Fountain of Yus - #016

Celebrating 1 year of FOY, I bring you Issue sweet #016, covering Messi putting the M in MLS, Lessons from the Air film, Cultural partnerships, and how it really is Africa’s time. Enjoy!

Hi again. Apologies for the disappearance, a host of changes in my life happening all at once (all good, don’t worry) put me out of the headspace to write. But I’ve missed you all and I couldn’t stay away any longer, especially as we celebrate a year of Fountain of Yus on our Sweet 16 edition. Thank you to all those who have been a part of the journey so far and for those who have recently joined, buckle up! 

Lessons from ‘AIR’

Directed by Ben Affleck and starring Matt Damon, the film is a tale of the ends the Nike basketball division went to in signing Michael Jordan. Through the film we see how Nike's 10 principles manifest.

Set in 1984, the story is centred on Sonny Vaccaro, a Nike talent scout who was tasked with the role of elevating the Nike Basketball division. Sonny was known for having an ear to the ground on rising ballers as well as a good eye for spotting talent, which was what attracted Phil Knight to him. At the time Nike was not an attractive brand for NBA players, they were known for making running shoes and they lacked cultural currency. The market was instead dominated by adidas and Converse, a more desirable sponsorship opportunity for the biggest names. In order to make their presence felt in the world of Basketball, Nike HAD to do something extraordinary.

What makes Nike, Nike? There are valuable lessons easily extracted from this story and many of them sit in the 10 principles Nike have: Taking risks, trusting your gut and your people in the pursuit of perfect outcomes, not perfect process are what truly tipped the balance in Nike’s favour. We live in a world where we often try to predict the future so much that we forget that magic can only happen beyond our limited expectations. Nike took a risk, one that saw them become the biggest brand in the world, one that allowed them to become so successful that they could eventually buy their competitor, Converse. 

But it goes without saying that much of the success of this story is also down to Michael Jordan. His character, determination, hunger and success turned both Nike and the NBA into a global phenomenon. Every kid wanted to be like Mike and kids, to this day, want a pair of Jordans.

Every shoe is just a shoe until someone steps in it.

Why Samutaro x GANT mattered

A few months ago, GANT partnered with the popular Instagram archive account and pop culture encyclopedia, Samutaro, to curate an exhibition in London celebrating the brand’s long history and its present direction. The exhibition was the second in a series of exhibitions, with the first being in New York and hosted by the popular men’s fashion podcast, Throwing Fits. The exhibition highlighted a growing trend we’re seeing amongst brands, which I’ll dive into later.

GANT is the epitome of Americana, it was at the forefront of building that American sportswear aesthetic but also the preppy look akin to colleges. The exhibition looked to celebrate this, showcasing the brand's long history from its early days, all the way to showcasing the brand’s contribution to streetwear and culture - popularising the rugby shirt for instance.

Co-curated with Sam Trottman, founder of Samutaro, Sam dug into Gant’s extensive archive to pick a selection of pieces that highlight the brand’s history through garments. Atop of this, a zine was also created for the exhibition, which allowed readers to take home with them the valuable knowledge shared at the exhibition. People want to know brands on a deeper level, the finer details, they want to be let in on the story, not just the product, which in turn increases their desire to buy into the brand’s products. The GANT x Samutaro exhibition celebrates this truth. Attending the exhibition, it felt like seeing the Samutaro page being brought to life; culture, history, pieces and knowledge all packaged in one space as Sam would do with his Instagram posts.

Samutaro’s status warranted attendance, the exhibition provided an opportunity for his audience to meet him, connect with one another, get their hands on the exclusive collection made for the exhibition and witness another significant moment in Samutaro’s journey. GANT was tapping directly into Samutaro’s following which is the exact kind of audience this exhibition is designed to speak to. It's a low risk, with a high reward strategy.

Brands are noticing the value of partnering with the likes of Samutaro, be it archival pages, podcasts, digital publications or even moodboard pages. These profiles offer access to a highly engaged audience who are often also culturally influential, allowing brands to accumulate a share of that by association We’ve seen adidas collaborate on a collection with moodboard page turned brand Sporty and Rich, FILA partner on a capsule collection with birdwatching club Flock Together, Mr.Porter partner with the Throwing Fits crew for a pop-up in New York, New Balance collab with Basement Approved for a sneaker release, and Ambush partner with Sabukaru for the rollout of their sneaker collaboration with Nike, all of which goes to show you the power these niche community platforms have and how partnering with them can breed success.

