Adidas has unveiled an adidas thobe — a traditional full-length qamis reimagined for the football pitch — in collaboration with French-Malian artist Émile-Samory Fofana. The all-white garment fuses Gulf heritage with Three Stripes DNA, arriving during Euro 2024 and just weeks before the Paris Olympics.
What Is the Adidas Thobe?
A thobe — known in North Africa as a qamis — is a full-sleeved, floor-length traditional garment worn by men across the Arab world. Typically white, it is a staple of daily dress and religious life throughout the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
Adidas is sticking to the classic white silhouette while weaving in its unmistakable branding: the iconic three-stripe logo runs in gold down both sides of the garment, and the adidas badge appears on the chest in gold. The result is immediately recognisable as both a traditional thobe and a piece of sportswear.
Émile-Samory Fofana: The Artist Behind the Design
The man behind the adidas qamis is Émile-Samory Fofana, a Paris-based French-Malian artist who has been conceptualising this design for several years. This marks his first official collaboration with adidas, though his earlier work — which featured Malian men wearing football kits restyled as qamis garments — laid the creative groundwork.
Fofana has been open about his vision on Instagram, where he detailed the thinking behind the hybrid design. "We came up with a functional football qamis for you to be as comfortable as you would be when praying on the football pitch!" he wrote. "I couldn't be happier with the result of this hybridization — the perfect symbol of the search for a man who can 'do it all'."
From the Pitch to the Prayer Mat
The adidas thobe is engineered for real physical use, not just aesthetics. Fofana insisted on technical performance properties: the garment is fast-drying, easy to move in, and crease-resistant. It has been in development for around 12 months and is designed to go from football training to the prayer mat without missing a beat.
The campaign imagery, also developed by Fofana, shows a group of men wearing the thobe alongside traditional head accessories. Models are photographed playing football, posing in gyms, and standing before mosques — all underlining the garment's dual functionality.
Limited Debut at Euro 2024
The first glimpse of what would become the adidas thobe appeared as a single exhibition piece in Paris. The full collaboration was revealed publicly during Euro 2024 in Germany, generating widespread attention across the Middle East and Muslim communities globally.
As of the announcement, the adidas qamis is not yet available in retail stores. A small number of pieces were reserved for Fofana and his close circle. The designer is, however, actively accepting DMs from those who want to express interest — with the hope that strong demand could push adidas toward wider production.
