, The Sunday Times
There was a time, before I spent weekends on the sidelines of my kids’ football matches, when I’d clock a black Nike x Sacai jacket on a resale site and assess its value by more frivolous metrics than the scope of its hood (promising rain defence) and the wind-shielding capabilities of its cuffs (will the cold go up this sleeve or can I mitigate with layers?). Or I’d buy a pair of trainers because they were the ones I coveted, rather than because the sole lent itself well to scraping off mud. Or, hey, maybe I wouldn’t even wear sportswear at all on a Sunday morning because actually I had a whole other wardrobe that would be fun to use.
A soccer mom is not all I am, but here’s the thing: a soccer mom is exactly what you want to be right now. The inhabitants of a one-time fashion relegation zone (sleeping bag coats, your oldest sweatshirt, walking boots), the women walking the sidelines of their son’s or daughter’s football fixtures, have fostered a fashion evolution. Soccer mom, as 1.7 million on Instagram have hashtagged her, is now a moment, a reference, an icon.
“Soccer moms are the moms,” Rihanna announced a couple of months ago when launching her football-inspired Fenty x Puma Avanti sneakers. “My kids don’t even play soccer and I want to be a soccer mom,” said the 36-year-old megastar who, with two sons aged one and two, had not long since graduated into #soccermom’s close relation, #boymom — 6.3m likes on TikTok and a high-energy endeavour if you study the escapades on Rihanna’s Instagram or, indeed, the back seat of my car. Both parenting personalities have come to require the kind of activewear that lends itself more to quick reflexes than elegant dressing but, says RiRi, the tide has turned: “The soccer mom stigma [Urban Dictionary defines it as a subtext for middle-class boring] has always had this, like, ‘ew’.” Now it’s a whole “fashion era” — and you don’t even have to be one to dress for it.
Celebrating the Fenty collab on Instagram, one content creator, Nava Rose, wrote, “I don’t have kids but I’ll play dress-up as a cool soccer mom,” styling her Pumas with a faux-fur coat, miniskirt, loose-fit T-shirt, stacked gold chains and rings. Think mob wife meets soccer mom: for me black Adibreak tracksuit bottoms, rust faux-fur jacket, cap, sunglasses — but with thermals because I live in Manchester. I drop her a message, curious as to how this once stale style persona has had a glow-up. “Classic sporty style can come off too casual, so adding chic pieces that make you look put together like a mom adds a cool, feminine touch,” she says.
If Rihanna weren’t icon enough, Kim Kardashian has also entered her soccer mom era, curating a pitchside look that’s heavily Balenciaga sportswear — vest/bodysuit, wide-fit joggers or combat trousers, heels — while declaring herself a “lunatic soccer mom” as she checked into Real Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium with her son Saint, nine, on a recent football tour of Europe. So invested is she in the soccer mom fashion amalgamation that she “freaked out” over meeting Manchester City’s Erling Haaland at a Dolce & Gabbana show in 2023.
These women may have elevated the plight of mothers who know that every pavement is a catwalk, even if it’s covered in AstroTurf — but the authentic, functional soccer mom style is best seen on the women who have honed it. Antonela Roccuzzo, wife of Lionel Messi (widely regarded as football’s Goat) and mother to three sons aged twelve, nine and six, posted a picture of herself on Instagram last September, wearing a cap, cropped Adidas vest and Originals shorts, with a caption announcing a “new season of soccer mom”. While Coleen Rooney, who has four footballing sons, has worked out that a uniform built around leggings is how she needs to dress to keep up with them. “Gymwear — plain leggings, trainers and hoodies from Varley, Adanola or Sweaty Betty … I tend to wear a lot of that because straight after school it’s football with the kids or other activities. I would like to be more glam but it’s not practical,” she told Style recently.
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Charlotte Lund, 32, has three sons — aged six and five-year-old twins, who train at Manchester City’s pre-academy — and is married to Matt Lund, who plays professionally for Salford City. “My personal style has changed a lot since having boys who just want to play football, go to the park and get muddy,” she says. “My life is filled with energy, chaos and messiness, so I dress for it.” Copious dirt and remnants of teatime in the car on the way to training are familiar accessories for real-life football mums. “I used to wear jeans daily, with nice tops, but now it’s gymwear — relaxed, casual, comfy, practical and warm.”
Parenting sons aged twelve, ten and six, who play football every day and have endless energy when they don’t, means sportswear has infiltrated my wardrobe too. Good-quality black leggings that can be styled in an abundance of ways and vintage training tops or athletic T-shirts. More than ever I use outerwear to style the soccer mom gear underneath: that Nike x Sacai jacket for a supersporty look, my husband’s puffer jacket, or my pinstripe coat if I’ve come from work, with a quick change into the muddy trainers I keep in my car boot for kick-off.
The freelance fashion designer Moran Filson-Dahan, 41, has a 14-year-old daughter who plays at academy level for a Premier League club, while her 12-year-old daughter plays hockey and her son, nine, plays football, rugby and cricket — in all, she stacks up 25 hours pitchside most weeks. “I think the sideline has become a place where parents spend so many hours that the outfit is more than just function but also a style statement,” she says. “These days you can spot far more high-end brands and collaborations there.” For Moran, comfort and functionality are key: “Coming from the fashion industry, I appreciate the quality of the materials. I love a Marant Étoile oversized sweatshirt, while my favourite beanies are by Ganni and Acne Studios. I wear these with Adidas and Nike, Zara and H&M. I love my Adidas Campus trainers, because of the thick sole. White trainers are a no-go, obviously.”
If proof were needed that soccer moming has now transcended your local football pitches, back on Rihanna’s Instagram she is wearing a football shirt and introducing her favourite “soccer mom snack”: chicken nuggets with caviar. I get it, we’re an entire vibe now. If you’re going to eat your kids’ leftover nuggets, you’ve earned the right to do it the luxe way. Similarly, if you’re going to put in a weekend shift touring the neighbourhood football pitches (or even if you’re not), you may as well look your best.
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