Observing the crowd flooding into the MCG for the NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, you’d be forgiven for thinking the 100,000 spectators were attending a vastly different event to the arriving footballers.
San Francisco 49er Deebo Samuel showed up dressed in a tailored double-breasted cream suit with a leather tie, Chanel brooch and Hermès Birkin 40 that would make most influencers jealous.
The Rams’ Myles Garrett, cool in Celine and Margiela, looked like he could’ve been plucked straight from the Pinterest board of a girlfriend desperate to overhaul their daggy boyfriend’s style.
Then there was 49er Trent Williams, who demonstrated that even if the players do wear trackie daks, they’ll distract you with a striking cobalt Louis Vuitton bomber jacket and blinged-out jewellery that probably costs more than an inner-city terrace.
You only needed to watch the American athletes’ arrival at the MCG to see how significantly elite athlete fashion has changed since the NBA first introduced its controversial “business casual” dress code back in 2005.
In the last decade, player fashion has morphed from rigidly enforced suit-and-tie looks to people like Oklahoma Thunder NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bending the bounds of sports style to become a sartorial icon in his own right.
This evolution was made possible thanks to the player tunnel walk.
Once a boring non-event, this walk has become one of the most lucrative parts of game day, with brands welcoming the easy marketing opportunity. From Melbourne, the 49ers posted a paid partnership carousel with Levi’s on game day, with players incorporating pieces from the denim brand into their tunnel looks.
It’s been embraced by spectators, too. In a new report from Business of Fashion, a third of consumers say they trust their favourite athlete with product and brand recommendations, versus just 17 per cent who look to celebrities or macro-influencers.
This is a natural development that reflects how people live their lives, says Melvin Tanaya, co-founder and brand director for Song for the Mute.
“Sport and fashion have always coexisted, but they have not really been able to cross paths until recently. Now the lines are blurred,” says Tanaya. “There is nothing that is strictly performance or strictly lifestyle any more, it all blends together because that is how people live.”
No one understands the appetite for sophisticated sportswear better than Tanaya and his co-founder Lyna Ty, whose partnership with adidas has now spanned eight collections, including two that included specific performance styles for runners. Each drop (the latest arrives this weekend) ends up being highly coveted and has put the Australian designers in the same league as Hermès menswear designer Grace Wales Bonner.
Torquay-based label, Ena Pelly, similarly seized the opportunity to tap into the growing market, working with the NFL on a limited-edition collection ahead of the Melbourne game.
“We’ve worked closely together over the past eight months to create a collection that feels true to both brands, combining relaxed silhouettes, elevated fabrics and effortless styling,” says Danielle Pelly, the brand’s co-founder and director.
Inspired by classic American sportswear and vintage game-day uniforms, the collection remixed jersey silhouettes, oversized tees and tracksuit styles.
At the game, it was spotted on the likes of Rebecca Judd, Jessie Roberts, Indy Clinton and Tayla Broad.
They looked markedly more casual than the players, but then again, they probably don’t have quite as much riding on what they wear.
Here are all the fashion looks from the MCG
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