The archive · Design & Visual · Product decision · 2023–2024
A museum pattern by William Morris' protégé dresses Walthamstow FC's Admiral kit
In a first museum–football club collaboration, the 'Yare' textile pattern became Walthamstow FC's kits, funding a new women's team.
William Morris Gallery · Walthamstow FC · Admiral Sports
What it had to solve
William Morris Gallery and Walthamstow FC set out to create a world-first collaboration between a museum and a football club, with the kit produced by Admiral Sports — the British manufacturer that originated the modern replica football kit.
How it works
William Morris Gallery and Walthamstow FC created what they describe as a world-first collaboration between a museum and a football club. Instead of a one-off logo or sponsorship, the partnership put the museum's collection onto the thing the club's fans buy and wear: the kit.
Design agency Works in Public devised the project and selected 'Yare,' a pattern designed by John Henry Dearle — trained by William Morris, whose work was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood — sometime after 1892. Admiral Sports, the British manufacturer that originated the modern replica football kit, produced the home and away jerseys.
The design carried heritage into matchday culture rather than asking fans to come to the gallery. Proceeds went towards establishing a new women's team at Walthamstow FC and supporting the Gallery's community outreach, so buying a shirt funded a visible local outcome.
Why it lands
- A kit is worn every match, so the museum's pattern stopped being an object to visit and became an identity the town wears.
- Choosing a genuine archive design by John Henry Dearle gave the collaboration authenticity that a printed pastiche could not.
- Admiral's own heritage — originating the modern replica kit — meant the manufacturer's story matched the museum's.
- Routing proceeds to a new women's team and community outreach made each jersey a fundraiser with a concrete local effect.
What it did
A museum collection moved from the wall to the pitch: every home and away match wore the pattern, and the kit itself became a fundraiser, with proceeds supporting Walthamstow FC's new women's team and the Gallery's community outreach. The D&AD page records no sales figures.
What you can take
Pair institutions that never meet: a museum's archive gave a club a cultural identity and a fundraising product, while the club gave the museum an audience it would never reach alone.
Since then
The collaboration closed the loop between heritage and club life: proceeds from the kit went towards establishing a new women's team at Walthamstow FC and towards the Gallery's community outreach, so the design paid for the community that wore it. The D&AD awards archive keeps the work; the case page records no quantities sold or funds raised.
Sources
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