From Kinshasa to Houston: The Congolese Designer Who Stole the World Cup Spotlight
When the Democratic Republic of Congo’s football team touched down in Houston ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it was not their on-pitch reputation that first captured the world’s attention, it was their suits.
When the 26-member squad touched down in Houston on June 11, the Leopards arrived in coordinated black suits accented with velvet leopard-print lapel collars, matching leopard lapel pins, and custom leopard-print travel bags that quickly set social media ablaze. Behind the moment was a 30-year-old self-taught designer barely known outside fashion circles, until now.
Just last week, his Instagram account had fewer than 10,000 followers. That figure has since more than tripled as football fans and fashion enthusiasts flock to his page.
His name is Alvin Junior Mak, founder and creative director of the Paris-based fashion house JMAKxPARIS. The collection was built as a tribute to Congolese culture, the country’s legendary 1974 Leopards squad and the influence of La Sape, one of the continent’s most recognisable fashion movements. Mak told the BBC’s Celestine Karoney the leopard was a symbol of “strength and resilience.”
Mak selected black silk crepe for the suits, a colour he associates with resilience, determination, and ambition. The velvet leopard-print lapel collar serves as both a visual focal point and a cultural reference. The bag, with its solid build and pointed corners, “is reminiscent of a star,” the designer noted. “It’s a symbol of our ambition for this World Cup. The national team isn’t here just to participate; it’s here to go all the way.”
The designs carry deep historical meaning. DR Congo are making their second World Cup appearance and their first since 1974, when Zaire became the first sub-Saharan African nation to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, which makes the nod to that historic squad in the design all the more meaningful. “In 1974, they wore midnight blue suits,” Mak explained. “I took that idea of elegance and tailoring, but used a black silk crepe fabric, understated and elegant, with a leopard print.”
“Leopard means something more deeply for the Congolese culture,” Mak said. The animal has long been woven into Congolese identity, most famously worn by former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in his signature leopard-skin hat during his decades-long rule.
The collection also draws heavily from La Sape, the Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes, or the Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People. “Beyond sartorial elegance, I believe that Sape embodies above all a state of mind. Sape was a movement born in a working-class setting,” Mak explained. “It’s first and foremost a movement of humble people. What I’ve always loved about sape is the mindset that these people carry. They are people who don’t have much, but who fight to have beautiful things.”
That spirit of ambition despite humble origins runs through Mak’s entire vision. “It shows that it’s possible to rise through ambition, even if you come from a poor, humble or wealthy background,” he said. “It’s very important to have this mindset that we are capable of anything. You just need ambition and determination.”
Critically, everything was made in the Congo by local artisans, allowing the collection to highlight Congolese craftsmanship, a deliberate choice by a designer who wanted the work to belong to his homeland, not just bear its name.
Actress Taraji P. Henson captured the global mood, writing under one post highlighting the arrivals’ style: “WE SO MF’N FLY!!!!!!!” Photos of Les Léopards spread rapidly across social media, attracting admiration from around the world and sparking a flood of comments asking one question in many different languages: “Where can I get those bags?”
JMAKxPARIS described the collection on Instagram: “Elegance is a way of wearing one’s history. For the 2026 World Cup, JMAKxPARIS had the immense honour of outfitting the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s ‘Leopards’ with a look inspired by our heritage, our culture, and our collective ambition.”
While many national teams have used the World Cup to unveil collaborations with major brands, France with Jacquemus, Spain with Loewe, and England with Palace, it is Congo that is making a lasting impression with an outfit both elegant and deeply rooted in the history and culture of the country. For Alvin Junior Mak, the world stage came calling, and he answered in leopard print.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah