Umbro’s new Football Wardrobe is a special range for us, so we wanted to do something a little special to capture it at its best. The video above showcases the innovative way in which photographer Antony Crook and stylist Janine Trott, alongside the Manchester-based creative agency LOVE, set up the range for the Football Wardrobe photo shoot in New York. The track featured in the shoot is Save Our Souls by Manchester band The Heartbreaks. Football Wardrobe has been designed to offer players at any level a range of stylish, vibrant clothing that will also provide the durability and comfort that you need when you’re on the pitch. With that in mind, Janine and Antony were given a tough job coming up with a suitable way in which to showcase Football Wardrobe in the best way, but the results here show that they did a great job. Here’s what Janine, who has worked with many great photographers on shoots for titles such as Pop, British, Italian and Japanese Vogue and Arena Homme Plus, had to say about capturing the Football Wardrobe shirts in the fantastic pictures which you can see here.

What was your first impression of the Football Wardrobe range?

‘I thought it was great. I was pleased that the pieces were bold, as I knew that ultimately we were trying to achieve a strong, explosive image, and I felt the bright blocks of colour would help to achieve that. It also helped to have items that had individual details, for example the cuff and collar details on some of the football tops.
It gave a definite direction and focus for how they should be suspended and placed – for instance, certain details dictated which pieces should be in the foreground of the set.’

Have you worked with sportswear before?

‘I have worked with sportswear before but in a more static/still life set up, so this was something quite different for me.’

Where did the idea to ‘hang’ the items come from?

‘Antony approached me with the idea and we discussed creating an explosive sculpture using the pieces provided by Umbro. We discussed actually creating an explosion, but we decided that, along with all the technical constraints that this would’ve created, it would have also meant little or no control over the details of the pieces. It could also have looked too aggressive for what we wanted to achieve.’

What idea were you trying to get across?

‘The idea was to create a dramatic yet beautiful sculptural piece. Something that evoked movement and energy.’

Was it difficult to put into practice?

‘Yes!’

The Football Wardrobe kits were put through their paces in Kasabian’s fantastic Football Hero video. If you haven’t seen this yet, here it is again: