By 90min | Created at 2024-11-15 17:23:09 | Updated at 2024-11-22 04:12:28
6 days ago
When Antonia Bronze was 11 years old she was handed a piece of paper that read, 'what do you want to be in 20 years time?'. She hastily penned the words 'fashion designer' and now stitches garments for some of the biggest names in sport.
England headed to Germany for Euro 2024 in the summer, hopeful to end their wait for international glory, but there was another story that ran alongside the Three Lions' results. That story belonged to Tolami Benson - Bukayo Saka's girlfriend who was soon crowned the 'it' girl of the tournament after catching the eye of fans everywhere in her unique leather jacket.
The jacket in question, featuring Saka's first number at Arsenal - 87, was made by none other than London-based fashion designer Bronze.
Soon, Bronze was inundated with requests from other stars, each one desperate to get their hands on these haute couture items. She couldn't believe the response that her creation had received, especially since the movement first spawned from a funny social media post.
"The Four Hundred Club invited me to my first-ever football game, it was Arsenal vs Chelsea in the WSL in December last year," Bronze told 90min. "When I was there as a joke I put Arsenal stickers all over a bag, I posted it and people thought it was something I was selling.
"Then I started noticing more, and more that Arsenal custom pieces were in demand. But it was just fun pieces that I was making as a hobby, until I posted one of the bags I had made and I had hundreds of messages coming through.
"Everyone told me I should send the bag to one of the footballer's girlfriends, so I did and soon after we started making her jacket."
After her initial project with Benson, Bronze received floods of requests from other women in the game.
Gabrielle Figueiredo, wife of fellow Arsenal star Gabriel, was the next to approach Bronze. Her idea was to create a jacket for both her and their daughter, to surprise the defender at the Emirates.
Bronze made a custom piece for Gabrielle / Antonia Bronze
"The only person I reached out to was Tolami," she continued. "From then it's been everyone else reaching out to me. When I was younger I dreamed of designing products and making them, but I didn't ever imagine for it to take off like this.
"Everything that's happening now is more than I ever expected."
Growing up in a family of dedicated Arsenal fans, Bronze had become accustomed to the weekend games and stacks of memorabilia. However, nothing could've prepared her when the daughter of Gunners legend Dennis Bergkamp requested one of her pieces.
"She [Yasmin Bergkamp] wanted to surprise her dad. When I began designing I wanted to learn more about the time when he was playing. We included shirts that he wore that were significant, the vintage badges were all from games that were particularly amazing for him, and so it became really meaningful.
"With the Arsenal designs it's so nice for me to see my family's reaction because for my dad and my older brother - Bergkamp is the guy, they were completely obsessed with him. He even signed some shirts for my family members which was so nice, there's no better gift."
Yasmin Bergkamp wanted a nostalgic piece / Antonia Bronze
Bergkamp, Saka, Gabriel - Bronze's Arsenal CV already looks pretty impressive, but the young designer admits there are more projects on the way.
Her unique, glamorous pieces prove that slow fashion will always beat mass produced items, whilst also shining a light on the growing merge between football and apparel. Her work has been seen across the globe, creating long-lasting memories and bringing back to life some of fans' most loved moments in the beautiful game.
The journey is just beginning for Antonia - watch this space.
