In partnership with adidas
Jamaican-Australian model Tanisha Edwards has always felt intrinsically connected to her Caribbean roots. Her bond with her family and heritage run deep and strong, and for her, it has always been contextualised through moments spent sharing – whether that be through the mediums of food, fashion or football.
"Football in Jamaica, as with the rest of the world, seems to be an all-embracing avenue for health, happiness and unity within the community,” Edwards tells RUSSH.
Now on the precipice of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted between Australia and New Zealand, adidas has unveiled the Jamaican women’s national football team kits, in partnership with the Jamaican Football Federation and British fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner. The design of the kits are a call back to the national colours and traditions of the island country’s culture and dress – a special signifier for the Jamaican team, who only qualified for their first FIFA Women's World Cup back in 2019, making this year’s tournament the second-ever time they have participated in the competition.
In a nod to this momentous occasion, Edwards and her family donned the Jamaican kit for RUSSH, taking the opportunity to style the jerseys to their own unique tastes – leaning into the national colour palette, layering woven and beaded accessories, and grounded by a myriad of their own treasured red, green and black adidas footwear.
“I’m loving that the worlds of sport and fashion are becoming more intertwined,” she says. “Besides the obvious benefit that sporting attire is functional and comfortable, I love the opportunity to rep my heritage in a way that is cool and effortless.”
As for how she will style the kit personally, Edwards has a few ideas – leaning into the athleisure trends of the moment; jerseys and sneakers paired with more feminine silhouettes like denim cut-offs or skirts.
“This Jamaica Fed Kit has given me the perfect opportunity to integrate my culture into my own personal style,” says Edwards. “I can see myself wearing this new kit all throughout summer, hair braided, probably wearing a pair of cut-off denims and my adidas Originals X Wales Bonner SL72s!”
Like in many cultures, football is a game that has transcended sport for Jamaicans – landing somewhere between a cultural touchpoint and a religion; ritualistically waking at ungodly hours to cheer on our teams, or packing out stadiums and purchasing jerseys in support. The wins and losses, triumphs and defeats of our home country's team no longer just ‘theirs’, but ‘ours’.
Like many of us, Edwards and her siblings became familiar with football in their adolescence. Memories of her family's pilgrimage to her father's hometown in St Thomas, for her, were earmarked by time spent in the country's abundant natural surrounds – swimming in the river, fishing and listening to music, and running through muddied terrain, feet trailing a ball.
"Scenes of my many cousins running through rurally set football fields permeate my memories of past trips there," says Edwards. "The sport is central to a lot of our happiest memories as children; running around fields together, laughing and playing, albeit absolutely freezing and always muddy."
"But perhaps one of the more indelible memories of my childhood is waking up at all hours of the morning to watch the 2006 FIFA World Cup with my siblings and my dad. Even now, I can so vividly recall our excitement at feeling connected to something so cool. It also helped me to contextualise football and its culture as belonging to the whole world."
