Last weekend, Hollywood A-list Actor/DJ and all round British Sweetheart – Idris Elba, made a grand appearance at the Wimbledon 2023 Championship Final in London. While Wimbledon and the Royal Box are typically an avatar for sartorial elegance, Elba’s choice of outfit has since sparked a lot of interest from fashion and sports enthusiasts around the world particularly those of Nigerian descent.
Idris Elba spotted wearing the Super Eagles 1996 Vintage Retro Jersey alongside Sabrina Dhowre Elba at Wimbledon. pic.twitter.com/zD6coqAw6O
— Culture Custodian (@takingCustody) July 17, 2023
Elba strutted into the Centre Court, in a remake of the famous 1996 Super Eagles Jersey worn when the Nigerian Dream Team won the Olympic gold medal in football. Originally designed by Nike, the jersey is a classic Green and White tee, with a monochrome V-neckline, with the Super Eagles’ logo crested in the middle of the jersey, right below Nike’s. Nike designed all Super Eagles’ jerseys from 1995 through 2002 and resumed designing the team’s jerseys in 2015.
The remake is a white-collared button-down shirt, designed by Art of Football. The designer is a creative fashion collective passionate about creating communal experiences, for lovers of football through innovative fashion.
It’s not coincidental that global style icons and creatives are tapping into African fashion at this time. A huge factor propelling the “PR” is the exportation of African artists and creatives as global style icons. Moreso, leveraging sports as a familiar base for an intersection. In 2018, when Nike released the green-white-black, chevron-infused design for the Super Eagles, it instantly became one of the most sought-after pieces, not only for patriotic Nigerians and football enthusiasts but for lovers of fashion. Art of Football has previously channeled the Eagles with a sweatshirt featuring Pickles the Super Eagle– a teddy bear sporting the 2018 World Cup jersey.
Although the remake isn’t officially available for sale yet, our fingers are crossed that this will create a demand for nostalgic-inspired sports fashion, -a market waiting to be tapped into in Africa.