In a world where sportswear and artistry intersect, Christian Jeffery stands as a beacon of innovation and creativity. This English designer and artist has seamlessly woven his love for football and his passion for custom-made art into a career that defies conventional boundaries. From his early days sketching logos to his transformative experiences with giants like Puma and Adidas, Jeffery’s journey is a testament to following one’s passion and continually pushing the envelope. In this exclusive interview, Christian opens up about his path in the art and design world, the inspirations that fuel his unique creations, and the challenges and joys of handcrafting custom football jerseys.

Can you tell us about your journey into art and design? 

“From when I was a kid I was always obsessed with drawing and painting and I was predominantly just drawing logos, which is quite ironic because now you know 20 years later that’s very similar to what I’m doing. I ended up studying graphic design at Chelsea Art College and in my last year I was approached by Puma to do an internship in football in Germany and work with them on my final project. I never realized that there was like this magical universe until I got there, a team of people working on football kits and sportswear, it was very eye-opening and I just realized straight away okay this is what I want to do, this is amazing. I learned from some great people over there.”

“Shortly after I moved back to Germany to work full-time for Puma in the motorsport team and a year or so later I ended up moving from Puma to Adidas, designing at Adidas football for about five years or so. I joined the team as a technical assistant and worked my way up to be a senior designer there. Worked predominantly on Manchester United, Real Madrid, Orlando Pirates and Valencia kits. I also worked a lot on the name and numbering and typography…it was incredible.”

What inspired you to specialize in handmade and hand painted custom football jerseys?

“After a while I decided to leave and move back to London and when the lockdown happened I kept coming up with ideas and I didn’t know really how to get them out. I had also started visiting fabric stores so I thought okay maybe I’ll just try it for myself, just to get these things out of my head and I just found out that I love doing these custom art jerseys. It became a sort of addiction and I kept doing it as much as I could on the weekends and in my spare time. it sort of grew from there to doing what I do now.”

“I think there’s a lot of rules and regulations in the business and I sort of sadly know them all from a lot of years working with bigger brands. if I’m breaking the rules now I know exactly what rule I’m breaking and I think that’s part of the fun: having that freedom and trying new things. Even inside the world of fabrics, I’m very keen on not having any strict rules around wearability or performance. Releasing that pressure opens up a completely whole new world to explore.”

Where do you draw inspiration from for your designs? Are there any specific players, team, or designers that influence your work?

“Growing up I was always obsessed with football kits and David Beckham was the player that I always wanted to have on the back of my jerseys like I guess most of kids at that time.”

“For sure my favorite designer is Alexander McQueen’s, a huge hero of mine. I learnt from him about how clothing doesn’t have to be mass-produced and it can be these one-off pieces. I think that’s what I want to challenge in the work that I do and show people that it doesn’t necessarily have to be one way, that different worlds can meet and it can be very interesting. Now what I’m trying to do is bring as much of non-football reference points or inspiration as possible into that world, it’s really this combination of worlds mixing together that excites me. I love going to an art exhibition just as much as I love going to a sportswear store or retail store and I love the combination of all those things.”

“I watch a lot of “Chef’s Table” on Netflix while I’m painting. For some reason I find their stories very inspirational and calming.”

What challenges do you face when creating handmade and hand painted jerseys? What materials and techniques do you prefer to use in your work?

“To be honest every single jersey is slightly different. There’s two main ways when I start a project: the first is going out and sourcing different and interesting fabrics and patterns and then injecting these traditional football graphics to create something new. Or the other way is painting something completely from scratch on plain fabric. When I’m using paint on new fabrics for the first time the outcome is always different, which creates a different challenge every time and I learn something new. I don’t really know how the paint is going to react until I actually put it on, but that’s the beauty and why I get so much enjoyment out of it. it’s a process of spending hours, trying and trying and loving what you are doing. The other style of creating is when working on club collaborations, I use an existing jersey and paint new graphics that evolve the jersey even further.”

Can you tell us about your recent exhibition at the OOF Gallery in London? What was the central theme of your showcase?

“Firstly it was just a dream to be able to exhibit my works in real life. The exhibition itself was a collection of different artists from around the world who were producing amazing things and I was very honored to be part of that bigger project. OOF have done an incredible job putting everything together. My goal from the beginning was to show things in real life so people could come and see the little brushstrokes and details that are very difficult to show online. There wasn’t really a main theme for me, it was more about celebrating some of the pieces that I’ve done over the last few years. For example the Barcelona jersey that was was made from up-cycled Unicef fabric that I bought from the Unicef marketplace or the floral England jersey as well, which was nice to share with people in person.” 

What has been your most memorable project to date, and why?

“I think my favorite one is always the one that I’m currently working on, the one that it’s half in my head – half painted and still don’t know how it’s gonna come out. Probably my second favorite one it’s the Arsenal “Toile de Jouy” jersey, made as a tribute to the rich footballing history shared between Arsenal and France. Plus my wife is from Paris and I got that fabric whilst visiting her family so if I had to choose one it would probably be that one but they’re all my babies.”

Can you share any upcoming projects or collaborations that you are excited about?

“I think it’s just the beginning of a long journey of exploration. I definitely want to work with clubs, I would love to work with some Italian clubs in time to come. it’s really interesting what’s happening within clubs who are reaching out to more artists and making more special edition kits, that’s definitely something I want to explore more. I would love to work with athletes and do personal projects with them too, tell their stories whether that’s football or other sports as well. But more than anything else I want to continue to push the boundaries especially from a fabric and graphic side, keep challenging myself. I’m currently doing an artist residence with OOF which is a dream. I’m really enjoying having the studio space, the freedom and the time to really dive into new projects.”

Christian Jeffery’s story is one of relentless creativity and bold experimentation, and his work exemplifies the beauty of fusing disparate worlds, such as art, sports, and fashion, into something uniquely captivating. His passion and dedication are evident not only in his creations, but also in the vibrant narrative of his artistic journey that we were fortunate enough to explore.