The rink is a runway

The symbiotic relationship between sports and fashion exists from the catwalk to the sidewalk

By: Christina Flores-Chan

Pause the pre-game show.

Toronto Maple Leaf rookies and future dynamic duo Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are strutting down a hallway at Scotiabank Arena sporting matching fedora hats atop their suits in December 2016. A live camera pans as they pass by.

The following day, it’s the topic of discussion at Sportsnet’s Hockey Central. It’s also trending on Canadian Twitter. Even GTA-born Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos has something to say about it.

In an interview two years later, when Matthews is asked about his now-famous formal fashion sense, he tells the reporter, “I don’t mind at all wearing a suit. I actually kind of like it.”

It’s early 2020, and the tennis skirt is the moment. It’s a white, pleated mini piece and luxury brands to fast fashion retailers are all putting their own spin on it. The skirt is sold in stores from Lacoste to Garage. Subsequently, tennis participation increases by 22 per cent that year, while consumption of professional tennis rose significantly in 2021 with young women athletes like Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu paving the way for the sport.

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Earlier this season, NBA star Russell Westbrook shows up to New York Fashion Week wearing an off-white, maxi-length kilt to the Thom Browne show. The news runs in GQ the next day, giving the designer ample exposure to audiences outside of luxury fashion.

Fashion is rooted in sport in the way that fashion is rooted in everyday life. Sport is a social product of the world around it, including the clothes we dress ourselves in before we step out into society every morning. And yet, this phenomenon often gets slipped under the rug, unspoken but far from going unnoticed.

We can see it in the way that OVO partners with the Toronto Raptors for exclusive jersey designs, or how we set alarms for Air Jordan sneaker drops even if we don’t play basketball, or in esteemed American sportscaster Erin Andrews’s NFL and NHL-based clothing line.

Fans pay attention to what their favourite athletes are wearing, and so do designers and clothing brands. The niche competitive advantage of style based around sports contributes to both the fashion industry and the world of professional sports. 

Take the BOSS X NBA limited edition collection for example. A basketball fan may not regularly walk into Harry Rosen to purchase a Hugo Boss turtleneck for almost $200, but they might look at it differently if it has the NBA logo on the collar. Conversely, someone who doesn’t watch professional sports might feel inclined to educate themselves on a team once they realize their favourite dad cap with the Yankees logo front and centre represents a New York baseball team logo and not just a cute graphic design.

Working as a symbiotic relationship, the partnership between the two industries keeps consumers rooting for their favourite athletes and teams while investing in merchandise to show their support at the same time.

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying fashion in sports as a consumer, being aware of what it is and deciding to embrace it as a symbol of expression anyway. 

If a person loves a team and what they stand for, whether it be a community they enjoy partaking in or the unity the franchise brings to their city, then they should be proud to rock that Buffalo Bills logo on their jacket. 

I, in turn, will wear my luxury clothing to work at sporting events with no shame. Because what is the harm in dressing for style in an industry so propelled by fashion anyway?

Me, pictured in my Fendi boots and leather coat earlier this Fall (Christina Flores-Chan/CanCulture)

The other day, I’m working a Rams game as the team’s media relations and social content assistant, and a staff member from the opposing school compliments my leather coat and Fendi boots. I thank them, and they ask me if I’m uncomfortable wearing something so formal to a basketball game.

I shrug, thinking of Matthews.

“I actually kind of like it.”

Tickets can be expensive, but being a Leafs fan doesn’t have to be

By Lara Kuipers

Toronto Maple Leafs fans watch Game 2 between the Leafs and the Boston Bruins in the NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in 2013. (Photo courtesy KatieThebeau/Wikimedia Commons)

Toronto Maple Leafs fans watch Game 2 between the Leafs and the Boston Bruins in the NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in 2013. (Photo courtesy KatieThebeau/Wikimedia Commons)

It’s a Saturday night in Toronto. The sun is just beginning to set, casting a golden glow over the busy people walking in the streets.

“Tickets, I got tickets!” a man yells as he waves two pieces of paper in the air feverishly. It’s not just any Saturday in Toronto, it’s a Saturday night and the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing hockey at home.

Inside the home venue of the Leafs, Scotiabank Arena, men, women, boys and girls of all ages are walking around with a jump in their step. Holding a cold beer in one hand and a hotdog in the other, it’d be hard pressed to find someone not sporting the home team’s jersey – either in the royal blue they wear at home games or the sharp white they wear at away games. Occasionally a rare fan may be seen wearing the other team’s jersey, usually getting heckled by Leafs fans in the hallway that circle the perimeter outside the rink.

With beers in their hands, fans find their seat sections and wait in line as ushers point them to their seats. Through the curtains to the sections the ice is unveiled. The bright lights, the white ice and the screaming fans hits like a rush of adrenaline. The players are already out there warming up – shooting pucks hard at the empty net – never failing to miss their shots. The favourites are all there including the young guns, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Frederik “Freddy” Andersen stretches on their end in the neutral zone. John Tavares and Nazem Kadri are chatting as they skate around. There’s a vibe in the arena, it’s only a vibe you can get from being in the rink to watch a game live. That is, if you can afford it.

For anyone who’s a Leafs fan, seeing a home game in person is a must. However, unfortunately for Leafs fans, they have one of the most expensive tickets in the National Hockey League (NHL). A ticket in the nose bleeds (the seats at the top section of the stands) is still going to cost around $100 per person and better sectioned seats are hard to come by. However, in recent years, an alternative approach to watching the game at Scotiabank Arena has evolved, Maple Leaf Square.

Maple Leaf Square is located at 15 York Street in Toronto, in the area right outside the front doors to the arena. During playoff time it is sectioned off from traffic and designated as a “tailgate” area for Leafs fans to gather during the game. Above the front doors hangs a large screen that plays the game while it’s on. For the past few years the crowd has been packed with fans and the best part is, it’s free.

21-year-old Ryerson University student Haley Bretney has been a fan of the Leafs for most of her life and has visited  Maple Leaf Square to watch a game on three separate occasions.

Bretney said that she didn’t know what to expect the first time she went but remembers that as soon as she walked in, a worker handed her a rally towel with music blasting on the speakers.

“Everybody was really into it. I almost felt like that was more exciting than actually being inside because those were the true fans – trekking out to go to the square and watch. There weren’t a lot of people on their phones or whatever, not watching. If you went to the square you were going to stand for three hours and you were going to watch,” said Bretney.

“I know I would rather be inside, but the atmosphere is so much better outside because those are really the true fans.”

Like Bretney, Ryerson student Mat Rodger, a 20-year-old Leafs fan, said he prefers watching the game in Maple Leaf Square rather than inside the arena.

“I feel like that’s where the real fans go. Inside the rink, the tickets are so expensive, you don’t really get the blue-collar fans,” Rodger said.

But to get to see a Leafs’ game at Maple Leaf Square during the playoffs, the team has to make the playoffs first. That shouldn’t be an issue this season as the Leafs are having one of their best seasons in recent years. They are currently sitting in third place in their division with 89 points. They sit four points behind the Boston Bruins – one of their biggest rivals in the game – with 12 games left in the season.

The results so far this season are not surprising when a deeper look is taken into the dynamics of the team. This season started on a high note before it even started when highly sought after free-agent forward John Tavares signed with the Leafs on July 1, 2018 after playing nine seasons with the New York Islanders.

Tavares is now having one of his best seasons in the NHL as he currently sits fourth in the league with 39 goals scored. But this 2018-19 Leafs’ team is one with a lot of depth because Tavares isn’t the only one on the NHL’s statistics leaderboard. Mitch Marner, playing his third season in the NHL at only 21-years-old sits fourth in the league with 60 assist.

Auston Matthews who is also playing his third season in the NHL, recently became the first player in the Leafs’ long history to score at least 30 goals in his first three seasons in the NHL. In the plus-minus category, not one but two Leafs players cracked the top ten in the league with veteran defenceman Ron Hainsey topping the league with a +33 plus-minus, and defenceman Morgan Rielly sitting in fourth with +30. This comes to no surprise as the team sits third in the league in goals against average with a +46.

In addition to being fourth in the league with plus-minus, Reilly is having one of his best seasons as he sits first in the league with goals by a defenceman at 19. Backing them up, Freddy Andersen sits third in the league with goaltender wins at 33.

With a team channeling such depth and skill with just a few weeks left in the regular season, a playoff run seems very likely. So, you might want to consider hopping on the subway or GO Transit train and riding to Maple Leaf Square to watch the game in a crowd of fellow Leafs fans. Just remember to bring your jersey.