Africa’s time is now

We’re only halfway through the year and we’ve already seen an array of collaborations that signal Africa’s time is now, as Western fashion brands look to build a connection with audiences within the region. 

The cultural partnerships we’ve seen so far have mainly been dominated by streetwear brands, up until a few days ago when Bottega Veneta stepped into the fray, showing that the African region is of interest to high fashion brands too. Air Afrique, a Parisian collective recently announced that they will be launching their namesake magazine at the upcoming Paris Fashion Week. Named after a defunct West African Airline, which had its own flight publication ‘Balafon’ which served as a cultural platform too at the time. Now with the help of Bottega Veneta, Air Afrique will bring the archives to life, and retell the story of Air Afrique’s rich past while also sharing new stories, still embedded in spotlighting Pan-African excellence. 

For Bottega Veneta, a high fashion brand, to support such an initiative, shows that brands are recognising the growing importance of the African region and through moves like this, immersing themselves authentically into the region. The revival of Air Afrique gives second life to a magazine built on archiving the present-day stories of both African and diaspora creatives, hopefully aiding in fostering connections in between too.

The Homecoming festival, was a great precursor for the signaling of the times, with this year's edition showcasing that brands and the diaspora are more invested in the African region. This year’s edition saw pop-ups from a host of new labels, including AMBUSH and AWAKE NY as well as a series of collaborations from a host of brands.

Firstly, the popular London streetwear brand Trapstar collaborated on a collection with Homecoming and hosted a giveaway in Lagos, giving their fans in the region access to a piece of the brand. Trapstar’s presence reflects the growing trend of diaspora-owned streetwear brands looking to connect with their audience in Africa and build those connections. Continuing in this manner, Stüssy also partnered with Homecoming, where they debuted their collab with Nigerian skateboard brand, Motherlan, which was a massive moment for the streetwear scene in Africa. Stüssy is one of the hottest brands at the moment, and previously brands of such status never really took interest in the African market. What also makes the collab really good in my opinion is that it just makes sense. A brand centred on surf and skate culture collaborating with an African skate brand is the kind of connections brands should look to be building. Going a step further, brands should look to investing in the cultures these brands and platforms are built on in order to nurture the growth of those scenes.

Another big moment was Drake’s Nike apparel brand, NOCTA partnering with Homecoming for a Nigeria-based campaign. The campaign rollout included a film starring some of the best Nigerian creatives including Soldierboyfriend, ODUMODUBLVCK, Teezee, and Slawn who was also featured on a billboard in Lagos. The significance of this collab can be personified by looking at the story of Slawn, who in his younger years would attend Homecoming as a local creative and now returns home to star in a collaboration with Drake’s NOCTA, following his huge successes overseas, depicting everything Homecoming is about. 

The revival of Air Afrique combined with this year’s Homecoming Festival truly highlights that brands are taking the African region more seriously and the ones that build the most authentic connections will do the best in the region. 

Its MLS and the M is for Messi

The football season may have officially ended on Saturday but that hasn’t stopped the transfer market from driving the football world into a frenzy. Fans were sent into shock when it was announced that, after an illustrious career spanning over 2 decades in Europe, Lionel Messi would now be plying his trade in the Miami heat playing for Inter Miami. But just how did David Beckham’s club land football’s greatest-ever player?

Let’s wheel it back a couple of years, it's 2007 and David Beckham is football’s superstar, a first-generation galactico for Real Madrid. Many will tell you, Beckham walked so the stars of today could run, he pierced into pop culture in an unprecedented manner and this warranted his stardom. Such was David’s status and image that it made the MLS throw in a crazy offer in an attempt to lure the star to the US and increase the league’s viewership. 

Beckham signed for LA Galaxy, a fitting match for the Hollywood man, in a deal that saw him go from earning over $20m a year to $6m. However, it was short-term pain for long-term gain as Beckham negotiated a contract that put him in a position to sign Messi years later. To compensate for his lower salary, Beckham negotiated a percentage of the club’s revenue and also inserted a clause that would allow him to purchase an MLS club for $25m in the future. Beckham activated that clause in 2014, and 6 years later his Inter Miami side was in the MLS, rapidly growing and now worth over $600m.

