LIVE FOREVER: HOW TERRACE STYLE AND FOOTBALL CULTURE MADE BRITPOP

Berghaus, baggy jeans, and bucket hats. Billions of them. If you’ve set foot in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester or anywhere near Wembley this summer, you’ll have witnessed something biblical, man. Liam and Noel’s decision to patch things up for an epic Oasis reunion has brought the 90s back with a bang, delivering a supernova-sized shot of nostalgia that seems to have satisfied a collective, cross-generational craving – while shifting an absolute shedload of merch. It’s also come

at a time when young British guitar bands are showing up with swagger once again, ready to offer a fresh twist on the Gallagher blueprint. All over our home patch in Manchester, the sense of euphoria and togetherness around the five sold- out Heaton Park gigs last month was truly off the scale. Of course, we’re here for it all.

With Oasis everywhere again and fellow 90s titans like Pulp also back in action this year, mainstream fashion and culture mags have been quick to declare that “Britpop style” is back, all of a sudden, as if every parka, polo shirt and drill top had been perfectly preserved in amber between sometime in 1998 and the minute Oasis announced their reunion dates.

What’s perhaps not so well-known is how the style choices made by Oasis, Blur, The Verve and other iconic bands of the era, the looks that became part of the everyday texture of the 90s, were closely linked to terrace style and football culture. Britpop style, if there is/was such a thing, borrowed heavily from thriving sub-cultures that existed way before Country House and Common People –- and continued to exist long after the bands and the whole idea of Britpop went out of fashion.

Let’s look at how it all went down, using a few classic pieces to tell the story.

The Umbro drill top

If you spent any time playing footy in the 90s or early 2000s, you’ll have been surrounded by Umbro gear. The brand is still active of course, if less dominant in football since the rise of global sportswear giants like Nike. Back then, though, it was the football brand (shoutout to Puma King as well), from the Barclaycard Premiership down to Sunday League. It’s fitting that an iconic Oasis look – arguably one of the most famous of the Britpop years – came not just from this most authentic of football brands, but actually originally belonged to a real player.

So the story goes, anyway. Liam wore the drill top on stage when Oasis played Maine Road in 1996 for their first ever headline stadium gigs. He later told NME: “I went backstage, there was some player’s fucking Umbro gear just sitting there and I thought, ‘I’m having a bit of that’, tried it on – fucking freebie, innit? – and I fucking pinched it and fucking wore it.” Class. We can’t help wondering which unsuspecting Man City squad member’s top ended up on Liam’s back. Was it Keith Curle’s? Niall Quinn??. Anyway, this piece (recently re-released by Umbro) swiftly went from training sessions to drinking sessions as the nation embraced football style during that famous Euros summer of ‘96, and has been a classic ever since.

The Parka

It’s safe to say Liam G’s fondness for a parka is no secret, and other Britpop icons like Richard Ashcroft did their bit to popularise long, hooded, well-insulated coats and similar styles in the 90s (bonus points for wearing one on stage at a festival, fully done up, on a baking summer’s day).

Although more typically viewed as an echo of 60s Mod style rather than a reflection of terrace culture, the prominence of the parka in Britpop circles does claim some casuals lineage. In the early 80s, some casuals were known to wear Army Surplus pieces, including parkas, for their functional nature and all-round no-nonsense military vibe. This faded as the culture developed, with fans following their teams across Europe more frequently and high-end continental brands gaining cachet on the terraces. This is when the highly technical outerwear and premium fabrics of brands like Stone Island rose to prominence. But really, how else would you describe most of the Italian label’s best coats other than parkas from the future?

Liam’s love for Stone Island saw him front a major campaign for the brand last year. In fact, his links with the brand run so deep that many assumed the jacket he wore for the first Oasis comeback show in Cardiff was a Stoney (it was actually an Awake NY x Ten C anorak). The seamless blend of form and function this kind of outerwear embodies can also be found throughout our AW–025 collection, which contains robust technical jackets, trench coats and, of course, a parka or two.

Adidas trainers

The Britpop era was absolutely rife with iconic footwear: Damon Albarn’s cherry-red Docs, Ashcroft’s scuffed Wallabees on the cover of Urban Hymns. But arguably no shoe brand encapsulates the scene better than Adidas, and once again the Gallaghers were influential.

Noel, in particular, is known for his long-standing dedication to Three Stripes trainers and has a vintage collection. He’s joked that he became obsessed with hunting down rare Adidas as a more wholesome way to spend his time and money after giving up drugs. Again, the thread connecting the brand’s prominence in the Oasis wardrobe and terrace culture
is strong. In a 2010 interview, Noel explained that he first got into the brand at a long-gone market shop in Manchester called, strangely enough, Oasis. He revealed: “They used to go out to Europe and bring back all the real football terrace shoes like the Dublin. I remember I used to wag school and go in there just to look at them like, ‘Wow.’”

Since then, Noel’s worked with Adidas to develop a couple of limited pairs, including the NG Garwen for the SPZL line in 2017. Both brothers have new signature SPZL shoes coming out to coincide with the reunion tour as well, so this relationship looks set to run and run. Born from terrace culture, worn all over the world.