Samplings of actual African soil were used to create the brown tones on the new Puma ombré Africa Unity soccer jerseys, a technique far fancier than any grassroots tie-dying we dabbled with in our backyard last summer. The gradient blue-through-brown color on these snugly-fitting (can we say bodycon?) shirts, is a representation of the sun, sky and soil of African footie, which is perfect timing since the African Nations Cup kicked off yesterday in Angola, despite pre-tournament tragedy for the Togolese national team. Let's hope the spirit of the design translates to the tournament, and beyond to South Africa's hosting of World Cup 2010 in a few months.