Fast forward 16 years later from his arrival into the MLS and Beckham is once again involved in the biggest MLS deal, this time bringing in the GOAT himself. If an MLS team couldn’t afford to pay Beckham’s wages back then, they certainly can’t afford to pay Messi’s current wages now, so instead they manoeuvred a smart deal that saw them bringing football’s greatest player to the MLS, and it's already reaping rewards, with Inter Miami gaining over 6M new followers on Instagram, a 4500% increase in merch sales and a 1200% increase in ticket prices, with the rest of the league soon to see the benefit of his arrival too. 

But what does Messi get in return? Arguably a contract worth his weight in gold, atop of a $150m salary over 2 years, Messi will also earn a share of Apple’s revenue generated by its AppleTV MLS season pass and a share of adidas profits from his arrival. Furthermore, he will be given the opportunity to own part of Inter Miami when he leaves.

Time will tell just how much impact Messi’s signing will have on the MLS but one thing for certain is that it definitely will. On another note, football, while always a global sport, now has emerging markets stealing the market share of the European region, which I will touch on in my next issue. 

Until then…

Yuseful Notes

Devotion: Gauchoworld announce Issue 4 of their magazine. 

Rise of Telfar: How Telfar Clemens built an Empire by defying the rules. 

Wales World: Wales Bonner reveals her latest collection as part of her ongoing collaboration with adidas.

Nowstalgia: How adidas designers are pulling references from the 90s music scene. 

Nike Phantom: Nike release a football boot finely tuned to the women’s game.

.Swoosh is in the game: .Swoosh announced a partnership with Electronic Arts, that will allow .Swoosh’s virtual creations to be wearable in EA games.

RELOAD IT! : Has the power of a reload been abused recently? 

Against All Odds: A 4-part documentary celebrating the decade-long tale of Daily Paper. 

New Banance: Amine drops a banana-inspired collaborative sneaker with New Balance.

Embracing the Mundane: How Martine Rose has built a unique brand off exploring everyday realities. 

Maximum Speed: The role Max Power magazine played in documenting the Boy Racer Car Scene.

A$AP, ASAP: How the mob have proven to have an ear to the ground time and time again.

Microphone champion: The art of the cypher.

Greaze Mode: How functional dressing up North influenced Skepta’s style.

Anti-Gatekeeping: How Will Lasry is democratising knowledge on fashion manufacturers. 

Accessible luxury: Is food the new luxury?

Strings Attached:  The origins of LA’s East Side Bunny Ear Shoe Strings trend.

More Paper: Daily Paper release their first handbag, inspired by their coat of arms logo.

Our Legacy: The fashion brand recently released a range of upcycled bags.

From the Gramm: Founder of Manchester creative collective, Gramm, releases a classic cars inspired collection. 

More MSCHF: MSCHF releases a microscopic Louis Vuitton bag, set to be on display at Pharrell’s upcoming JOOPITER auction.

Didier: How football legend Didier Drogba ended a civil war in his homeland, Ivory Coast.

Go Ride: HBX partnered with BMX icon Nigel Sylvester for a transatlantic bike-ride celebrating world bicycle day. 

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What Would Yus Do?

Sharing upcoming experiences that I find interesting and you may potentially too.

Places + Faces: PLACES+FACES are hosting a pop-up in celebration of their 10-year anniversary. Taking place this Saturday, the pop-up will feature limited edition Collab tees from P+F affiliates, including A-COLD-WALL, Corteiz, Thug Club and more.

Drop Shop: A look at some of garms and creps dropping this week.

Exhibitions Galore: Free exhibitions you can attend this month. 

Asteroid City: a Wes Anderson immersive exhibition at 180 the Strand that takes you through the world of the director’s new film, Asteroid City. On until the 8th of July

BODY SUIT: An exhibition by George Rouy's showing at Hannah Barry Gallery for his first London show. On until Saturday the 9th of September

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Sonic Yus

A playlist consisting of all the songs I’m obsessing over in between each issue. Enjoy!

That’s all for now

Until next time,
Yus