A bank holiday for Jack Grealish’s legs? A jubilee concert for his brickhouse thighs? A street party for the one vein that ropes around his dinner plate calves? This week, the England midfielder – who when presented with a map of England asked “is that England?” – actually managed to do one better, penning a seven-figure ambassadorship deal with Gucci.
Though rumours of a link-up began to simmer in early April, the brand’s decision to recruit the footballer still comes as a surprise, given its current line-up includes Florence Welch, Lana del Rey, Harry Styles, and Jared Leto. Laden with feather boas, pussy bow blouses, and flares, they all look as though they’ve run full-throttle through a Beyond Retro. Grealo, on the other hand, wears Gucci in the same way a rapper might, emblazoned with logos and monograms, papped emerging from bright white Range Rovers. But, with his boyband curtains and soon-to-be-fashion status, are we perhaps bearing witness to the second coming of the metrosexual?
After all, it was an oiled-up David Beckham and his Emporio Armani contract that first encouraged hetrosexual men to wear deodorant. Granted, the metrosexual moniker is now more commonly associated with music teachers and people who wear Ted Baker, but for Gucci, there is both social and financial capital to be found within the football terraces. While we’ve yet to see how the partnership will play out, as was revealed in an interview with The Face, it’s something of a “full circle” moment for Grealish because his dad once bought him a Gucci washbag when he was 16. “It goes that far back!,” he said.