Why Has Everyone Been Wearing Sports Merch Lately?

To say that 2024 was a big year for Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton would be an understatement. He announced his departure from longtime team Mercedes to join Ferrari and won his home race after a painful two-and-a-half-year drought; but you wouldn’t have to know your Baku from your Bahrain (those are races, by the way) to have been pleased by this epic crossover news: the ultra-stylish athlete’s appointment as co-chair of this year’s Met Gala, entitled Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.

In the greater-culture game, you’d think fashion and sports would be playing for opposing teams—propulsive versus static, unwavering discipline teeing up against unbridled expression—but they’ve found themselves in a mutual alliance, one that’s dabbled in the mainstream over the years. There was the retail boom that was athleisurewear, the sneakerhead culture reaching a fever pitch and LeBron James, Serena Williams, Simone Biles et al. earning respective Vogue covers. But with the biggest names in fashion aiming their aesthetic toward everything athletic, it seems that the sports world now has the upper hand.

We witnessed it with pop star du jour Sabrina Carpenter, who, on the Toronto stop of her Short n’ Sweet tour, came out for the encore in a bedazzled Maple Leafs jersey and go-go boots. Seeing Carpenter perform the summer’s earwormy hit “Espresso” in on-ice garb would’ve been a dissonant experience even a few years ago. But, instead, the crowd went wild.

There’s no doubt the fervour for highly covetable, fashion-forward fan apparel has reached new heights. Consider cool-kid mainstay Conner Ives, who reconstitutes European football shirts, adding all-over shirring, and sells these very-much-in-demand pieces for upwards of $600. For its Fall 2025 offering, rising California streetwear label 424 teamed up with Nike on a pitch-perfect collection, yielding trompe l’oeil graphic tees and leather jackets that pay homage to worldly soccer kits. And Montreal outerwear house Moose Knuckles recently signed a multi-year partnership with the NHL to produce more-sartorially-slanted capsules, while Peace Collective has been tapped to create street-style-worthy apparel for the forthcoming arrival of Canada’s first WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo.

According to Peace Collective founder Yanal Dhailieh, the motive behind this demand is an existential one. “Sports is that place where everyone is still watching the big game— we’re having that kind of community experience,” he offers. “More and more, that’s the only time you can have a shared conversation with everyone.”

Another reason we’re so game to borrow from sports? The rise of the stylish athlete. Gone are the days of team-issued polos and drab pre-game suiting: The top sporting talents are also now some of the most exciting names in fashion. The aforementioned seven-time F1 World Champion is a good example. Hamilton earning that Met Gala distinction was a direct result of his off-track showmanship: a sparkly chest-baring Gucci tank in Miami, a sculpturally shouldered Rick Owens getup for Imola and voluminous Ferrari-red separates from Jacquemus for his latest home race.

James, Hamilton’s Met Gala co-host and the event’s honorary chair, once clad his entire Cleveland Cavaliers team in made-to-measure Thom Browne suits, turning the stadium tunnel into a bona fide fashion venue. Even in the most- buttoned-up corners of the sports world, this boundary-pushing notion still rings true. Top-ranked Italian player Jannik Sinner broke from Wimbledon’s very serious all-white dress code in 2023, lugging his gear not in a racquet bag but in a Gucci monogrammed duffle. “Quite a statement indeed,” he told WWD at the time.

This ascension of athlete to style god has helped blur the lines between sports merchandise and straight-up fashion, pushing each of them forward and changing the way both industries create consumer appeal. It’s long been a symbiotic relationship of sorts: Player apparel sheds its solely utilitarian purpose, taking on the prestige of runway and celeb buy-in, while the fashion sphere reaps the all-important cool factor.

“Fashion is constantly evolving to keep its cultural edge and street credibility intact,” says Rachael Gentner, creative director of activewear at FS, a global trend forecasting company. Part of this perpetual metamorphosis involves orienting toward the tastemakers, disrupters and influencers, as it were. Despite the constant oscillation of who lays claim to that cachet, athletes have always been part of the starting lineup.

“Today’s modern athlete has become a powerful brand in their own right,” says Gentner. “Their fashion choices are a prime opportunity for designers to gain cultural influence through curated looks that dominate social media with virality.”

Like the mirror that it is, the social-media set has reflected that admiration with its own sports-inspired takes, like blokecore—a TikTok-led trend of ’90s-era football shirts and denim made famous by Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa. Long before it was a moment on fashion’s radar, Amy Shio, a Toronto-born, Mexico City-based stylist, was sporting jerseys as a style staple. As a tomboy teen, she tuned in to 106 & Park, pining for the sports merch she saw in rap videos and saving up to make a cross-border trip for said gear, which eventually earned her the name “jersey girl” in university. Today, her expansive collection of vintage garb—a one-shouldered Jerry Rice jersey from his Oakland Raiders days, a Champion-branded Kobe Bryant pick and a mega-oversized New York Rangers hockey option among them—represents the last frontier of unspoiled style.

“Everything is copy and paste right now,” says Shio. “That’s what makes buying vintage or reworked jerseys such a treat. They’re something that is going to stand the test of time because they have for the past 20 years.” And it’s true: Back in 2003, it was Missy Elliott accepting the Best Female Hip- Hop Artist Award at the BETs in a Houston Rockets jersey. Today, it’s Billie Eilish wearing a Martine Rose football jersey and L.A. Dodgers ball cap to perform at this year’s Grammys.

High-fashion brands are betting on this fervour lasting another few decades. Following a Netflix-induced explosion of interest in F1, Louis Vuitton recently announced a 10-year official partnership with the motor-racing giant that will include pronounced trackside signage—a first for the house at any sporting competition. Prada has found itself in unfamiliar territory as well, partnering with Red Bull on a series of high-stakes sporting feats. A particularly memorable instance: its insignia plastered on a moving train as Polish mountain biker Dawid Godziek aimed to complete a kinetic course chugging along at 23 kilometres an hour. Sure, Prada’s decades-old fashion-meets-athletics Linea Rossa line has its roots in technical sportswear, but aligning with a made-for-the-internet stunt? It’s proof that the sports world is indeed calling the shots.

This article first appeared in FASHION’s April 2025 issue. Find out more here.