Westminster Menswear Archive loans garments to 100% UNOFFICIAL: The Fabric of Fandom
- mensweararchive3
- Oct 8
- 2 min read
The Westminster Menswear Archive is contributing key garments to 100% UNOFFICIAL: The Fabric of Fandom, part of the British Textile Biennial 2025. The exhibition explores how football supporters have used clothing to express their individuality, allegiance, and resistance — from early fan-made garments designed to be worn to the match, to bootleg gear that rivals official club merchandise, and contemporary works that challenge football’s social and cultural boundaries.
Curated by OOF, the exhibition brings together work by more than thirty artists and designers, displayed alongside artefacts from public and private collections including the National Football Museum and the Westminster Menswear Archive.
Loans from the Westminster Menswear Archive include a 1970s Wrangler denim jacket customised with Manchester United embroidered patches, graffiti-covered overalls worn by a Tottenham Hotspur fan to the 1974 UEFA Cup Final, and two jacquard pieces from Liam Hodges’ 2016 collection reworking 1990s football graphics. Also featured are an England shirt reworked by HUMAN2 during the 2022 World Cup to highlight Qatar’s human rights record, and a shirt by Westminster MA Menswear graduate Hattie Crowther that critiques racism within football fandom.
The exhibition also includes Fragile Football Shirt by Jamie Backshall, another MA Menswear graduate, reflecting on his experience in academy football and the pressures of masculinity within the sport.
Professor Andrew Groves, Director of the Westminster Menswear Archive, said:
“Football and fashion are deeply entwined, and this exhibition captures how clothing has been used to express allegiance, identity, and resistance. We are proud to see our alumni and our collection contribute to this important cultural conversation.”
Founded in 2016, the Westminster Menswear Archive is the UK’s dedicated national menswear collection, holding more than 3,000 garments that support teaching, research, and exhibitions.
100% UNOFFICIAL: The Fabric of Fandom runs from 2 October to 2 November 2025 at Turton Tower, Chapeltown Road, Chapeltown, Bolton, BL7 0HG.
