Leah Williamson, England and Arsenal’s football captain, is used to wearing a uniform. It’s part of the job and she relishes the unity it brings. But, when nights like the ELLE Style Awards come around, an opportunity for Williamson to get dressed up and out of her number six shirt means leaning into her individuality and embracing her love and respect for fashion.
For the 2023 awards, in partnership with Tiffany & Co, Moët et Chandon and Snapchat, Williamson opted for sharp Armani tailoring offset with gold Tiffany & Co jewellery, breaking away from her usual talismanic pieces with a 'chance to wear something different'.
An ACL injury has meant Williamson not only sitting out the World Cup, but also out of heels. Instead, loafers have become her go-to making a perfect pairing for tailoring. 'I’m enjoying wearing power suits,' she tells me while sitting in glam at her suite at The Rosewood Hotel in London pre-awards, her signature platinum blonde hair being tonged to perfection.
Williamson admits to still being 'awkward' on the red carpet and that comfort is key. Yet, don’t get mistaken into thinking that means tracksuits. They stay firmly in the Emirates Stadium dressing room.
Comfort for Williamson at these sorts of events has come to mean 'glamming up masculine energy. That’s me,' she affirms. 'When you feel comfortable you carry yourself in a way that means you can be your true self.'
This hybrid of masculine and feminine comes with a deeper resonance for Williamson too. 'In the industry I work in, women have had a lot of oppression. So, I don’t like to stick to the status quo or the norm with my clothes. I like to step out of that, and that’s where embracing that masculine side of dress comes from. I just think it's a good way to kind of stick your fingers up at everybody else, and say this is what I want to wear and I'm going to wear it.'
As a part of the team that brought it home at the 2022 Euros, Williamson is one of Britain’s foremost contemporary role models. It’s an earned title that she doesn’t take lightly. I ask her if it factors into the sorts of things she chooses to wear away from the pitch. 'I think it definitely comes into my subconscious thought, but I am typically a little bit more rebellious.'
'For example, when I took the captaincy role, the conversation I had with the manager was that I'm going to be me and I don't plan on changing. I’m that person who will take a bit of a risk. And I think that is the best role model I can be to young women. I do what I want and I wear what I want to wear, and show confidence in those decisions. If somebody doesn't agree, that’s okay because it makes me happy.' Williamson’s passion for… fashion — 'That's awful in a sentence,' she laughs — is clear. A front-row seat at Gucci’s May 2022 show was a turning point.
'It was an eye-opener for me,' she reminisces. 'You hear about that world, the environment and then all of a sudden, you're in it. At the time I had some major impostor syndrome, like 'Why am I actually here?' she jests. Yet, being sat there it didn't take Williamson long to understand why and how fashion and football have long been intrinsically linked. 'It brings people together that aren't necessarily in the same room all the time.'
'It's genius, really. The thought and creative processes that go into it, and the shows especially, I think it's incredible. The respect I have for people in the industry. Once you see something and whenever you think I couldn't do that you have so much more respect,' she says. 'I love this space. So, anything that comes up that can allow me to educate myself on it, I’m there because I really love and enjoy speaking to people that do something completely different to me on a daily basis.'
And so, to last night. Williamson’s appearance at the ELLE Style Awards was more than just showing up for an industry she relishes being able to take part in. Williamson had the honour of giving her friend and fashion designer Martine Rose The Culture Shifter Award. 'I just hope I honour her in the way that she wants to be honoured,' Williamson explains. 'So, I've been trying to make it still me and as if I'm speaking to her on my own, but at the same time, I want to respect the room that I'm in.'
