Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been making waves on social media after wearing a skirt and handbag on The Homme + Magazine’s 56th issue front cover – but that was exactly the point.
The impersonality of footballers is a hot topic of conversation right now. The social media channels of many are run by analysts, strategists, number-crunchers who spend their days interpreting online fan emotion.
Honestly, it’s f***ing dismal.
In an era where being unapologetically YOU is in fashion, footballers have never been more afraid (or just unwilling) to address fans directly, from the heart, providing them with the inside track into their minds.
Some, though, are more willing to stray from the status quo and show the world that it’s not just what they do on a football pitch that defines them. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is one of those people.
Calvert-Lewin has previously faced judgement on social media for his unorthodox outfit choices.
Just last week he made an appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football show and barely a word was said about his astute interpretation of the game, rather his choice of suit.
Still, he hasn’t been deterred.
Instead, he’s posed in traditionally female clothing on the front cover of The Homme + magazine, not in spite of the fact he knew it would challenge masculinity norms and upset the dinosaurs, but BECAUSE of it.
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He has, once again, become headline news merely through an outfit choice. He has, once again, unearthed the homophobic who have questioned his sexuality because of the clothes he’s decided to wear.
Calvert-Lewin is breaking down barriers, and not just in the football world. He’s a shining light of bravery and a force for social change – one of several in this current crop of young England internationals.
And you know what? He looks absolutely fabulous, doesn’t he?
Keep doing YOU, Dominic.