‘Even the gumshield matches the outfit’: Imtayaz Qassim on the rise of fashion in boxing
Over the years, boxing stars have served up style, in and out of the ring. Consider the peerless Muhammad Ali, a pin-up in glitzy fashion shoots or dressed up in crisp coats, cardigans and shirts, the late Joe Frazier’s signature cowboy hat, part of his persona as the country boy, or Naseem Hamed, with his leopard-print shorts and French crop, in the 90s. Following in their footsteps? Tyson Fury – a man known for wearing crowns and regal capes – and Francis Ngannou. The former mixed martial arts professional and first-time boxer wore a full-length gold robe, crown and black and gold shorts inspired by Black Panther as he prepared to take on Fury in Saudi Arabia in October.
Boxing’s modern relationship with fashion, can be traced back to one man – Imtayaz Qassim. Qassim began his label Bespoke Boxing in 2017, when he made an outfit for Welsh professional boxer – and friend – Joe Cordina. He has now created something of a niche as the go-to designer for the “ring walk”, the moment when fighters make their way from the changing room to the ring to fight, as well as what boxers wear when they are actually exchanging blows. With a bewildering 174 clients (male and female), he is on speed dial for some of the biggest names in the sport including Fury, Ngannou and Conor Benn.
Based in Barry, Wales, when we speak in February, he is working on an outfit for Ngannou’s 8 March fight against Anthony Joshua. “Francis absolutely 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 inspired Black Panther and is something I researched during my master’s. I like being able to bring a level of intellect into the design.” Also on the agenda are Fury’s outfits for his fight against Oleksandr Usyk, which is scheduled to take place in May.
When it comes to getting dressed for the ring, boxers’ extrovert attitudes are, Qassim explains, “a bit of a thing. This is what they are wearing 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.”
While boxing still gets less attention from the fashion world than other sports such as football, basketball and tennis, Qassim thinks this is changing. “The worlds are really crossing over now,” he says, with boxing styles trickling into non-boxers’ wardrobes. “People in LA wear boxing shorts out and about,” he says.
Big brands are also getting involved – Qassim mentions Off-White and Dolce & Gabbana, both of which dress boxers for their ring walks, American boxer Ryan Garcia’s sponsorship by Dior, and Somali boxer, model and campaign activist Ramla Ali working with Alexander McQueen. London fashion week designer Priya Ahluwalia, meanwhile, 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 focusing on boxers’ style, like Suzi Wong, who works with Joshua.
But, Qassim says, his work was crucial to this shift. “If I’m honest, I think I was at the forefront of bringing that fashion element into boxing,” he says. “People have worn outfits but it was never really a fashion thing. It was more of a costume.” Going under the radar for a long time, he stepped out into the limelight for Ngannou’s Wakanda-worthy ensemble. “When you create an outfit for one of the biggest fights in the history of combat sports, it’s hard to keep it quiet!” he says.
While Qassim credits the likes of Hamed as a trailblazer, he says boxers are more and more engaged with fashion across the board – partly thanks to social media. “A boxer is their own brand [now],” says Qassim. “This is a big part of [that]. Everything is customised. So for Francis, for example, I’ve completely designed the entire look. You’ve got a warm-up jacket for backstage, you’ve got his shorts. I’ve designed his gloves, even the gumshield matches the outfit.”
Qassim’s experience prior to setting up Bespoke Boxing sets him apart. After studying fashion design, he worked with streetwear brands ACW and Represent, and he’s made custom pieces for celebrities such as Welsh footballer Gareth Bale (a 65-piece wardrobe) and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker (boxing shorts for lounging around). He has also boxed and kickboxed since he was eight years old. The combination gives him an edge. “I look at myself as like a boxing couturier,” he says. “I bring that luxury. I also completely understand the functionality needs of the boxers.”
His clients have differing needs. “Fury, for example, his shorts were always pushing the groin-guard down so I needed to design a way of getting around that. The crotch seam can get in his way so I completely eliminated that and did gladiator-style shorts,” says Qassim. “Some people might have really thick legs but a small waistband, so you have to sort of fit around. Conor Benn, his whole thing is his hips, so you need to adjust for that as well. Design, at the end of the day, is problem-solving.”
As well as body shape, Qassim gets involved in the symbolism of what the boxers wear. For Olympics hopeful Karriss Artingstall, who had served in the military and loves the Disney film Mulan, Qassim created an outfit, with warrior-worthy panels on the shorts, for her to wear for a fight last year.
Presumably these couture-level outfits cost a pretty penny – he declines to say how much. Maybe it’s worth it in the pursuit of that purse. Can such attention to what you’re wearing influence the result of a fight? “By a mile,” says Qassim. “Joe [Cordino] says: ‘Look good, feel good, fight good.’ You always want to feel sharp. Joe’s base colour is always white, to feel sharper and fresher. He says it sharpens his fashionability and he’s ready to fight.” Ngannou will be hoping the principle holds come 8 March.
