Pellador FC is a buzzy fashion project that has undoubtedly crossed your Instagram feed since its conception in 2022.
Founded by Limerick-based designer Greg Hall, the collection of knitted jumpers looks effortlessly trendy, with heartwarming nostalgia and contemporary style carefully threaded into each piece.
Initially, Hall saw himself as a musician first and foremost, but eventually transitioned into printmaking when he had the idea to create distinctly Irish knitwear.
"I was so into music," Greg muses, speaking over Zoom. "If you had told me six years ago that I wouldn't be playing music anymore, I wouldn't have believed you at all. It was all I did all day and night, but I think, looking back, more than music, I was into creativity. That's what I was good at."
With a knack for coming up with interesting concepts, Hall says that working in a band lent itself to starting a business thanks to years of grassroots marketing and self-appointed admin.
In 2017, Hall started his first fashion brand, Execute Exist, which took inspiration from Irish culture, myths, and even the Irish language itself.
"That came about gradually," he says. "With my print making and designs, I had a chance to make everything I was interested in. Every element of culture and design that I was interested in showed up in my work back then. Gradually, I started going more and more into Celtic design."
"It also seemed to resonate with people so much," he adds. "People were on the same page, seeing the Celtic designs in a kind of modern style."
Soon after this realisation came Pellador FC.
From the Irish word 'peileadóir', meaning footballer, the collection focuses on simple pieces that capture the imagination of anyone who still gets a shiver up their spine at the mention of Italia 90.
"My whole childhood, I was really into soccer," Greg explains. "I spent so much time as a kid staring at soccer jerseys and holding them up to study them; I used to lay them out on the floor and look at them over and over again."
Although he loved the sport, and spent his childhood idolising Irish players like Roy Keane, Hall says he created his football-inspired designs because of the enticing style, rather than targeting actual fans.
"It's more about newer designs that referencing old ones," he insists, "but I think - at the beginning, at least - it wasn't for football fans, it was more for fashion people who were interested in the design elements."
The idea of making sportswear (particularly Irish sportwear) fashionable is nothing new. Back in 2018, an Irish hurler-turned-model named Oisin Murphy appeared in Vogue Paris wearing a Cushendall GAA jersey designed by O'Neill's.
A year later, a young Japanese model called Ryoki was featured on a Tokyo street style website thanks to his distinctly green jersey.
The post stated: "Sporting a blunt bob, Ryoki is dressed in a green Umbro soccer jersey, which he tucked into grey Balenciaga cropped pants and cinched with a Comme des Garcons leather belt."
"There's a few factors coming in all at once," Hall says of the sportwear trend. "There's been a huge football trend in fashion for the last few years, but there's also been a resurgence in wearing and representing 'Irishness'."
Continuing this patriotic trend, Hall has collaborated with one of the country's most recognisable brands: Guinness.
This is Pellador's first ever collaboration and the exclusive run is expected to sell out fast, with only 200 jumpers available.
The jacquard knit print was inspired by Guinness' rich history in football. The retro logo chosen was created by legendary designer Bruce Hobbs, used by the brand from 1963 to the late 1990s, including a selection of 80’s Guinness football adverts.
"When I started doing this I did have goals, I wasn't leaving it all to chance. One was definitely - I had it written down and everything - to work with Guinness. They don't do a lot of collaborations but when they do, they're very good. I was delighted when the message came through."
"It just works," he smiles. "It feels very natural for them to be included on a football design because of their history with clubs like QPR and Cork City, and the great jerseys that they made back then.
"It looks great and using the old logo ties into the nostalgia element. It feels like a good fit."
To find out more about Pellador, visit www.pellador.com.
