THE PHONE used to ring late on a Friday afternoon. Fifteen Gold Coast players were on the way from Metricon Stadium - time to start preparing 30 burritos.

Now more than a decade on, cult Mermaid Beach streetwear brand Alfred's Apartment is collaborating with the Suns – Brisbane and Greater Western Sydney are next. 

Alfred's Apartment launched on the Gold Coast highway between Broadbeach and Burleigh, not long after Gary Ablett joined Gold Coast and the Suns selected David Swallow at pick No.1, as well as seven other players in the first round of the expansion club's first AFL Draft. 

Former Gold Coast ruckman Tom Nicholls was the first one through the doors from the club. When the Victorian relocated to Queensland as one of the Suns' 12 underage selections ahead of the club's inception, Nicholls completed Year 12 at All Saints Anglican School. Ed Hatcher was two grades below and kept in touch when he joined Alfred's Apartment after school. 

Since then, almost every player to ever represent the Suns has bought tees, caps, hoodies, coffees and burritos from Alfred's Apartment. Tom Lynch, Dion Prestia and Steven May were all part of the first wave. Brandon Ellis has been a frequent consumer since moving from Melbourne, as has Lachie Weller since returning from Perth. 

After more than two years of planning, Alfred's Apartment launched the collaboration with Gold Coast last month, following meetings with the Suns' commercial department and then Fanatics, who are 18 months into a 10-year licensed sports merchandise partnership with the AFL.

Nicholls is now an investment banker at Oaklins DeSilva & Phillips in New York, but it was his connections in Carrara that put the wheels in motion for Alfred's Apartment, finally bringing to life Hatcher's long-term vision. 

"It has been a long process. When Tom was at the Suns, all the boys used to come in and support Alfred's from the get-go. It was something we always thought would be cool and a market that hasn't been tapped into yet in Australia," Hatcher said. 

"I’m so influenced by classic sports merch that almost transcends sport, like a Yankees cap. We've had people buy the Suns tees without realising what and who they are. That was the goal of it. You don't have to be a diehard.

"A lot of people move away from the Gold Coast to do cool stuff and we try and do the opposite. Young people are starting to realise that we have to support our local teams otherwise they won't be around forever. This was a no-brainer for us; they support us, we support them."

This is a new concept in Australia, but not in Europe. Football clubs in Italy, France, England and the Netherlands have been involved in lifestyle and fashion collaborations for the past decade. Air Jordan paid a king's ransom to partner with Paris Saint Germain, but the collaborations between iconic clubs and underground streetwear brands have been the real movement.  

Juventus merged Italian football grandeur with gritty British flair when they completed a strip with edgy London skate wear brand Palace. Avant-garde French fashion label Drôle de Monsieur joined forces with Ligue 1 side AS Monaco. Ajax Amsterdam collaborated with Dutch menswear brand Daily Paper, Roma with London brand Aries. 

"This is the future, and that's the hardest piece to explain to people who haven't seen it internationally," Hatcher explained.

"Juventus did a collab with Palace skateboards five years ago and that was one of the biggest inspirations. They have to be one of the top five hardest teams in the world to make something happen because they are one of the biggest sporting clubs in the world. The fact they could line up Palace who are pretty core skate from south London, line it up with Adidas and Juventus was insane. That just showed that it can be done. The dream that I see is us one day doing a kit."

That is the next step. British lifestyle brand Percival has just unveiled a creative partnership with Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and Nike. South Korean creative studio Over the Pitch have done something similar with German giant Bayern Munich. Even the Hollywood actor Michael B. Jordan has designed AFC Bournemouth's pre-season tour jerseys. European football shirts are big business. There is a market in the AFL, but no one has done it like this yet. 

Gold Coast's players are understood to have bought nearly $15,000 of merchandise on their own accord. They love the gear. Swallow, Weller and Rory Atkins were all involved in a photo shoot.

Dylan Buckley, the former Giant and Blue turned podcast mogul, provided his followers with a glimpse of what is to come for Greater Western Sydney.

Collingwood and Carlton have also expressed interest. Their players want in. 

For Hatcher and Alfred's Apartment, they believe they are creating a bigger pie, not taking potential earnings away from current apparel sponsors. New Balance is Gold Coast and Brisbane's apparel partner, while Puma sponsors Greater Western Sydney. 

"The biggest thing is it doesn't take anything away from the main sponsor," he said. "It can be a complimentary thing.

"New Balance for the Suns aren't doing anything remotely similar. From the sales already it has shown that it isn't taking away from other merch sales, it's dipping into a new pool of merch sales that never existed. We are putting more money on the table that didn't exist.

"That's been the hardest one to explain. We are not eating into the current pool of cash; we're trying to expand the pool of cash. We are showing there is more money to be made."

Kylie Rogers is about to depart AFL headquarters to become the CEO of the Victoria Racing Club but is currently the AFL's executive general manager of customer and commercial. Licensing falls under her remit.

Rogers brokered the deal with Fanatics in 2023 and knows the partnership with Alfred's Apartment is the dawn of a new era in sports merchandising in Australian sport.

"We are always looking at ways to engage new audiences, and the range that Alfred's Apartment have delivered for the Suns is world class," Rogers said.

"There is great momentum globally with these types of partnerships and we will continue to work with clubs to help bring these to life – whether that is in supporter gear collabs or potentially on field product into the future."