Re-imagining football’s more open future

Three and Chelsea Football Club challenged students from BA Fashion and BA Fashion Communication to re-imagine football for a more connected, open and democratic age. The winning student team built The Digital Stadium – a virtual experience that celebrates the final nail-biting moments of a game.

The Digital Stadium includes not only a series of looks – across The Player, The Goalkeeper and The Fan ­– but an epic world in which to they sit. It begins with a glowing pitch set in a shifting landscape as The Player stands isolated with a football at their feet. We then move to a cityscape, a network of architectural space with The Fan standing near a neon sign glowing “One Life, One Love, One Club”. The final moments belong to The Goalkeeper, a figure silhouetted against billowing nets casting a futuristic world. References abound, from The Player’s crystal halo and The Goalkeeper’s armour to Chelsea FC’s rose and the red of the Chelsea Pensioners.

Speaking to Jermine Chua (BA Fashion Communication: Fashion Communication and Promotion), Aminat Seriki (BA Fashion: Fashion Design and Marketing) and Christopher De La Cruz (BA Fashion: Fashion Design with Knitwear), they’re first to admit not being football fans. Bringing an outsider perspective to an insider experience, as well as working in a large team, encouraged a self-reflective approach:

While the BA Fashion students were creating their looks, it was the role of the BA Fashion Communication students (Jermine with Arisa Takada and Dominik Slowik) to build the world. At the fashion studios and later in lockdown, they remained updated with the development of the garments to help weave references into the virtual design.

Though the trio hadn’t created such a rich digital space before they pushed and pushed their skills to match their ambition. “We were struggling as this was the first time that we’d done it, “recalls Jermine, “The technicians told us it might be impossible but we were persistent and knew that it could be done. We kept trying, wanting to prove not just to the client but to ourselves that we could do it.”

The virtual component of The Digital Stadium enriches the garments and their meaning. Along with Instagram filters and an online accessories store, the digital elements of the project open up the fan community to a broader audience, connecting them through their shared emotion and, crucially, embracing their difference too. The Digital Stadium communicates that difference by rethinking what a player, a fan – or indeed a football pitch – should look like: