STREETWEAR LABEL DROPS GENDER-FLUID CAPSULE WITH SPORTS DIRECT FOR THE EUROS

East London-based luxury designer clothsurgeon has partnered with Sports Direct to create a hotly anticipated sportswear capsule, set to drop exclusively at sportsdirect.com on June 11th in line with the first game of the 2021 UEFA European Football Championship.

Designed at the clothsurgeon atelier, the limited-edition capsule fuses clothsurgeon’s modern streetwear with upcycled women’s and men’s national kits curated from the Sports Direct archive. The collection features a tracksuit jacket and bottom, utility vest and bucket hat, for off-pitch fits that can be seamlessly integrated into any look.

With this latest collab, the brand’s visionary Rav Matharu combines timeless black bases with colorful injections of reconstructed kits, as the striking patchwork panels nod to the nations under the spotlight this summer.

As a high-end designer brand, clothsurgeon collections typically start at the £200 mark but with football as the great equaliser, and in true celebration of the 90-minute game and the culture that surrounds it, Sports Direct has priced the tracksuit jacket, bottoms and vest at just £90, with the bucket hat available for £45. Despite the accessible price tag, all silhouettes are crafted with the precise attention to detail you’d expect from the luxury bespoke label.

Rav Matharu lives and breathes football. As a teen he played professionally for Leeds United. Sports Direct challenged Rav to take inspiration from the brand’s “Just A Game?!” platform, which celebrates the wider culture surrounding the game and how it infiltrates all areas of life, including fashion.

On the construction of the collection, Rav Matharu says: “To become a professional footballer was my ultimate dream from the age of seven. I had a good run at it, but then at 19, that lifelong ambition came to a halt as a result of short-term contracts with clubs. Not being able to play professionally long-term meant I needed to divert my passion elsewhere. I was at a loss until I found my way into streetwear and tailoring.

The collection was inspired by my shattered dream to become a pro footballer but everlasting love for the game – it’s that merging of a broken past and brighter future that informed my interpretation of ‘Just A Game?!’ and sparked the design process.

With a year of football tournaments on halt, as we approach the Euros, I have so many emotions about the game; excitement, anticipation and hope. To pull together a collection on what football ultimately means to me for Sports Direct has been a really cathartic experience. I can’t wait to see people dressed in the apparel as they watch some of the big games.”

Using vintage fabrics from the old kits, the capsule visualises Rav’s personal challenges with football and his resulting foray in fashion, as broken pieces come back together to create something new.

The partnership with clothsurgeon forms part of Sports Direct’s wider Just A Game?! campaign that expands upon the brand’s long-term commitment to making football a more accessible sport for all.

A new TVC is fronted by one of the most iconic players in football history, Eric Cantona, alongside a host of athletes and superstars from national team squads. Talent making an appearance alongside Cantona include Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes and Melanie Leupolz.

Beckie Stanion, Chief Marketing Officer at Sports Direct, said: “We know that football has an immense power to influence people beyond the game itself. It’s not just who you support or where you play that matters, but how the sport permeates all aspects of our lives, including what we choose to wear. In working with Rav and the clothsurgeon team, we’re excited to visualise our Just A Game?! platform in a capsule that will bring streetwear to the masses at a much more accessible price point.”

Fans can cop the collection from June 11th, exclusively at sportsdirect.com.