- In this collaboration with Labrum London, adidas and Arsenal celebrates the rich and well-established connection the club has to the African diaspora in London and beyond
- A British African heritage brand, Labrum London’s designs incorporate bespoke African inspired graphics into the new Arsenal away kit
- The kit is available from today from selected adidas retail stores and adidas.co.za
– Today, adidas and Arsenal reveal the new away kit for the 2024/25 season. Created in collaboration with distinguished fashion label, Labrum London – a brand committed to telling the untold stories of Africa – the collaboration celebrates Arsenal’s connection to its supporters from across the African diaspora via inspiration from African design traditions.
The shirt is built upon a black base punctuated with a striking white zig-zag graphic flowing from under the arm, down through the sides and onto the shorts. This design, which represents the movement and flow of people, is bespoke, and hand drawn by Labrum London, and celebrates a pattern commonly found in African designs, artefacts, and decorations.
Arsenal and Nigeria legend, Nwankwo Kanu, said: “I’m so proud to represent my club and my heritage through this design from Labrum London. It’s such a nice shirt. I love how the patterns and colours represent our connection to players of African descent and our supporters in our communities in Islington and around the world. It’s great to see us celebrating this unique connection with such a stylish design. I’m excited to see our teams wearing it on the road next season.”
Throughout the eye-catching outline of zig zags, small specs of black – representing Cowrie shells – appear in the illustration, to celebrate their historical significance as an early form of currency in parts of Africa.
The design is finished with the incorporation of traditional pan-African colours of red and green, featuring across the collar, the adidas three stripes that run down the shoulders, the adidas logo and the Arsenal cannon.
These colours and cultural cues bind together to create a mural of the club’s past and present connection to the African diaspora in London and beyond – championing the rich cultural heritage within the team and across its supporter base.
Sam Handy, SVP of Product and Design at adidas, said: “By combining our design values with Labrum London, we’ve delivered a real celebration of Arsenal’s deep connection to the African diaspora in a truly authentic way. It’s been an incredible experience for our designers to work alongside their team to bring this to life – no one can tell these stories like they can, and I can’t wait to see the supporters and players enjoying it next season.”
An adidas, Arsenal and Labrum London capsule collection is also unveiled alongside the new away kit – crafted for supporters, through the lens of the Labrum London brand. The five-piece collection takes the patterns and colours seen on the away kit and reimagines them across two jackets, a tee, a jumper and a track pant.
A reworked Labrum London logo can be seen across all articles – which uses the brand’s ‘Nomoli’ icon – a symbol of protection and prosperity, stemmed from the Mende and Kissi tribes of Sierra Leone. The symbol appears on the back of the jumper and the t-shirt, while a deconstructed Nomoli combines with the zig-zag from the away jersey, across the two jackets and track pant.
Foday Dumbuya, founder of Labrum London, said: “As a second-generation immigrant growing up in London, I watched some incredible Arsenal players with African heritage. These players were amazing role models to me, playing the game in a beautiful way, but also representing the wider community that I connect with. Arsenal as a club has such a strong connection to this community, so it is an incredibly proud moment for me to have collaborated on this design with them.”
The on-field version of the away jersey is constructed with HEAT.RDY technology, using advanced materials to maximize air flow to keep players feeling cool, while the fan version features AEROREADY technology, which uses sweat-wicking or absorbent materials to keep the body feeling dry.
The on-field and fan versions of the kit are available to purchase from today via selected adidas retail stores and adidas.co.za.
DID YOU KNOW?
- adidas is a global leader in the sporting goods industry. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany, the company employs more than 59,000 people across the globe and generated sales of € 21.4 billion in 2023.
For more information, please visit www.adidas-Group.com.
About adidas in Football
adidas is the global leader in football. It is the official supplier of the most important football tournaments in the world, such as the FIFA World Cup™, the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, the UEFA European Football Championship™, the UEFA Champions League™ & the UEFA Women’s Champions League™. adidas also sponsors some of the world’s top clubs including Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Bayern Munich & Juventus. adidas is also partner to some of the best athletes in the game including Leo Messi, Jude Bellingham, Mohamed Salah, Pedri, Florian Wirtz, Alessia Russo, Paulo Dybala, Lena Oberdorf, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Joao Felix, Serge Gnabry, Manuel Neuer, Karim Benzema, Vivianne Miedema, Mary Fowler, and Wendie Renard.
About Labrum London
Founded in 2014, Labrum is a modern-day British African brand telling the untold stories of West Africa to help bridge the gap between western society and African Cultures. Labrum has recently been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design by The British Fashion Council. For more information please visit https://labrumlondon.com/pages/about.
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