If you’ve been noticing an awful lot of football shirts on the streets of London lately, you’d be right to be a bit confused. The Premier League isn’t on, neither is the Champions League, and the women’s world cup doesn’t kick off until July 20.
So why is London clad in club colours like it’s the heat of the season? Enter: ‘blokecore’, a trend steeped in 90s and 00s nostalgia and one that is fast gaining popularity with the cool kids of the capital and young TikTokers modelling football-inspired fits and dad-esque long denim shorts (read: jorts), hanging out in working men’s caffs drinking pints and more pints (because a glass of Guinness has become the new flute of champagne).
It’s been led by trendsetters across the board. Earlier this year Kim Kardashian was spotted at an Arsenal game despite living firmly in Los Angeles, and Emma Corrin has been photographed in the stands at the Ryan Reynolds-owned Welsh football club, Wrexham.
Drake became the first person to reveal Barcelona’s new kit last season, and Aitch was used to reveal the latest Manchester United shirt at Glastonbury, where he performed on stage in a custom version of the club’s 2023/24 home kit. Plus, who can forget the picture of Kim Kardashian holding her pint of Guinness in a London pub this St Patrick’s Day?
Like all Gen Z trends, however, the proof is in the Depop pudding, with the fashion app noticing a 344 per cent spike in searches for football shirts last month, and a 54 per cent increase in searches for jorts. Casper Debieux, a football shirt reseller, has been enjoying the spoils. “The prices are crazy now,” he says. “They’ve massively risen over the last 18 months, I’d say. I can make close to double the shirts I sell today compared to then.”
While there are some favourites – any shirts with Nike, Adidas, Kappa or Champion branding, or particularly rare vintage shirts – Debieux says it’s inflated all the prices, regardless of rarity or club. “I’ve sold some really random shirts for decent money, there doesn’t seem to be any particularly strong common factors,” he says.
But it’s not just how young Londoners are dressing; no, it’s how we’re acting, too. The Regency Cafe, an old working men’s caff in Westminster, for instance, has become the place to be pictured on Instagram, with a sloppy full English earning more likes and chic points than any high rise, glass-filled sushi establishment found in central London.
“It’s a resistance to bougie dining culture,” explains the admin of Real Housewives of Clapton, a cult Instagram account which chronicles the (sometimes absurd) lifestyle habits of trendy young East Londoners. “Basics are back, simple lifestyles are encouraged.”
Our idols have reverted to the Y2K and 90s classics, too. England and Manchester City footballer Jack Grealish has become the new patron saint of stylish, with his Gucci collaborations, magazine covers and quintessentially British drinking habits (we do not condone drinking to excess, of course, but Grealish’s recent bender after winning three football titles did also win the hearts of Britons across the country), amid Britpop bands Pulp and Blur’s revival tours this summer.
So, if you want to fit in with the cool set this summer, have a dig through your dad’s old jeans and Depop’s finest football gear: the blokier, the better.
