"I haven't had fun in my life. I've always worked. I have always been too responsible. But I don't know how to live any other way. I think that this discipline was also demanded of me by my work."

                                 - Giorgio Armani, fashion designer 

Tim Cahill, more synonymous with scoring breathtaking goals than designing a menswear range, points to one of three racks crammed with his creative offerings and in one passionate breath he dismissed the notion his foray into fashion was the whim of a superstar footballer with far too much time on his hands.

"That is what I do off the park," he said with an unmistakeable pride at showing the Shoreditch Tim Cahill collection. "I spend a lot of time on this. I meet with the buyers . . . the concept, design . . .  people present their portfolios to me.

"This [collection] took a year-and-a-half to create. It's cost hundreds of thousands of  dollars. It's people's wellbeing, their paying the rent, providing for their families . . . this is business and it's definitely not a hobby."

Cahill's soliloquy, which acknowledged the impact a bad call by him could have on the worker, was delivered in an old warehouse that was recently converted into a chic open-plan PR HQ in once working-class Redfern.

The only machine in the building now makes coffee - and gets a massive workout - while the boardroom where the Socceroo fields questions about the fashionista, his relationship with Giorgio Armani, Ange Postecoglou's record as national coach and life, was, appropriately so, in a glass box that could pass as a fish bowl that "floated" high above the old loading dock.

Perhaps the history of the old building made Cahill dwell on the plight of the tailors and factory hands who make his clothes. After all, his mother Sisifo and father Tim snr made numerous sacrifices, including going into debt, to allow for him to fulfil his potential.

There's no doubt that what Cahill described as a "tough but loving" upbringing in Sydney's south-west made the recently turned 35-year-old appreciate from a young age not only the value of hard work but the importance of networking and possessing the doggedness to kick down doors when others might give up.

"Last week I met with Winnie Mandela [the late Nelson Mandela's second wife] in her house in Soweto and that was not through fluke," he told Fairfax Media. "It's business, foundation, vision ... legacy."

"I don't feel it's luck when you meet people or rub shoulders with important people. It's all about relationships and the last impression you leave. Granted I've done well in football, I've done what I've done but whatever you do off the park has a massive impact.

"I've also learnt when you put your name to something, whether it is the Foxtel All Stars Tim Cahill Academy, Weet-Bix or six years on the cover of EA Sports as an Australian, you do it for the long run. It is what I've done with all my brands."

And he does not intend to do anything differently as a fashion designer.

Cahill backed that consumers will appreciate his garments for their quality and style by resisting advice to have his name branded on the hoodies, the sports jackets and shirts.

His symbol is a circle - to represent a football - and his initials resemble a cross more than a declaration that the garment was produced by an admired athlete who has starred at World Cups, in the English Premier League and also made his mark in New York.

"I want people to look at the range and say, 'This is different'," he said. "The touch of the design and patents, the simplicity of colours. I didn't want the name Tim Cahill screaming off this. I wanted the focus to be the quality and the price point.

"I know the market ... ever since I went to England it was all about fashion and football, what you wear, how you look all went hand in hand."

"You have to have high expectations of yourself and those who work with you."

                     - Armani 

Cahill will spearhead Australia's assault on the Asian Cup when it kicks off in January and he's well aware the pressure is on the host nation, which is ranked at an all-time low 100 on the world rankings while coach Ange Postecoglou's record of two wins from 12 matches was being scrutinised.

The former Millwall and Everton player, who is contracted to the New York Red Bulls, said there was no need for him to defend Postecoglou, a coach who has enjoyed tremendous success by winning four domestic titles.

"No, because I can happily, strategically produce anything anyone wants," said Cahill in support of the coach. "It's not about defending Ange, it's about realising the bigger picture and that he's put us in difficult scenarios. He's put kids who've, for instance, never played in the heat in testing situations.

"Does everyone want us to bring teams to Australia before a massive tournament and win two games 4-0, or go away in difficult environments, climates and play in front of massive crowds and fail [and learn]? I want to fail and know what I'm dealing with when I play next to someone in front of 40,000 Australians, and I feel that's what he's doing."

Greek-born, Australia-raised Postecoglou was signed to mentor the Socceroos after a long line of Europeans, including Guus Hiddink, Pim Verbeek, Han Berger and Holger Osieck, held the post. Cahill said he welcomed the local knowledge, touch and the obvious faith Postecoglou placed in his ability.

"As a person he's one of the best things to have happened to Australian football," he said. "He's an Australian and he gets it. I've been longing for this for a long time - it's half the battle.

"I'm an older player, I'm not going to play every game, but it's not about me. It's about the team and delivering when it counts. People say, 'You're getting old', but I scored eight goals in 12 games this [Asian Cup] is only another seven games. They ask, 'Are you going to retire after the tournament?' Mate, it's only another seven games.

"Age can only affect you if you don't want to play for your country and want to instead go on holiday or do what you do and I don't have any problems with that. But, Ange - it's no fluke I've scored eight goals in 12 games -  I want to play for him. He inspires me.

"I live and breathe it. I don't come to Australia from the other side of the world just to make up the numbers. I don't come with the idea of coming off the bench for 10 minutes."

       "Elegance is not about being noticed, it's about being remembered"

                                                         - Armani

There is no doubt the legend of Giorgio Armani has driven Cahill's desire to make his name in the fashion industry. He has gained strength from Armani's rise and rise as a medical student who worked in an infirmary for the Italian army but turned his attention to fashion when he realised he did not fancy blood and gore.

Armani's progression from military orderly to fashion guru made Cahill realise it was not a field restricted to those who were brought up through colleges and design schools. Whenever he uttered Armani's name during the interview it was not a blasphemous attempt for cheap credibility through association, it was instead Cahill's declaration that he was a disciple.

"People need to realise some of the greatest designers or athletes come from hard backgrounds," he said. "Mine was... but I also have a passion to work off the park. You don't become a shareholder in big businesses just because you're a footballer, you need backbone.

"I consider Giorgio Armani a genius. His simple fashion, great personality, fabric is brilliant. He can barely speak English but every time he's flown me around the world, like to the Milan fashion show years and years ago, or he has dressed me and my family it's been priceless . . . an experience of a lifetime but I was learning."

Cahill, who recalled his time in the English Premier League as brilliant but "robotic", said the discipline that was demanded during his 15 years there had served him well.

"Sacrifices," he said. "The family lose out. Leave home at 7.30am for training, home after 5pm. Play three games a week, no Christmases. No New Year celebrations. I don't want people to feel sorry for me, it was the best and worst times of my life, and I've been blessed.

"I left for New York and the three years I've been there has been the highlight of my career. It's been amazing."

Cahill's next move as a footballer has people guessing although he suggested his career had been as much about leaving a footprint in the city where he had played and it is worth noting those cities were fashion centres.

"Granted, I've done well in football," he said. "I've done what I've done but I've made the critical decisions for my portfolio - London, Manchester, Liverpool, New York . . .  who knows where next.

"I left a two-and-a-half-year contract, the most amazing contract, to go to another World Cup and to join the commercial whirlwind of New York City . . . to be an athlete there and still do well on the park . . . to deliver [the NY Red Bulls] their first trophy in eight years, and deliver commercially off the field."

After many years of wondering it seems that the secret to Tim Cahill is simple: it's the cloth he's cut from.