The rise of 'arrival fits' in football, putting player fashion in the spotlight

Tom Marchitelli worked as an accountant for a hedge fund for eight years before starting a side hustle that quickly became his full-time business.

Marchitelli started a custom men's clothing company called Gentleman's Playbook a decade ago. Since then, he has built approximately 500 clients, the majority of whom are professional athletes in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, and on the PGA Tour.

When The Athletics spoke with Marchitelli as he was on his way to an airport in Dallas after meeting a baseball player.

In his role as personal designer, stylist and tailor, Marchitelli hand-selects entire wardrobes for a clientele that includes Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. During the various preseasons in the various leagues in the United States, Marchitelli is rarely in one city for long. In addition to working on a lookbook of outfits for specific events, most of his work focuses on customizing entire collections of tunnel fits for the athletes he works with.

'Tunnel fits' is the expression used to describe what sportsmen and women wear when they come to sporting venues for competitions ('fits' is short for 'outfits').

Typically, athletes arrive at the tunnel under the arena in their best outfits, which is where the name comes from. Think of it as a pre-game runway, where players from different sports across North America show their personalities through what they wear.

The most fashion-conscious athletes, like the Houston Texans' Stefon Diggs or the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, will go big, but others prefer to keep it simple.

Stefon Diggs arrives for an NFL game in January this year (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

Kyle Kuzma was in the former camp and is now the latter. The Washington Wizards forward recently announced his 'retirement' from the tunnel walk after taking the game to great heights with picks including an incredibly oversized pink Raf Simons jersey and a black Rick Owens puffer jacket.

“I don't want to be part of that kind of community where you have to put on a 'fit'. I'm really taking all of this in the background,” Kuzma told Vogue in October.

While Kuzma has checked out and traded his high fashion palette for simple-tasting tracksuits, footballers in Europe are only just entering the world of tunnel fits.

“It's a sport within a sport (in the US),” Marchitelli said. “Social media plays a big role because all major sports teams have media people responsible for photographing the players as they enter.

“That's only been around, I would say maybe eight years, because when I first started, that (posting images of players coming to games on social media) was nothing. And then it started to become so visible.

Kyle Kuzma, pictured in 2022 (left) and 2021, has 'retired' after deliberate tunnel attacks (Getty Images)

“You get a good and personal view of what athletes look like when they are not in their uniform (team kit), and how they choose to express themselves. And over time, players have become more proud of the way they show up for work.

“Another big factor driving this is the competition between players. These guys are trying to outdo the guys on their team, the guys on other teams in their sport, and even move on to other sports.

“When they enter the arena, they are given the uniform to wear, so they have no choice in terms of self-expression other than their shoes, cleats (boots), maybe a wristband. or a headband. But the outfit they wear to the game can express how they feel and how they want to look.”

Marchitelli, with the number of clients he has, could field a team in every major men's sports league, but none are professional footballers, despite the fact that the MLS and NWSL teams have both delved into this subcultural movement.

Tunnel fits are virtually non-existent in European football. French international Jules Kounde has led the way for Barcelona in recent seasons with his ensemble looks that combine vintage finds with haute couture. This season, however, Barça players are no longer allowed to attend matches in their own clothes. This has led to Kounde, a face now as recognizable in the fashion world as in football, recording his attacks to share with his social media followers after matches.

Most teams have a strict club policy that tracksuits can only be worn on match day and this is one of the main reasons why pre-match tunnel fits have not yet taken off in football.

So where is the individuality? The answer to that does not yet lie in the underbelly of stadiums, but in the parking garages of the sport's training grounds. Going to train for your club or national team has slowly evolved into a time when players in the men's and women's games can showcase their style in the form of finishing fits.

In particular, appearing for international duties has become a moment for players to demonstrate their fashion talent.

Last month, Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate arrived at the French training ground with a neon green hood zipped over his face, while his international teammate Marcus Thuram, often dressed in Balenciaga and Chrome Hearts, is also among those paving the way.

Konate will arrive on international duty with France in October (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

Players from Argentina, Belgium and Portugal are three other notable players who consistently appear. Meanwhile, England – whose players include Louis Vuitton brand ambassador Jude Bellingham – are still parading around in team-supplied Nike tracksuits, proving the trend hasn't completely caught fire everywhere.

