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As the likes of Loewe and Jacquemus unveil soccer partnerships ahead of the biggest sporting event in history, luxury fashion is finally turning to the beautiful game. 

Stone Island badges. Adidas Sambas. Fred Perry polo shirts. Bucket hats and pints. It’s fair to say that the looks we’ve come to associate with soccer (or football) have hardly been the traditional source of high fashion inspiration. Yet as the turf is currently being laid ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 – which will see 48 national teams compete across the US, Canada, and Mexico – soccer appears to be having its luxury fashion moment, with brands fighting to dress players both on and off the pitch.

It’s the first time the tournament will be hosted across three different countries and is expected to become the biggest sporting event in history. Stretching across time zones, languages, and communities, FIFA projects that six billion people will watch at least one match, making it an enormously lucrative cultural platform for brands to capitalize on.

This week, Loewe announced a four-year partnership with Spain’s national team to design bespoke travel wardrobes for both the men’s and women’s squads across all major tournaments, including the World Cup. Neighboring France has also partnered with Jacquemus on custom matchday apparel and retro-inspired Nike Cryo Shot footwear.

In the US, the Virgil Abloh Archive has replicated the late designer’s iconic textual design language to create bespoke kits and sneakers for Team USA, alongside a Nike Cryoshot collaboration and accompanying apparel collection for fans. Meanwhile, Italian menswear label Boggi Milano is the official formalwear partner of FIFA and has released its own customer-facing capsule collection.

But football’s relationship with fashion did not begin in luxury boardrooms or front-row seats. Long before the likes of Loewe and Jacquemus entered the game, style had already become part of football culture on the terraces of Britain in the late 1970s and 1980s.

The rise of the ‘Casuals’ movement saw young soccer fans swap scarves and replica shirts for designer labels and imported sportswear. Emerging from working-class scenes in Liverpool and Manchester, supporters became obsessed with brands like Lacoste, Sergio Tacchini, Fila, Ellesse, and Adidas. Cultural historian Bill Osgerby, who has worked with London’s soon-to-open Museum of Youth Culture, explains to Elite Traveler that “the emphasis was towards a style that was smart and expensive,” describing an “obsession with upmarket sportswear and high-class designer brands.”

Phil Thornton, author of the cult 2000s nonfiction title Casuals, argues the culture around the terraces has often been misunderstood despite becoming one of Britain’s most influential style movements. Reflecting on the scene’s continued evolution, he describes football fashion as “a circle game,” driven by “a new promising football season, a new promising label and young lads wanting to separate themselves from the new or from the old or from the present.”

Both experts agree that, for fans, looking sharp mattered almost as much as the football itself. Even in the stands, fashion acted as status, competition, and identity – something that, in the two decades since Casuals was published, has not disappeared, but arguably only intensified.

But how exactly has the game found itself moving from working-class subcultures to designer runways and luxury boutiques?

The influence of sportswear as a dominant force in fashion throughout the 2010s cannot be understated, with labels like Balenciaga and Off-White leading the charge. Luxury sneakers and collaborations more broadly have also likely paved the way for soccer’s current high-fashion moment. Even still, despite luxury athleisurewear dominating the visual identity of the past decade, data insights platform GWI’s 2025 report shows there is still appetite for more, with 32 percent of consumers surveyed expressing interest in luxury collaborations with sportswear brands.

But for luxury labels, the 2026 World Cup also arrives at a moment when soccer culture has never been more visible – or more marketable. Social media has transformed players from athletes into global lifestyle figures, with tunnel walks, post-match fits, and appearances by players and coaches dissected online almost as closely as performances on the pitch. Even FIFA is reflecting that shift in its own tournament strategy, announcing TikTok as its first-ever “Preferred Platform” partner to bring behind-the-scenes access and livestreams to viewers’ screens.

