Pretty Green x Umbro: The Holy Trinity of British Identity- Music, Football and Fashion.

Introducing Pretty Green and Umbro’s fourth collaboration, two brands rooted in British Culture, the collection is an ode to a vintage ‘90s sportswear silhouette and a healthy dose of Pretty Green’s inimitable Rock ‘n’ Roll spirit.

Going back to the 1990’s with three lions on the football pitch and Brit Pop storming the music charts, the collaboration celebrates and reminisces on a time when music and football became intrinsically connected.

The collection underlines the influence of the 1990’s on contemporary fashion, even now and recognises how football and music truly are at the heart of British Culture.

Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds, said in The Guardian in 2014 that “at the most raw, emotional times, people sing together”. Up until the late 80’s and early 90’s, most of the music connected with football was based on tradition and novelty like Man City’s “Blue Moon” or Liverpool’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. While classic, by the mid 90’s things became modernised- terrace culture was swapped for club culture and sportswear began interacting with the baggy styles of music fans. Gigs and football matches became spaces that were one and the same- a place to express yourself.

In 1990, New Order released the first truly great contemporary football song “World in Motion”, far better that anything to have come before- it signified a time where football and pop music became more that jokes and gimmicks. And in the video, in which Bernard Sumner wears the iconic blue Umbro England shirt, a notion was ignited that sportswear is a fashion statement.

 

The influence of sportswear on the music main stage has been a blossoming union since. The Long Sleeved Drill Top in washed out blue is inspired by the legendary Umbro top worn on stage by Liam Gallagher during Oasis’ historic 40,000 capacity show at Maine Road in 1996.

When Liam Gallagher and Damon Albarn squared up to one another on the pitch at a charity football match in 1996 and their Britpop rivalry was captured so distinctively, an atmosphere where music, football and fashion also come together was born. 23 years later, that photo still holds a much greater resonance. With Gallagher dressed in an Adidas long sleeve and a ‘Man City blue’ Kangol bucket hat, and Albarn wearing a full ‘fit of block coloured Puma, Pretty Green and Umbro have taken an iconic colour palette, along with the influence of the 1996 Euro design for the England football kit, and created a collection that utilises all of these influences so symbolically.

Your taste in music and the football team you support are a form of individual expression and so Pretty Green have created a collection that celebrates the Holy Trinity of British identity- Football, fashion and music.