SCOUTING REPORT: FOKOHAELA UNITES SPURS AND ARSENAL?
What is one thing that Tottenham and Arsenal have in common? The only thing, in my opinion, is probably that they are both teams and eternal rivals from north London… and nothing else. Fans of each team have despised each other for decades, and honestly, forget about winning the EPL, they have as much pride against one another on who finishes on top in the table! But at the end of the day, soccer is and should always be about unity. Putting all hatred aside and coming together for the beautiful game – at least off the pitch. soccer fashion brand Fokohaela is leading the way with this in mind through its immense talent in apparel design to unite the two rivals in a supreme way (pun very intended). Keep in mind Jason Lee, founder and designer of Fokhaela, is a die-hard Arsenal fan as well. I present to you the one and only “Spurs ’91 to Supreme ’18 to Arsenal ’19” jersey (long name) by Fokohaela.
Overall Design: Are you kidding me? This thing is ridiculously bad. And by bad I mean good, and by good I mean it’s supreme! Supreme probably thought they were being slick and edgy by taking direct inspiration from the ’91 Spurs kit, but Fokohaela took it to another level by using the design as an Arsenal kit. The red colorway sits perfectly with the traditional Arsenal home kit and it’s fresh to see some of the subtle jabs at Supreme by honoring Barbara Kruger and more blunt typeface logos which reads “it’s our pleasure to disgust you” in the famous “Supreme font.” My favorite part of the overall design is that at a first glance you would think that this might be a Supreme x Arsenal jersey breathing more hype to the hypebeasts, but when you look closer to the details, one can interpret it as a smack to the face to those that ride waves to only follow trends…
Score: 5/5
Functionality: This jersey seems to be a cut and sew piece by taking the actual Supreme jersey that was released in ’18 and cutting off its sleeves to sew white polyester long sleeves with red cuffs. My reasonable and educated guess tells me that this piece wasn’t really made to function on the pitch, but rather it was made to perhaps stunt off the pitch as well as send a message to those that care to pay attention to the details. So, in conclusion, would I wear it on the pitch? Probably not, but I don’t think that was its intended purpose!
Score: 4/5
Uniqueness: Fokohaela is probably one of the top soccer brands out there known for its uniqueness and this one is no different. I invite you to take a look at its other releases in the past and every one of their jerseys will kill this criteria through the roof. What makes this jersey so unique? Well, it pretty much unites Spurs and Arsenal – a once unthinkable concept – in a strange way by using Supreme to shed some spotlight. I have not seen anything like this from any other brand with a cut and sew approach while integrating it so well with the aesthetics of the overall theme, both in colorway and details.
Score: 5/5
Details: Details in this kit is what makes this jersey come to life and spew emotions to those looking at it. The first thing you will realize is the “Don’t Fly Emirates” sponsorship logo on the front of the shirt. That typeface already tells you that this isn’t just a shirt to look dope in the eyes of a hypebeast, but it’s trying to send a message. Then you look at the left sleeve with the wordmark of “It’s our pleasure to disgust you” which is derived from one of many Kruger’s famous works. A very strong and aggressive message. Then in the back of the shirt you see a middle finger in the #9 vinyl press and right below it is “Kruger” in her original font that was famously used by Supreme. But Fokohaela is not stopping here. Pop the collar and a simple “fuck off” is written, and if you read the whole back of the shirt with said collar popped, you would read “fuck off supreme” from up-down. I’m not sure if that was the intended purpose, but once you really pay attention to the details, this 1 of 1 shirt seems to be made to honor Barbara Kruger and not Supreme as the initial impression might suggest. Crazy.
Score: 5/5
Unfortunately this piece is not for sale to the public as it is a 1 of 1 release. Feel free to check out the rest of Fokohaela’s collection from their website.