That perhaps explains why, ahead of the tournament, fashion houses are gravitating not only towards elite athletes with sporting prowess, but also towards figures with powerful social media influence. Romeo Beckham, for example, fronts Burberry’s recent football-inspired campaign ‘A Good Sport’ alongside England players Eberechi Eze, Declan Rice, and Leah Williamson.

It’s clear that luxury fashion is investing – both culturally and economically – to deepen its connection with the sporting world. Only last week, Gucci was announced as the title sponsor of Alpine’s Formula 1 team from 2027, while LVMH signed a landmark 10-year partnership with F1 to bring Louis Vuitton and TAG Heuer directly into the sport’s ecosystem. Luxury brands are no longer simply dressing athletes; they are embedding themselves into the spectacle of global sport itself. And ahead of the 2026 World Cup, soccer appears to be the next – and perhaps largest – arena for that strategy to play out.

Joanna Uzunova reveals how rare Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, alongside Chanel collectibles, are sourced through a discreet global concierge and allocation network. 

“The collector that has that asset-driven mindset is going to be interested in an Hermès Birkin, just like they’re going to be interested in off-market properties in London or even rare whisky,” says Joanna Uzunova, founder of Luxe Buyers Club and ex-buyer for Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Mulberry, and Hermès.

Her company sits at the intersection of concierge sourcing and market intelligence, serving an international client base that already understands the mechanics of luxury acquisition. “The clients that we serve are looking for the next level of precision. It’s not to say that they can’t go into boutiques and buy what they want – they are very familiar with acquisition strategies within the maisons – but they don’t have the time, the energy or the interest in doing that,” she says. “They come to us knowing the exact leather, the hardware, the year stamp of the handbag they are interested in – and they want it tomorrow.”

In this instance, the role of the concierge increasingly overlaps with that of a portfolio advisor. “There’s only about 50 to 100 of people doing what I do worldwide,” Uzunova tells Elite Traveler. “A lot of our clients have worked with us for such a long time that we have visibility over their existing collections. So, we go beyond just sourcing for them – we guide them with how the market is doing.” She does this through market intelligence, by collaborating with peers and insiders at the maisons themselves, so she knows “ahead of time which pieces are going to be discontinued or how prices will move.”

At product level, value is increasingly shaped by discontinuation cycles and allocation control across maisons. But timing has become just as important. “My clients will sometimes just store their pieces to resell them at a different price level. It can be a lucrative investment.”

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Uzunova’s core focus remains anchored in Hermès, where controlled distribution and limited production intensify both demand and secondary market premiums. “We’ve sourced a fair share of Hermès Himalayan Birkins. An example that always pops into my head is a very rare – one in the market type of rare – special order piece, which is an Hermès Exotic Mini. It required insane logistics to get it from France – with multiple flights to and the right documentation.”

She adds that “we recently had a celebrity client who bought an Hermès Exotic Shoulder Birkin, which is beautiful. Clients will fight over it, because there’s so few in circulation. Even the auction houses don’t have access to them.”

Contemporary cultural moments also feed directly into this ecosystem of demand and scarcity. “Chanel has been the talk of the town [this year]. Everyone is talking about the Hailey Bieber bag (the Large Shopping Bag from Matthieu Blazy’s debut Spring/Summer 2026) – we sourced three just last week. They were allocated one per Chanel boutique around the world.”

With a sourcing team embedded across fashion capitals – “my shopping team are the feet on the ground that shop full time in Paris, London, and Hong Kong” – the scale of the operation is clear. “A lot of our clients are based in the US, UAE, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Given the nature of the service that I offer, which is white glove and hand delivery around the world, we travel often to see clients. I’m in Switzerland every other week.”

The service that Luxe Buyers Club offers extends beyond acquisition into lifecycle planning, mapping client behaviour across travel, wardrobe needs, and future purchasing cycles. “The biggest part of what we do that I love the most is that we know our clients’ lifestyle inside-out. For example, I would know that my client in Zurich is traveling in two weeks’ time, and I know what her family’s needs are going to be, what luggage they’re going to need.”

