PAT LIPINSKI has a fashion rule he tries to live by: don't wear the same shoes two days in a row. When you have around 80 pairs of sneakers, like Lipinski, that becomes much more achievable. 

"Obviously they cycle back, but if I wore one pair yesterday, I'd try not to wear it again today," the 27-year-old told AFL.com.au. 

"In summer it's harder to explore your outfits too much when you're wearing shorts, but in winter I like to change up the rotation."

The rotation exists of around 20 regularly worn favourites. The rest – made up of relics, vintage pairs, rare finds, runners and more common kicks – sit in boxes in his garage. 

"It's overflowing, I've got a few in my cupboard now," he said. "They're all pretty messy at the moment, so I need to sell a few."

Lipinski is coming into his 10th AFL season, and fifth at Collingwood. He is all of the following: a Magpies premiership player, one of the most consistent players in his team, a former Western Bulldog, a regular traveller, part-time model and perhaps football's most fashionable player who has now designed, shaped and delivered a new clothing collaboration. 

Sneakers were the gateway.

"At the Bulldogs, Matt Suckling was a big sneakerhead. And as you do when you're a young player, you look up to the some of the older boys. I was living at home and my only expenses were petrol and chilli eggs a couple of times a week, so I started to get into some sneakers," he said.

"In COVID there was real sneaker hype at a time when people had some spare money and you'd enter raffles for sneakers and that was really fun. From that sneaker love, you elevate your fashion and try to build outfits around your sneakers. It evolved in my early years of being in the AFL."

Before then, Lipinski, who grew up an avid Dogs fan before being drafted there two months after their 2016 flag, wasn't too perturbed by his fashion choices.

"Maybe when I was younger I'd wear a Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren shirt to a party when I was at a 16th and thought it was pretty cool, but I wasn't into it much," he said. "But, once I got a girlfriend, that may have upped my fashion. The 'girlfriend effect', they always say."

Lipinski's long-term partner, Chloe Geraerts, works in marketing and PR at fashion brand Henne, and has been central to his burgeoning presence as a footballer with style. Scroll his Instagram page (now with nearly 80,000 followers) and TikTok account and they are full of fashion shoots and clothing critiques – shoes he's loving and those he's not (his anti-Salomon take drew plenty of feedback), simple fashion tips for men, the best spots to find hidden gems in New York and his daily get-ups. 

All of which is part of a wider change in the AFL as players take a hold of their image and are not afraid of any blowback. 

"My girlfriend taught me everything on social media like how to edit videos and what to post, she takes all the cool photos, she encourages me and just tries to promote me to keep going and showing my style. She definitely had an effect early days in my fashion and getting me out of a few of my really bad kits I was wearing and tailored me into some nicer things," he said.

"When I started playing, if you posted a photo of yourself playing on social media it was like 'Mate, what are you doing posting a footy photo, you're so ahead of yourself'. It would be like 'Oh, 'me time'' and all that stuff. But now it's just all part of it. Like, you should be proud to be playing on the 'G and in front of the fans and showing your personality, so it's changed a lot in 10 years. It's cool to see younger guys in the AFL these days showcasing a bit more of themselves.

"Male society is always a bit scared to show their personality or post because I feel like often people get flamed in their group chat just for showing some personality, which is a shame because I think it shouldn't be like that. 

"You should be able to express whoever you want to be, whether your interest is fashion or art or sports or whatever it may be. Early days there was a bit of apprehension, even at footy clubs sometimes you can post things and people will be sending around or make a mockery of you. But in our team we have a lot of guys who have different interests and people get to see them." 

Lipinski describes the fashion trends he likes at the moment as "minimalistic, clean styles with not too much branding. I love timeless outfits. It's an expression of your personality in a way." 

The interest in clothes has developed into modelling opportunities, with Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, Unison, SuperDry and Hilfiger among the brands he has partnered with. The first shoot he did, with Uniqlo, made him a bit uncomfortable as the centre of attention, but with practice more chances have popped up, including at the recent Australian Open when he went dressed by high fashion brand Louis Vuitton. 

"I'm not very good at modelling. It was a bit daunting to start. But it's been super cool to get involved with different campaigns and it's just fun to do in your spare time. It doesn't detract from your footy," he said. 

It has all brought Lipinski to his own range. Over the past year, he has been working with Melbourne-based brand Push Pull on a collaboration. On Wednesday, it will launch officially, with jeans, a t-shirt, sweater, jacket, hat and hoodie all available (Lipinski is pictured in the range during AFL.com.au's shoot at Collingwood's headquarters last week).

"The idea is trying to make my favourite outfit. I love the navy colours, I'm always in those, so I wanted to make something that is one outfit but very interchangeable," he said.

"If you're into your style you can dress this stuff up or if you're more of a casual person you can just get your hoodie. There's something for everyone. To be able to design my own collection with a brand I love has been a dream come true." 

Already there has been a spruce up of a teammate in need: veteran Jeremy Howe. "I always rate his outfits out of 10 and often they're three to five, so I thought it would be fun to swap him into my outfit and I reckon he looked good," Lipinski said.

A free sample has yet to land with coach Craig McRae, though. "He can buy one, I reckon," Lipinski said.

He will send a package of the clothes to Gold Coast forward Jed Walter – "I really like his style" – while former Dogs teammate Cody Weightman and current Pies teammate Isaac Quaynor are among the players whose fashion sense he also enjoys. 

A career in finance (with some fashion on the side) looms down the track, but for now Lipinski knows what his day job is. 

That begins again properly on Sunday night as the Pies take on St Kilda in Opening Round at the MCG. Ahead of a season that has Lipinski due to play his 100th game for the club and reach his 150-game milestone, he is confident in Collingwood's potential. He is ready to swap the hoody, jacket and sweater for the black and white stripes. They don't tend to go out of fashion. 

"It's exciting to see a lot of young guys who have had good pre-seasons and hopefully they can really drive the group forward," Lipinski said. "I think we're extremely capable. We've got a great list, a lot of great experience, so I'm super excited."