From the spotlights of the courts to the psychedelic lights of the clubs, sports aesthetics has always represented – at least since the 1980s – a recurring connection between athletic performances and clubbing-related musical subcultures: a common denominator that is still able to combine two distant and seemingly opposite universes, united by the natural instinct of every body: the need to move and follow the rhythm.

A TENNIS AND GABBER KANGAROO

Born at the turn of the last decades of the twentieth century, techno music and its subgenres immediately found in sportswear a unique reference point for the definition of a fashion that was both identity and functionality. A special fashion that managed to reflect the eccentric, alternative and unconventional personality of the 200 BPM lovers.

In this context, Australian, an Italian brand founded in 1956, became a must for an entire cultural movement that turned clubs into its stadiums and music into matches. Tracksuits, polo shirts, bomber jackets and caps were taken away from the sports aesthetic and used into a frenetic, chaotic and unconventional dimension. By the end of the century, garments and accessories initially designed for pro athletes and amateurs on the tennis courts became inextricably bound to the world of Dutch hardcore first and European clubbing later.

In fact, Australian was born as a brand dedicated to and inspired by tennis culture and typical Italian elegance: this vision was shaped by the heritage of its founder, Leandro Gabrielli, who was already active during the first half of the 1900s in the production of sportswear for the ski world and in the creation of haute couture collections, developed in collaboration with young designers such as Armani and Ferrè.

The sports background on the one hand and the fashion passion on the other gave birth to a brand marked from its beginnings by a dual soul, highlighted by the tennis imagery and its legends.

COURTS AND CLUBS

From Paolo Canè to Anders Järryd, there are many faces that elevated the Italian ‘kangaroo’ in tennis culture, but it was in the late 1980s’ that the image of the Milanese brand began to make its way as powerfully, as spontaneously, among the streets and clubs of Rotterdam.

The hardcore music movement was born right in the heart of Holland in the early 1990s, emerging as a clear reinterpretation of house music and its frequencies, which were accelerated, producing a rhythm that was freed from the classical rules of electronic music.

This new genre was influenced to a large extent by the acid and techno house of the 1980s and in particular by Detroit techno, which arrived in Holland during the end of the decade, undergoing experimentation and contamination by Paul Elstak, KC The Funkaholic and several other producers in the scene. Industrial sounds and underground vibes raised the tempo through the bass up to 150-190 BPM: the result was an independent, almost rebellious, reinterpretation of sound, driven by the desire to unleash and create a platform for every individual.

This is why the connection between hardcore subculture and sports imagery turns out to be natural: because it highlights the different, and at the same time similar values and emotions that drives these two social universes.

A CONTEMPORARY HERITAGE

Gabbers became famous for their shaved hair and unisex aesthetic, and found in sportswear the answer to the need for comfort required by their typical dance: the hakken. Australian became then one of the most loved brands of the gabbers, achieving notoriety in clubs, at the Thunderdome – the festivals – and in all hardcore venues.

This boom helped to evolve a special bond between the aesthetics of an entire subculture and the Italian brand. It also shaped the future imagery of techno and its subgenres. Gabber style and culture went beyond the musical scene, becoming a model of representation that inspired multiple fields: from graphic design to modern fashion, which recently seems to have rediscovered the value of this movement.

Thanks to its cultural awareness, Australian recently decided to realease the Archive 2023 collection, a tribute to gabbers and hardcore in general-a collection that the brand describes as “a true dive into the icons of the past.”

The iconic mark left by Australian in the hardcore scene comes back today through oversized silhouettes, full-zip jackets and original designs from the 1990s and 2000s, revisited with a contemporary twist. And it shows, once again, why the future of a legendary brand must be sought and found in its noble, atypical and visionary past.