It is necessary to go back to the mid-70s to see the emergence of what would later be instituted as Casuals or “casual subculture”. We are in England, Liverpool FC dominate Europe and violence between football fans is a constant.
Distant from other anti-establishment movements of the time ( skinheads or even hooligans ), casuals sought their own identity. At that time, traveling with their teams all over the old continent, they started to cross paths with brands that they do not find in the United Kingdom and to see in them a way to differentiate themselves.
And so, in the early 1980s, the need to escape the police's watchful eyes and the pre-game days spent in countries like Italy, France or Germany, gave rise to the movement:Casuals were born. Hardcore football fans start to dress in designer brands and sportswear .
The phenomenon has as its main precursors Liverpool fans, the first to try to go unnoticed in their Diadora jackets, soon followed by the Perry Boys of Manchester (known for their love for Fred Perry ).
Names such as Fila and Diadora, unknown until then to many, reach the islands and begin to be used with pride, as if they were uniforms.
Global phenomenon:from football to mainstream
Quickly imitated by other cheers in England and other countries, the movement ended up becoming an integral part of British culture and it was the fact that these brands were used by Casuals , combined with globalization, which allowed them to gain projection on a global scale.
Currently, supported by true “ambassadors” all over the world, the style created by the casual subculture takes on a new dimension and is the property ”of everyone - even if not everyone knows its history.
It is easy to see how the casual subculture reached the frontiers of football and today it has much more to do with music or fashion than with club rivalries. And so, the movement reinvented itself and came to inspire brands and collections like the one you find in your La La Land .