Yet despite the visibility of certain pieces, her client base itself remains intentionally private. “A lot of our clients are super anonymous. They’re very open to new things and are early adopters as well.” At scale, however, output remains relatively contained – underscoring how narrow the apex of the market truly is. “I want to say last year, we probably sourced around a hundred bags.”

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With Mandarin Oriental, New York’s views, facilities, and impressive service, you may need to remind yourself to go out and enjoy the city, too. 

As America prepares for a landmark summer celebrating 250 years of independence, its most vibrant city will receive some 66.3 million leisure visitors. New York City is a constant magnet for the global elite who want the stimulation of world-class art and culture, fine-dining and drinking, luxury shopping, sports, theatre and opera – and, of course, the 5-star hotels situated at the focal point of this enviable lifestyle.

Few are better located than the Mandarin Oriental, New York, recently ranked as the city’s best hotel by US News & World Report – and the fourth best in the whole country. Rising 300ft above Columbus Circle and mere steps away from the southern side of Central Park, it offers both close proximity to – and panoramic views of – Manhattan’s great green playground, from the 35th floor and higher.

And while the park is an obvious draw for hotel guests who relish its physical and mental health benefits, so too are the Mandarin Oriental, New York’s multi-award-winning spa and wellness spaces. State-of-the-art facilities, a 75-ft pool (overlooking the Hudson River), VIP suites, and signature treatments in The Spa are designed to relax and rejuvenate guests, whether they’ve just transferred from a long-haul flight, or have spent a day exploring nearby Fifth Avenue’s gleaming luxury department stores – and then ventured further to browse SoHo’s coolest boutiques and bistros.

Almost every luxury that New York City has to offer is reflected inside the hotel itself, including the culinary excellence for which Mandarin Oriental is renowned worldwide. A window table in the MO Lounge provides a ringside seat on the fascinating spectacle that is Manhattan life, starting at breakfast, via lunch and a champagne afternoon tea, through to late-night dinner followed by cocktails in The Bar’s stylish speakeasy ambience. All of this comes accompanied by the seamless and thoughtful service that this city’s most discerning visitors have come to enjoy.

It might be hard, however, for those staying in one of the hotel’s four Signature Suites to tear themselves away from its relaxing elegance and comfortable space, even at their hungriest. Thankfully, in-suite dining resolves this happy dilemma, making everything from healthy snacks to sumptuous meals available 24 hours a day. The spacious Suite 5000 is one with ample room for entertaining – 3,300 sq ft, to be precise. What guest wouldn’t want to invite friends over to admire the breathtaking view of Central Park and New York’s cityscape through floor-to-ceiling windows, and have a sophisticated dinner served at table, for an unforgettable occasion?

Curating incomparable experiences and personalized comfort is something at which Mandarin Oriental excels. Guests in the New York Signature Suite (along with the equally stunning Presidential Suite, Oriental Suite, and New York Skyline Suite) have a dedicated and discreet Private Concierge at their service around the clock to assist in any aspect of their stay, whether it’s a weekend, a fortnight or a longer-term visit. It starts with a complimentary car transfer from the airport on arrival (and departure), a personal welcome at the hotel entrance followed by a seamless check-in, and continues in this vein for the extent of the stay. Menu options, including preferred ingredients and dietary requirements, can be curated by a chef, assuring Signature Suite guests that their favorite food and drink will be available to enjoy at any time, day or night.

Everything has been thought of here: from sleep-enhancing therapies, daily use of the hotel’s own car, in-suite shopping experiences with a fashion specialist, to 24-hour access to the fitness suite and tickets to a Broadway show. Experiencing New York City’s best hotel, with everything it offers, is the only way to experience one of America’s best cities.

To find out more, visit Mandarin Oriental.

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The five-bedroom home atop Grovenor House features wood-paneled walls, a sculptural staircase, and a 300-bottle wine cellar.  The five-bedroom home atop Grovenor House features wood-paneled walls, a sculptural staircase, and a 300-bottle wine cellar.