SPORTS AND LEISURE
Admiral
A Renowned British Sports Brand
Admiral is a renowned British sports brand with over 100 years of sporting heritage. Admiral is credited with creating the branded replica and football kit market in the early 1970’s. This was through the sponsorship of Leeds United Football Club. Admiral continued to work with the biggest football teams and started producing the England National football kit in 1974. During the 1982 World Cup Admiral produced one of the most iconic football kits of the of the 21st Century and is still rated as an England fan favourite kit design. The shirt was worn by English legends including Kevin Keegan, Glenn Hoddle and Peter Shilton. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s Admiral dominated football around Europe continuing to make iconic kits for the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs, Belgium National team along with many more. Towards the end of the 70s Admiral worked with teams in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The New York Cosmos won the 1978 title wearing an Admiral kit designed by Ralph Lauren. The Leeds United connection flourished again in the 90’s when they were the last team to win the Division 1 title, the PAGE 30
prelude to the Premier League, whilst wearing Admiral. The Admiral brand has also had prominence in cycling winning the Tour De France with the TI Raleigh team. Admiral also pioneered the replica kit market again, within cricket, working with the England Cricket team. England went on to win their first Ashes Series in nearly 20 years, whilst wearing Admiral. 2018 was another successful year licensing for Admiral continuing our relationships with Sainsburys and Cisalfa Sport (Italy). Sains-
burys have made use of the Admiral Gold category and saw great success throughout the World Cup. England’s victorious run in the World Cup helped both sales and brand coverage selling true replicas of classic styles through our licensee ScoreDraw. Cisalfa Sport continued to release product under the Admiral Style range showing the brand continues to have international recognition. The greatest success of the year came through Admirals collaboration with Represent Clothing. Represent are a Manchester based fashion house specialising in high-end streetwear. The collaboration took archival imagery and reflected the brother’s love of Manchester. Represent took Admiral’s iconic hourglass design worn by Manchester United in the 1970s. Reworking the vintage silhouettes and giving the fabrication a modern update, creating a nostalgic nod to the past whilst adding a modern view of traditional British design through a contemporary lens. The collection is modelled by Leo Mandella, the capsule brings an all British made football inspired capsule collection into the fashion industry. First Shown at Milan Fashion Week 2018, the two brands look to continue the collaboration into 2019.
TOTAL BRAND LICENSING