‘FUCK FIFA’: Hattie Crowther wants to see football lads in femme corsets

The arrival of the World Cup in Qatar – where homosexuality is outlawed and thousands of migrants have died building stadiums – has given rise to an outpouring of allyship. Here are some examples: the president of FIFA said he understood what it felt like to be a migrant worker because he was bullied for having ginger hair as a child. “Today I feel gay,” he said in a press conference. “Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker.” Not long after that, the England team were flown out to Doha on a Boeing 707 which Virgin had decorated with the image of a cartoon man clicking the heels of his rainbow-striped sneakers. The FA hadn’t specifically asked for that plane, per se, but it was more than happy for it to be chartered!

And then, just last week, Harry Kane arrived at a football match wearing a rainbow Rolex worth £520,000. He did that because he cares about queer people… and because the England team were going to wear One Love armbands, but then backtracked. As silly as much of this has been, the issues at stake – including, but not limited to, migrant exploitation and LGBTQ+ rights – are deeply serious. “I’m still waiting for players to express their concerns about the morality and ethics of the World Cup,” says designer Hattie Crowther, whose latest collection explores some of the tensions that have gathered around this year’s tournament. “It focuses on the true values of football while highlighting the contradictions and corruption of FIFA officials.” 

Since graduating from an MA at Westminster in 2019, Crowther has twisted the braggadocio of sportswear – all three-stripes, club logos, and bolshy slogans – into high-femme corsets, scarf-skirts, and shrunken tees. All of these are one-off pieces salvaged from old scraps of second-hand jerseys and look like the sort of thing Bimini Bon Boulash would have worn on Drag Race. “By juxtaposing a traditionally masculine sport with tailoring and corsetry, I’m able create gender-fluid collections that celebrate queerness,” she says. It stands to reason that queer people and football fans are more alike than one might realise – both communities are fiercely loyal, incredibly protective, and love drinking – and Crowther’s collections function as a Venn diagram between the two cultures. 

Perhaps that has more to do with them being British, though, than anything else. Shot by Shan Purdy, an accompanying campaign takes place in the kind of pub you might find on the outskirts of a regional market town. Those with swirly, ale-soaked carpets, lemony urinals, and a group of old men who sit in absolute silence, taking it in turns to let out a cough so full-throated that it sounds like they might be retching up the bowels of hell itself. There, any hostility between football lads and fruity queers manages to strike a harmony. “Traditional football jerseys take on new meaning,” Crowther says. “Reinterpreted and reshaped, they become a conduit for inclusivity and diversity. The slogans, meanwhile, are reminiscent of commercial sponsors, branded with ‘HUMAN RIGHTS’ and ‘FUCK FIFA’.”

This isn’t some diatribe of football fans, though. “I don't want to take anything away from the game the world so dearly loves, but the garments are intended to take a stand against injustice. It challenges the repressive and dangerous stance that Qatar has taken against the LGBTQ+ community despite continued pressure from human rights groups,” she concludes. “My hope is that the garments promote inclusivity, diversity, and the freedom of queerness in the sport itself.” All this is to say: if football players really wanted to take a stand against the organisation of the World Cup, then perhaps they should wear custom, ribboned corsets like scally princesses. Jack Grealish, you would look amazing in this!!