by Over the years, boxing stars have served in style, in and out of the ring. Think of fellow Muhammad Ali, pin-up in fashion or dressed up in crisp coats, cardigans and shirts, the late Joe Frazier’s signature cowboy hat, part of his country boy persona, or Naseem Hamed, with his leopard-print shorts and the top of France, in the 90s. Following in their footsteps? Tyson Fury – a man known for wearing royal crowns and caps – and Francis Ngannou. The former mixed martial arts professional and first-time boxer wore a full-length gold robe, crown and Black Panther-inspired black and gold shorts as he prepared to fight Fury in Saudi Arabia in October.
Boxing’s modern relationship with fashion can be traced back to one man – Imtayaz Qassim. Qassim started his Bespoke Boxing label in 2017, when he made a suit for Welsh professional boxer – and friend – Joe Cordina. He has now created something of a niche as a designer of the “ring walk”, the time when fighters make their way from the dressing room to the ring to fight, as well as what boxers wear when they exchange blows. . With 174 clients (male and female) applying, he is on speed dial for some of the biggest names in the sport including Fury, Ngannou and Conor Benn.
Based in Barry, Wales, as we speak in February, he is working on a suit for Ngannou’s fight on March 8 against Anthony Joshua. “Francis loves Black Panther and Cameroon [Ngannou is French-Cameroonian],” says Qassim. “So the next outfit is inspired by that but it’s very conceptual. I looked at Afrofuturism, which was inspired by Black Panther and is something I researched during my master’s. I like being able to bring a level of intelligence into the design.” Also on the agenda is Fury’s outfit for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk, which is due to take place in May.
When it comes to dressing for the ring, boxers’ dissenting attitude, Qassim explains, is “a bit of a thing. This is what they wear when they go to war. It’s also self-expression, it has to mean something to them and say who they are [and] where they come from.”
Although boxing still receives less attention from the fashion world than other sports such as football, basketball and tennis, Qassim thinks this is changing. “Life is passing now,” he says, with boxing styles creeping into non-boxers’ wardrobes. “People in LA wear boxer shorts outside,” he says.
Big brands are also taking part – Qassim mentions Off-White and Dolce & Gabbana, both wearing boxers for their ring walks, the sponsorship of American boxer Ryan Garcia from Dior, and the Somali boxer, model and campaigner Ramla Ali working by Alexander McQueen. Meanwhile, London fashion week designer Priya Ahluwalia will collaborate with Gymshark to create an outfit for Ngannou to wear at the press conference before his fight against Joshua. There are also others who focus on the style of boxers, like Suzi Wong, who works with Joshua.
But, says Qassim, his work was crucial to this change. “If I’m honest, I think I was at the forefront of bringing that fashion element into boxing,” he says. “People have worn costumes but it has never been a fashion thing. It was more of a costume.” While going under the radar for a long time, he became popular for Ngannou’s Wakanda-worthy ensemble. “When you create a suit for one of the biggest fights in combat sports history, it’s hard to keep it quiet!” He says.
While Qassim credits people like Hamed as trailblazers, he says boxers are becoming more and more engaged with fashion in general – thanks in part to social media. “A boxer is his own brand 1709773560,” says Qassim. “It’s a big part of it [that]. Everything is customized. So for Francis, for example, I have completely designed the whole look. You have a warm-up jacket for backstage, you have his shorts. I’ve designed his gloves, even the gumshield to match the costume.”
Qassim’s experience prior to founding Bespoke Boxing sets him apart. After studying fashion design, he worked with streetwear brands ACW and Represent, and has created custom pieces for celebrities such as Welsh footballer Gareth Bale (65-piece press kit) and drummer Blink-182 Travis Barker (boxing shorts for lounging around). He has also boxed and kicked since he was eight years old. The combination gives it an edge. “I’m like a boxing couturier,” he says. “I take that comfort with me. I also fully understand the functional needs of boxers.”
His clients have different needs. “Fury, for example, his shorts were always pushing the groin guard down so I had to design a way around that. The crotch seam can get in the way so I did away with that completely and made gladiator style shorts,” says Qassim. “Some people might have very thick legs but a small waist, so you have to fit around. Conor Benn, the whole thing is his hips, so you need to adjust to that as well. At the end of the day, design is problem solving.”
In addition to body shape, Qassim is associated with the symbolism worn by boxers. For Olympic hopeful Karriss Artingstall, who served in the army and loves the Disney film Mulan, Qassim created a suit, with hero-worthy panels on the shorts, to wear for a fight last year.
These couture-level outfits probably cost a pretty penny – he refuses to say how much. Maybe it’s worth chasing that wallet. Can such attention to what you are wearing affect the outcome of a fight? “About a thousand,” says Qassim. “Joe [Cordino] says: ‘Look good, feel good, fight good.’ You always want to feel sharp. Joe’s base color is always white, to feel sharper and fresher. He says he will sharpen his fashion and is ready to fight.” Ngannou will expect the principle to arrive on March 8.
