Are football boots the latest fashion inspiration?

Burberry's new FW21 men's collection is inspired by nature and the outdoors, but there's more. In the new designs designed by Riccardo Tisci, creative director of the English brand since 2018, it seems there is also space for football. Some shoe models that are part of the new "Escapes" line seem to imitate a football boot in shape and style, complete with an adidas Predator-style tongue worn over the years by David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero. A component that is no longer seen in the world of football - together with laces - and that Burberry brings to the catwalk.

To the nature, to the craftsmanship of Burberry's FW21, Tisci seems to want to add a vintage football inspiration in his boots and in his idea of sneakers. It is too early to have detailed photos of the shoes in question, we will have to wait for the next few months to confirm 100% the nature of the inspiration. But after the work done in recent months with Marcus Rashford, it is legitimate to think that Tisci is trying to mix football and fashion, catwalk and pitch.

Over the last 10 years, football has been a considerable protagonist of fashion shows. The evolution of this trend - which begins with the design of football shirts - is gradually shifting the focus towards other football items. In recent years, shoes have represented a concrete direction and an established trend. The latest brand in chronological order to bring them on the catwalk was Miu Miu in SS21, with an increasingly advanced idea of sports footwear. Even before that it was the turn of Demna Gvasalia, who for the FW20 in the role of artistic director of Balenciaga returns to being the footballer who had been as a boy to walk with shoes.

Balenciaga FW20

An evolution of the trend that started from the jerseys - symbol par excellence of football and the relationship between sport and fashion - of Koché x Paris Saint-Germain (2018), from the 90s revisited by Gosha Rubchinskiy (2018) and Holly Benji from MSGM (2019) and then start diverting to other accessories. Burberry, therefore, joins not only the sport trend on the catwalk but also the one that would see football boots as the ultimate source of inspiration for designers and creative directors.