Lurking beneath the sleek corporate sheen and capitalist perfection of modern football is an undercurrent of fan-created fabric art and fashion: shirts, jackets, knitted scarves, painted banners and loads more. This exhibition presents an overview of how innovative football supporters – from the 1960s  to the present day – have crafted their own unique items, reimagining the fabric of fandom as both celebratory and critical, a space for devotion, resistance and reinvention. Key themes include: 

HOMESPUN HERITAGE: CRAFT AND CREATIVITY ON THE TERRACES

These are historical garments worn to the match, along with fan-made items that embody personal devotion and local pride. The Tottenham Hotspur overalls, the Manchester United denim jacket, the Preston North End scarf and the St Helens rosette are examples of DIY creativity, working-class ingenuity and non-commercial expressions of allegiance. 

PROTEST AND ACTIVISM": TEXTILES AS RESISTANCE

Focusing on banners, scarves and shirts as political and social commentary, these items reveal how textiles have been used to critique football's governing bodies, to confront toxicity in fandom, and as a means of showing solidarity with the women's game. A homemade banner reflects on the 70s/early 80s heyday of football fans painting witty or political messages on bedsheets (held aloft on poles) as a way of expressing a point of view. 

BEAUTIFUL BOOTLEGS: BOYCOTT THE CLUB SHOP

This is a celebration of unofficial, unauthorised forms of fandom, from a Zinedine Zidane all-over print shirt, to Émile-Samory Fofana's bootleg PSG qamis, to a woven rug revelling in the  nostalgia of Italia 90. It's all about fans sticking two fingers up to lazy official merch and creating their own masterpieces. 

ART & FASHION INTERVENE: DESIGNERS REWORK THE GAME

These pieces showcase how contemporary artists and independent designers have reimagined football aesthetics by blending fashion, sportswear and commentary on the game's evolving culture. Artists Gabriela González Leal and AC Larsen use leather footballs to tackle issues relevant to wider society, while designer Jamie Backshall recalls his time as an academy footballer to explore the pressures of masculinity within the sport. 

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS, DESIGNERS AND MAKERS

A STORE LIKE 94 | DIANA AL SHAMMARI | HARRY ARCHER | LIV ASHTON | JAMIE BACKSHALL | LUCA BOSANI | NICOLE CHUI & TOMME STUDIO | HATTIE CROWTHER | SHAN DALY | ÉMILE-SAMORY FOFANA | FOKOHAELA | GABRIELA GONZALEZ LEAL | JJ GUEST | MATTIA GUARNERA | HENRY/BRAGG | LIAM HODGES | HOLLAAA FC & LAUREN CORELLI | AC LARSEN | JACQUI MCASSEY | ALICE REA | JAKOB ROWLINSON | MARCUS WOOD | AND THOSE WHO WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS.

With special thanks to the National Football Museum and the Westminster Menswear Archive.

TURTON TOWER, CHAPELTOWN ROAD, NORTH TURTON, LANCASHIRE, BL7 0HG

2 OCTOBER TO 2 NOVEMBER 2025  

PRESS British Textile Biennial, Corridor 8, Northern Soul