Celebrating the rich and well-established connection the club has to the African diaspora in London and beyond, adidas and Arsenal partner with Labrum London for their 24/25 away kit and collection.
Arsenal and adidas already have a nice line of collaborations in their historic locker, from Maharishi to Stella McCartney to 424. For 24/25, that trend continues, with the reveal of the new away kit and wider collection, 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.
Starting with the focal point of the collaboration, and the shirt features 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.
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.
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.”
The away kit is then supported by a wider adidas, Arsenal and Labrum London capsule collection. 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.”
Shop the adidas x Labrum Arsenal 24/25 collection at prodirectsport.com/soccer