“It was probably 2022 when that (arrival fits) wave really started,” says Jordan Clarke, founder of Footballer Fits, a platform that celebrates football fashion.

Clarke noted that Premier League team Crystal Palace had started posting photos on Instagram of their players arriving at their south London training ground in their own clothes. After initiating discussions with the club, Footballer Fits and Palace are collaborating on Instagram posts to showcase what players have been wearing since.

“Now we've done it with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Anderlecht in Belgium, we've done it a lot with Brentford, we've done it with Crystal Palace Women, Chelsea Women – there's so many,” says Clarke, who hopes arrival attacks will be a harbinger of tunnel attacks that are becoming a normal phenomenon in football.

“I don't want to leave anyone out, but we've done it with so many clubs and now you see Liverpool, Newcastle United and Manchester City maybe not doing it in partnership with us, but they are doing it.” himself) now, and that's great to see.

“Training means there is much less pressure. They (clubs) can release photos during the week and whatever happens on the weekend. Unless you're a super negative person, I don't think people will link back to what the players wore to practice as the reason they lost. ”

Siobhan Wilson is one of the players featured on the Footballer Fits Instagram page in association with her club, Birmingham City Women, and she would welcome a break from the traditional pre-match tracksuit.

“It actually irritates me, you know – especially when you see what they do in the WNBA,” the 30-year-old Jamaican international says with a laugh. “I wish we did things like that here. They just want us all to look like clones of each other, but that's fine.”

Wilson delivered mail while playing part-time for Palace. She now combines a full-time career as a player for second-place Birmingham, who are top of the table, with being a fitness influencer to 1.3 million followers on TikTok.

“It's fun for fans to see how players express themselves through what they wear and through their style,” she says. “Doing that allows you to see people's personalities, so it would be something I'd like to see more of.

“For me, I feel like if you have a nice fit and a good pair of shoes on, you just feel good. But I also understand the other side (players arriving in uniform tracksuits). It's a team game. You're there to play as a team, so I understand it from that standpoint, but if you wear your own clothes and feel comfortable in what you wear, you can be yourself a little bit more.”

Martin Odegaard and Arsenal arrive in team kit to play Chelsea this month (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Algen Hamilton is a designer and stylist from South London.

His break into the fashion industry came when he started styling looks for footballer friend Reiss Nelson, the Fulham winger (on loan from Arsenal) whom he met at primary school at the age of four. Hamilton's client list includes Trevoh Chalobah (Crystal Palace, on loan from Chelsea), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Joe Willock (Newcastle), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) and Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City).

“I will work with them constantly throughout the season, whenever they want – whenever they have an event coming up, an awards show or a premiere,” Hamilton, 24, explains. “When it comes to arrival fits, those looks normally come from the wardrobe I create and I will update that several times a year.

“I first talk to them about what they want to wear and what the atmosphere is we are going for, whether it is different than before, where they are traveling to, etc. Then I go out, make the outfits and send them a message. They tell me which outfits they like.

“So, for example, I am currently working with Trevoh. We made a whole bunch of outfits, which he picked out, and then there are brands that want to give some stuff as gifts for the winter.

Amadou Onana, left, checks in for service in Belgium in 2023 (Nico Vereecken/Photo News via Getty Images)

Hamilton has been working with Chalobah full-time since 2021 and has followed the progress of the relationship between football and fashion first-hand.

“When I started, players didn't really go out dressed like they do now, and it wasn't just the Premier League – we're talking La Liga (the Spanish equivalent) and the Bundesliga (the top division in Germany). ),” he says.

“Moreover, brands didn't really open partnerships for footballers either. As time has gone on, the popularity has grown and supporters take advantage of the player off the training ground and off the pitch. I feel like those opportunities are happening more often now. Players are more open about their fits and want to show them off.

“We have seen the game change little by little and it is only a matter of time before it reaches the stage where it feels like the sport is in America. But let's not conflate a step forward with progress, because it may be a step forward to see teams doing that (fit after arriving on social media), but it doesn't mean the teams are actually making progress to change minds.

“The Premier League is very traditional. They will probably be the last competition to change the situation.

“It would be nice if the progress were meaningful; “That's why you shouldn't see it (wearing an arrival outfit) as a distraction or as a moment when players aren't focused on what the team objectives are, but to see it as an opportunity for players to express themselves.”

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(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Kelsea Peterson)