Fashion on the ball
Search kicks off to find fashion architects who can create the best in football couture, writes Nontando Mposo
IT HAS been 40-odd years since Gladys Gailey watched her first soccer game at the age of 13. Since then, she has spent more time in stadiums than at her home in Westbury, Joburg. Gailey’s passion for the sport has earned her the title of “First Lady of Football”, as she has spent thousands of rand following her favourite teams across South Africa and overseas, to watch the national team in France and Germany.
Her childhood team was Kaizer Chiefs, as her late brother Jabulani Smith was a goalkeeper for the then Kaizer XI club. Since then she has converted to Ajax Cape Town.
“My blood is now red. It has been that way for 16 years since the formation of Ajax. I love their youthful side. The young players are witty and full of life… It is one of a few clubs that takes the development of its young players seriously,” she says.
We meet the cheerful Gailey at the Nedbank head office in Sandton during the launch of the Nedbank Cup tournament. She is dressed in her finest – an Ajax flag tied on her left shoulder, sarong style. Her club colours, red and white, dominate the rest of her outfit of beaded takkies, a traditional Zulu hat and a multibeaded necklace.
“I set the trends for women supporters in my team. They love my fashionable traditional outfits, the players also love how I dress up for them,” she says.
“The team appreciates how I follow them around the country when I have the money… they even call me ‘Mama Ajax’. I am their drawcard and good luck charm,” says Gailey, who describes herself as a philanthropist. “When they lose I feel rejected and don’t want to see them for a few days. But they are my children, I always forgive them.”
Gailey’s dedication to her team is a feeling shared by many fans across the world. They are usually the ones on the stands cheering the loudest. They stand out from the crowd in their over-the-top outfits, which are often topped off with makarabas (hard helmets), robes or other regalia, telling a story of their favourite teams and players.
Like Gailey, they spend a lot of money and time following their passion and the players love them for their loyalty and enthusiasm through the good and bad.
It is simply their love for the team and the game that keeps them coming back for more, explains Gailey.
Now Gailey and 15 other superfans are getting their moment to shine. As the vuvuzelas blew for the eighth Nedbank Cup tournament, the spotlight will not only beam down on the teams, but on 16 superfans who will be cheering their teams dressed in couture by the country’s top designers.
The search is on for 16 talented young designers from four South African design schools who will collaborate with the designers and the superfans to produce the ultimate football fan couture to be revealed during the tournament.
Last year, designer David Tlale scooped first prize in the debut Nedbank Cup Football Fan Couture Contest. The designers competing this year are Chulaap by Chu Suwannapha, Tlale, Fundudzi by Craig Jacobs, Gavin Rajah, Gert-Johan Coetzee, Irmgard Mkhabela, Kathrin Kidger, KLûK CGDT, Loin Cloth and Ashes by Anisa Mpungwe, Mike Narainsamy, MilQ and Honey, Palse by Paledi Segapo, Rubicon, Sylvester Falata, Terrence Bray, and Zarth by Zama Mathe.
Joburg-based Jacobs says meshing fashion and football is an exciting challenge. “The idea is for us designers to take the DNA behind the team and add a bit of glitz and glamour to it to create something amazing,” he says.
“Working with the superfans is what makes it extra special, they are so dedicated and passionate about their teams. The competition gives them an opportunity to be acknowledged for their dedication, while adding glamour to the soccer field.”
He admits that until last year when he entered the competition he was not much of a soccer fan. “But I got to know Eugene, an Orlando Pirates superfan. It was fun working with him, I am a fan of the sport now.”
Cape Town designer Kelly Davids of MilQ and Honey, who watches football occasionally, says that with the designer numbers growing from four to 16, it means the competition will be even tougher but exciting.
“Last year was fun and exciting. (This year) the outfit that we will create will be influenced by the soccer team I am matched with as well as traces of the superfan’s personality,” she says.
Joburg-based designer, Falata says the contest asks for the designers to unleash their creative side. “I am definitely stepping out of my box, I am not holding myself back creatively. There is an amazing mix of designers and I am very proud and honoured to be working with some of them that I look up to.”
The 16 design students will be scouted from four design schools, still to be announced.
The tournament started yesterday at Orlando Stadium in Joburg.