Dressing like your dad on his way to a Saturday afternoon match has never been cooler!
The worlds of fashion and soccer always tend to get a little more familiar with one another during a World Cup year. 2018's tournament in Russia saw a flurry of fashion-meets-footy collaborations to mark the occasion, care of everyone from Virgil Abloh's Off-White, to Louis Vuitton.
In the years since, the World Game has become an increasing source of inspiration for designers drawing an influence from the days of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s when players like Diego Maradona and Pelé were among the most famous faces on the planet. In the world of high fashion, the likes of Gucci and Wales Bonner have collaborated with Adidas on collections that honour the brand's footballing past, dropping pitch-ready tracksuits and fresh takes on classic footy-inspired sneakers like the Samba.
Meanwhile, streetwear brands like Palace have teamed up with the Three Stripes on multiple soccer collabs, even going so far as to kit out Juventus for a one-off game a couple of years back. Soccer even had a brief moment among the Fashion Week cool kids a couple of years back, with multiple jerseys and scarves snapped on the elite in the build-up to the last World Cup.
But while there's always been a small yet dedicated subculture of fashion and soccer fans striving to keep the sport's intrinsic links with fashion alive, the everyday fan's get-up of a jersey and a pair of jeans hasn't been a staple of the style mainstream for a while, despite the best efforts of rappers like Drake and Tyler, the Creator, who have taken to the stage in soccer jerseys in the past.
This, however, could be changing. A new trend has arrived among millennial and Gen-Z menswear pundits on TikTok, reeking of Stella and soundtracked by the twanging guitar licks of The Jam: Blokecore, yet another 'core' that promises to change the way fashionistas look at tatty Adidas sneakers, stonewash jeans and vintage soccer shirts.
It's unclear where or when the term Blokecore was first coined, however the tag first began gaining momentum on TikTok in March. Videos relating to the trend now have over 1.8 million views on the platform, prompting an article by UK magazine Carbon last month.
"When your Dad throws on a football shirt, a pair of bootcut jeans and some Adidas Gazelles the likelihood is that he's not on a mission to be featured in a 'London's best street style' article, but more along the lines of 'Jeremy Clarkson does it so it must be socially acceptable'," the story says.
The essence of Blokecore lies in the resurgence of satire-laced nostalgia that has taken a firm hold of the menswear landscape in years past, in particular aimed at the laddish soccer culture of ’90s Britain, which drew influence from the early days of Indie Rock and Britpop pioneers like the Gallagher brothers, as well as the Casual movement of the ’80s, during which soccer fans travelling throughout Europe to watch their teams brought the fashions of countries like Germany, Spain and Italy to the pubs and terraces of urban centres like Liverpool and Manchester for the first time.
Much like Dadcore which preceded it, it’s also a satirical, nod at an oft-maligned class of clothes, proudly embracing a culture that fashionistas have often looked down upon in an attempt to make an avant-garde statement—one that notably embraces a sense of working-class masculinity in a tongue-in-cheek way, perhaps in a response to the ever-increasing gender-fluidity of modern-day-menswear. But it’s also a celebration of ideals and a time we can all get a little big nostalgic about: one when the pints were cheap, stadiums weren’t full of people glued to their phones, and rock ‘n’ roll ruled the airwaves. In a world where soccer and fashion are becoming gentrified at an equal pace, that’s something we can get behind.
But how do you actually pull it off? Thankfully, the formula is a tried and tested one that your dad has probably been nailing without knowing it for decades.
Source: GQ Australia