CHELSEA CLINTON was more than happy to give her endorsement to Vedette when designer Katie Walker ran into her in a restaurant last week. "Chelsea FC had mentioned that she was a fan so when I saw her I had to offer her a T-shirt," says Katie. "She said she was a fan and she'd definitely wear it."
The Vedette range of high fashion football fan-wear is reason enough to put up with any amount of football. Featuring diamante-studded balls and cartoon scrawl screaming 'OOF', the vests, scarves, track pants, sweater dresses, cashmere sweaters and bikinis put football fanaticism in a whole new light.
"My sister is an avid Gunners fan but her boyfriend didn't think she looked sexy when she wore their strip," goes on Katie, who learnt her trade during an internship with Marc Jacobs. "So I came up with the idea of making really sexy, gorgeous clothes for female fans to wear, so they can please their boyfriends and husbands on both counts - by looking gorgeous and supporting the right team."
Currently catering for female Arsenal and Chelsea fans, Walker is working on contracts with other high profile football clubs all over the country and plans to keep the identity of her fans strictly separate. "The Chelsea girls are girly and glittery, hence the diamante," she says. "Whereas Arsenal are a bit more tomboy. And if I did Man U, I'd go all-out Footballers' Wives."
Using couture techniques of cutting and embroidery, Walker has created a collection that is bound to be popular with even the most anti-football fashionistas - and she's added the offside rule onto the back of her label, just in case there's any doubt. The skimpier pieces might even act as a secret weapon to cheer up the losing teams... source
No word on whether Ian was pleased by her sexy "Chelsea FC" outfit.