424 x Arsenal

The collaboration between 424 and Arsenal began in 2019, when the Los Angeles-based label became the club’s official formalwear partner in a two-year agreement. Designed by 424 founder Guillermo Andrade together with Arsenal player Héctor Bellerín, the project brought contemporary streetwear into professional football in a way that felt more personal and culturally aware than traditional luxury sponsorships.

Instead of treating tailoring as a strict corporate uniform, the collaboration approached formalwear as an extension of identity. Suits were designed for Arsenal’s first team players, coaching staff, club officials, and – for the first time in the club’s history – Arsenal Women. This made the partnership feel bigger than fashion alone. It became part of a wider shift in how football clubs present themselves visually and culturally.

424 was founded in Los Angeles by Guillermo Andrade, whose work blends street culture, tailoring, music, art, and personal storytelling. Before Arsenal, the label had already built a strong reputation through collaborations and celebrity support, becoming known for a visual language that combines sharp silhouettes with raw, contemporary styling.

The Arsenal project marked 424’s first major step into professional sport. For Andrade, the partnership was deeply personal. He had been an Arsenal supporter for years, and his friendship with Héctor Bellerín became one of the driving forces behind the collaboration. That relationship gave the project a sense of authenticity that separated it from many fashion-sports partnerships.

Throughout interviews and the later mini-documentary about the collaboration, Andrade repeatedly described the project as a dream come true, not simply because of the scale of Arsenal as a club, but because the partnership allowed fashion and football culture to meet naturally rather than artificially.

Héctor Bellerín played a central role in shaping the collaboration. Already known as one of football’s strongest style voices, Bellerín represented a new generation of players interested in fashion beyond sponsorships or luxury branding. His involvement moved the project away from a standard sportswear campaign and into something more culturally connected.

Bellerín helped curate and style the formalwear while also directing parts of the campaign imagery for Arsenal Women. In interviews, he described the collaboration as an example of Arsenal “pushing boundaries,” reflecting the club’s willingness to experiment with fashion, creativity, and identity across both the men’s and women’s teams.

What made his role important was not only his visibility, but his understanding of both worlds. He brought together 424’s street-oriented perspective with the structure of formal tailoring, helping create a visual language that felt modern without losing the discipline associated with professional football.

The actual garments balanced classic tailoring with contemporary proportions and styling. Instead of relying on traditional luxury references like Hugo Boss or Armani, brands commonly associated with football formalwear, Arsenal and 424 chose a direction that felt younger and more connected to current culture. The suits maintained clean silhouettes and formal structure, but the styling, casting, and presentation carried the attitude of streetwear. This tension between refinement and informality became one of the defining characteristics of the collaboration.

424’s Los Angeles influence was visible throughout the project. The campaign imagery avoided overly polished corporate aesthetics and instead focused on personality, movement, and individuality. The collaboration blurred the line between athlete and creative figure, presenting football players less as distant professionals and more as part of a wider cultural landscape connected to music, fashion, and art.

One of the most significant moments of the partnership came in 2020, when Arsenal Women wore 424-designed suits ahead of the FA Women’s League Cup Final against Chelsea. It marked the first time Arsenal Women had an official formalwear partner, placing them visually within the same creative universe as the men’s team. The moment carried symbolic weight. Arsenal Women were already one of the most successful teams in English football, but the collaboration reflected a growing recognition that women’s football deserved the same level of creative investment and visual identity as the men’s game.

Bellerín directed the editorial shoot surrounding the release, helping create imagery that felt confident, modern, and fashion-led rather than traditionally athletic. The timing added even more impact: Arsenal Women wore the suits ahead of a final they ultimately won 2–1.

What made 424 x Arsenal stand out was the way it shifted the relationship between fashion and football. The collaboration did not feel like a brand simply dressing athletes for publicity. Instead, it reflected genuine friendships, shared interests, and a broader understanding of football as culture. This became especially clear in the 12-minute mini-documentary released in 2020, which focused on the creative process behind the partnership. Rather than presenting a polished marketing story, the film highlighted conversations between Andrade and Bellerín about authenticity, responsibility, and personal expression. Andrade’s message throughout was simple: “you have to be real.”

In many ways, the collaboration helped redefine what football formalwear could look like. It proved that tailoring in sport did not need to feel disconnected from contemporary culture, and that players themselves could actively shape the visual identity of the clubs they represent.