Women's World Cup athletic kits have upped their fashion game

The crossover of soccer and fashion has long been commonplace in World Cup kits. But this year's FIFA Women's World Cup athletic kits have stepped up their game, including gender-neutral tailored suits and more inclusive sizes.

Size inclusivity

Much of the changes this year are due to an earnest effort to consider the needs of women. In her book "A Game for Rough Girls: A History of Women's Football in England," professor and sports historian Jean Williams wrote, "Football was an underground activity and that meant women who played during this period would wear or borrow male football gear," per BBC. Daniel-Yaw Miller, a senior editorial associate at The Business of Fashion, conveyed a similar sentiment to The Guardian, stating that it "wasn't so long ago that professional women's teams had to make do with wearing oversized and badly fitting kits designed for the men's teams."

But the steadily increasing popularity of women's soccer has fashion brands paying attention. "Soaring viewership means more eyeballs on the sport, and commercial partners, like kit manufacturers, will accordingly up their game," Miller said.

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And size-inclusive improvements in women's athletic kits are also attributed to the clothing being "designed by a majority of women-owned and women-led brands," FIFA's Federation News noted. And these women-centric athletic designs, in turn, create business opportunities for members of the women's teams to strike lucrative deals with fashion brands that previously weren't available. According to BBC, female soccer players are now more seriously considered for collaboration with major fashion houses.

Gender neutrality

Unisex clothing is certainly nothing new in fashion. Most recently, major brands like Telfar to Abercrombie & Fitch Co. created clothing lines that appeal to any gender. But now the fashion industry has turned its attention to women's soccer and creating clothing for a variety of body types.

And it's not just a matter of form. Function and the specific needs of women are also taken into account. When England's Lionesses team was provided uniform kits from Nike that included white shorts, players expressed concern about playing in white during their menstrual cycle. So the Football Association replaced the white shorts with blue ones, according to The Guardian.

In 2019, Nike, the biggest sports brand in the world, made a huge investment in women's soccer, sponsoring 14 of 24 teams from around the world, reported Fashionista. And it's these investments that not only prove beneficial for fashion brands and athletes, they are also beneficial in fostering a broader understanding of — and demand for — inclusive clothing for women beyond the world of sports.