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A Look at the Campaign for Saudi Arabia’s World Cup Kit

Last September, Saudi Arabia‘s national football team beat Japan 1-0, in front of more than 60,000 spectators at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, thereby securing their spot at the 2018 World Cup for the first time in over 10 years. And in anticipation of this year’s event, Nike has rolled out the team’s official football kit, which features a white home jersey and a green away shirt — reflective of the Kingdom’s flag colors — equipped with matching shorts and socks, which they will wear against this year’s host, Russia, as well as Egypt and Uruguay in Group A of the tournament. The kit also includes pre-match jerseys, anthem jackets, and leisurewear built out of the brand’s dri-fit technology.

With the sporting event fast approaching, the sports giant decided to tap Dubai-based photographer/designer duo, Chebmoha and Chndy, to photograph the campaign for the collection, which pays homage to the Gulf country’s 1994 team. “Shooting this campaign was a childhood dream come true,” Chebmoha, the 26-year-old photographer, told Vogue.me. Echoing his statement, Chndy (as he’s known to his 82.6K Instagram followers) added: “Ever since I picked up my first camera, it has been a dream of mine to shoot a campaign for Nike in the Middle East.”

In keeping with the nostalgic feel of the football kits, the pseudonymous photographers chose to lens the analog portraits against the backdrop of the historical, 7th-century streets of Al-Balad (which translates to the town) in Jeddah. Chebmoha and Chndy have made it somewhat of a signature to eschew models and influencers in favor of people who accurately represent the region, and the casting for the Nike campaign is no different. Case in point: A young, bearded man pairs his green, Nike anthem jacket with a crisp, white thobe and an artfully-secured ghutra.

Iraq-born Chebmoha is also a stylist and fashion designer, while Chndy is an Omani graphic designer and the first recipient of the Middle East Now x Crossway Foundation Residency Program. The friends — who split their time between Dubai, Muscat, and Kuwait — have worked with a number of streetwear and luxury brands including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Carhartt WIP, and Vans. This is their first collaboration with Nike.

Nike’s 2018 Saudi Arabian Football Federation collection is available for purchase in Nike stores across Saudi Arabia as well as online.

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