, Copa Pure and Predator, the collection is set to deliver multiple performance needs and design qualities such as durable leather outers. These boots also made an appearance on FIFA 23 Ultimate team in a digital format.

Paris Saint-Germain/Dior

In 2021 Dior and Paris Saint-Germain announced a deal in which the luxury fashion brand would design the off-field wardrobe for the players. The creative director of Dior created the collections whilst not forgetting the club’s aesthetic, including having some items with the club’s name embroidered on them. The two also came together to create the exclusive PSG x Dior 22/23 shirt which embedded both the colours of the team and the elegance of the Dior pattern repeated over the shirt. 

Brand Ambassadors

There have also been a range of collaborations between football players and fashion brands, from June 2021 to May 2022 Marcus Rashford was Burberry’s most effective UK ambassador. More recently, Liverpool’s Mo Salah and AC Milan’s Rafael Leão have starred in the Gucci x Adidas SS23 collection. Showcasing a range including tracksuits and t-shirts, and also redesigned versions of the famous Adidas Gazelle trainer.