Instantly recognisable, totally undeniable. That’s the mark of a drop done right—and it’s exactly what Secondhalf.PDF have delivered with their latest release: a bold and brilliant tribute to one of football’s most iconic figures, Ronaldo Nazário, aka El Fenómeno.
Building on the energy of their first release during Euro 2024—a Beckham-inspired ‘mega fan’ tee that turned heads and stirred hearts—Secondhalf.PDF now dig deeper into football’s rich iconography. Capsule 002 lands with a bang, reimagining the legendary aura of R9 through a lens of lo-fi nostalgia and graphic punch.
The new Feñomeno tees are as much a statement piece as they are wearable archive. Printed with halftone scans pulled from personal collections, old England shirts, and project leftovers, they’re layered in both meaning and texture. It’s DIY culture fused with football romance—a signature aesthetic the brand has quickly made its own.
It all began when founders James Dunn and Tom McManus toyed with the idea of creating a zine. Armed with hundreds of vintage England shirts and stacks of forgotten materials, they saw potential in the scraps. “Tom came to me with the idea of creating a zine from his personal archive,” says Dunn. “The idea of cementing these into something permanent felt like the perfect way to give England fans a piece of history to keep forever.”
But a zine was only the start. “With my (small) background in screen printing at uni, we began experimenting with halftone prints on tees,” Dunn explains. “That’s how Secondhalf.PDF was born—scanning the scraps, recontextualising them, and printing them onto wearable formats.”
Now, with Capsule 002, that same ethos gets the R9 treatment. Nods to late ’90s boot culture, grainy Nike adverts, and Brazil’s golden age of flair football ooze from every thread. It’s a love letter to a player who defined a generation—and a drop that proves football nostalgia is best served with a fresh perspective and a bold print.
The new collection is available now at secondhalfpdf.com
