Editors' Top Reads: News from Sports Direct, Vinted, Source Fashion and more...

Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.

Sports Direct unveils ‘When Football Was Football’ TV ad for World Cup

This week saw Sports Direct launch a new TV commercial for the World Cup under the title ‘When Football Was Football’, in partnership with retro football shirt supplier Score Draw - as football and fashion continue to collide.

Tapping into the growing demand for heritage kits and nostalgia is a clever move by the retailer, especially when you consider that the current England home shirt is £90, yet a Score Draw replica England 1990 shirt - famously worn by Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne - is £35 on Sports Direct’s website, or just £25 if you’re signed up for Frasers Plus. Ditto for the popular 1982 England shirt as worn by Bryan ‘Captain Marvel’ Robson and co., while the top price appears to be the Score Draw England 2004 shirt with ‘Beckham 7’ on the back at £50, perhaps proving old ‘Goldenballs’ still has currency with footie fans, as well as fashion fans.

The campaign, which is also set to run across radio, digital, out-of-home (OOH) and social media, is fronted by Steve Bracknall, the passionate fictional character created by Sheffield musician and actor Chris McClure. He is the ‘assistant manager’ of the made-up Sunday League team Royal Oak FC and is known for his popular TikTok and Instagram videos, as well as the BBC Sounds and YouTube podcast series ‘Game's Gone’.

In the campaign short film and imagery, Bracknall wears a Score Draw version of England’s third kit from 1990, a retro fan favourite, which again is priced at £35 at Sports Direct - or £28 if signed up for Frasers Plus.

Of course, with Scotland having qualified for their first World Cup since 1998, there’s also going to be much interest in replica shirts as worn by the likes of popular radio and TV pundit - and Rangers and Scotland great - Ally McCoist back in the day, who also appears in the commercial in typically cheeky fashion donning a 90s Scotland away shirt.

Whether England or Scotland do well in the World Cup remains to be seen, but it will be a win-win for Sports Direct and Score Draw anyway by the look of it. I’ve never been one to wear a replica shirt during a tournament (though I did have a great retro 1966 Umbro England track top a few years ago, I think called the ‘Ramsey’!), but I know where I’d be looking for one if I did.

Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor.

What matters now: Rethinking sourcing in an era of permanent volatility

Source Fashion says that fashion sourcing is entering a “permanent volatility” era, where disruption is the norm rather than the exception. As a result, rising costs, geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory pressure and sustainability demands are forcing brands to rethink how supply chains are built.

The trade show emphasises that models once reliant on a small number of regions and driven primarily by cost are being tested in new ways, placing greater emphasis on resilience, flexibility and visibility. At the same time, sourcing teams face competing pressures: controlling costs, maintaining speed, meeting compliance requirements and delivering on sustainability goals. These priorities often conflict, creating difficult trade-offs and highlighting the gap between sustainability ambitions and commercial reality.

It stresses that the biggest challenge is no longer access to information, but clarity - helping buyers understand what works in practice. As a result, Source Fashion (taking place 7-9 July at Excel London), is evolving to provide practical, decision-ready insight rather than high-level discussion. Want more insights? Read here.

Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.

Resale boom reshapes fashion spending as shoppers embrace 'Vinted Math' and rethink value of clothing

I had so much fun writing this up this week. I use Vinted all the time, to both shop and sell - so the idea of 'Vinted Math', which describes this shift towards more value-conscious consumer behaviour - hits close to home.

(As a side note, I used to shop on Vinted when it was still called "Kleiderkreisel" in Germany, so I'm actually among its very first users).

The resale platform's 2025 Impact Report has revealed that nine in ten UK buyers surveyed check Vinted before buying new items, with 35% saying that they think about the resale value of an item before purchasing something new.

CEO Adam Jay commented that the report's findings show that "people are changing not just where they shop, but how they value what they own".

In a world where resale is booming - the resale market in the UK alone is worth £8 billion - I love to see that it's now shifting consumers' perception of fashion's long-term value. Keeping your clothing in good condition and in use for longer is a key part of sustainable consumer behaviour, even though it's not often mentioned in broader sustainability discussions.

This idea of encouraging consumers to consider clothing item's long-term value is not new in itself, of course. Luxury resale platform Vestiaire Collective introduced the concept of a "cost-per-wear" (CPW) metric in 2024, arguing that pre-loved luxury clothing was cheaper in the long term than fast-fashion alternatives, which on average were worn less frequently, kept for less time, and had a lower resale value.

Yet, while consumer demand is growing and resale is booming, the current economic system is still stacked against resale and other circular business models, according to a new report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that calls on the EU government to support policy changes to incentivise circular business models.

Camilla Rydzek, Senior News & Features Writer.