Walthamstow FC unveils football kit informed by Morris & Co design

East London football club Walthamstow FC has unveiled kits featuring designs by mid-19-century designer William Morris's company Morris & Co.

To produce the kit, Walthamstow FC teamed up with Walthamstow-based William Morris Gallery, which is housed in a listed building that was once Morris's family home.

The home and away kits, along with a jacket, all feature a botanical pattern named Yare, which was created around 1892 by John Henry Dearle – a textile designer who worked for Morris and Co.

Dearle's design features turquoise and green leaves with small blue, red and yellow flowers against a dark background. Originally the design was block printed onto cotton at Merton Abbey in southwest London.

Wood Street Walls, an art collective also based in Walthamstow produced the kit over the course of three years.

The collective redrew the pattern digitally, which was then colour-matched onto sportswear fabric by British sports manufacturer Admiral.

The home kit is dark blue with light pale blue leaves and pale pink flowers. The away kit is an aqua replica of John Henry Dearles' design with a V neck collar. Both shirts come with matching shorts.

"Full access to the gallery's archive was given, allowing the design team to explore the full collection of textiles and wallpaper to choose the pattern which was digitally re-drawn and colour matched to be sublimated onto the clothing, taking over a hundred hours of research and design," said Walthamstow FC.

According to Walthamstow FC, part of the kit's proceeds will help establish a women's football team in addition to supporting Walthamstow FC as they "climb the football pyramid".

Morris was a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. Dearle was a stained glass and textile designer who was trained by Morris. He produced many of Morris & Co's textile and wallpaper designs in later years.

The William Morris Gallery displays a large collection of Morris & Co's designs in addition to Morris' history alongside contemporary exhibitions and events programmes.

Other notable football kits include Adidas' leopard-print kit for its women's team designed by British designer Stella McCartney and Coventry City's kit informed by the city's cathedral, which was designed by sports brand Hummel to mark the building's 60th anniversary.

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