The unveiling of artist Emile-Samory Fofana's first collaboration with adidas this week should be seen as more than just a new football kit. It should perhaps be interpreted as an attempt to bring people together and break down barriers.
The all-white qamis – or thobe – runs to the ankle and comes with the brand's distinctive three stripes down the sides in gold.
Fofana unveiled the project on social media, writing: “We developed a functional football qamis for you to be as comfortable on the pitch as on a prayer mat.” He says it's the perfect illustration of a “man who can do both”, adding: “I couldn’t be more happy with the result of this hybridation.”
It is not the first qamis the artist has made using the adidas stripes. However, it is the first officially backed by the sports company. A big football fan, Fofana is of Malian descent and grew up in Paris. As an artist, he explores the point where sport and culture intersect in Mali.
This work is told through different mediums. It includes an installation he made featuring a pile of seed sacks emblazoned with the UEFA Champions League logo, and several series of photographs of Malian men clad in his home-made qamis to resemble the kit of major European football clubs like Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Paris Saint-German.
The qamis is an ankle-length garment widely worn across the Middle East and in parts of West Africa. It is cut to fall straight from the underarms to the floor. Worn with simple sandals, the roomy garment is both comfortable and practical for regions where temperatures are regularly high, while keeping the wearer modest in accordance to Islam.
As a symbol of faith and culture, the qamis is eloquent and distinctive, making Fofana’s subversion all the more fascinating. Its release comes during the Euro 2024 football tournament in Germany and just weeks ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The arrival of Fofana's art-slash-sportswear also comes just days before a French election which could result in the far-right winning power. Fearful of more terrorist attacks, meanwhile, much of central Paris will be closed off during the Olympics, keeping Parisian residents on edge.
Sporting events are widely paraded as being able to bring people together, so perhaps it is safe to read this robe as an attempt by Fofana, who describes himself as a black African Muslim, to break down barriers through the universal language of football.
His idea is one he has been playing with for some time, and one of the world's biggest most high-profile sports companies brings it into the mainstream.
The new football thobe can perhaps be seen as normalising the love for the game, regardless of nationality or religion. It is perhaps about the universal truth that football fans around the world just want to align with their favourite team by wearing the strip – but one that also aligns with who they are.
For now, the new qamis is available to Fofana's friends and family only. However, he invites all those interested in it to direct-message him, perhaps in the hope that if enough people step forward, adidas might put it into at least limited production.
For any football fans reading this, what could be better than watching your team dressed in an official strip? If that strip happens to be in the form of a loose, comfy qamis, that sounds like a win.
