Since Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years this month, the visibility of the club’s shirts has soared, with celebrities including Romeo Beckham and the singer Mahalia wearing them.
One particularly notable fan moment occurred when Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, wore a kurta made out of the team’s 2025-26 away kit to attend Eid al-Adha prayers in the Bronx.
Mamdani is a vocal Arsenal fan who wore a club scarf at a recent press conference and received a message of congratulations from former player Ian Wright when he became mayor.
Images of him wearing the kurta have been widely shared and, predictably, given that the garment combines football fandom and faith, the response has been divisive.
In comments under a post by Diet Paratha – an Instagram account focused on south Asian culture and fashion – one commentator wrote: “Bro noooo how’s my Eid fit supposed to compete with this?”
On a post by the fashion website Highsnobiety, someone commented: “When I thought I couldn’t hate this guy any more”, while on one by Versus, a football style platform, another wrote: “Even this Chelsea fan knows how cold this is.”
The kurta is a long shirt or tunic originating from south Asia, and Mamdani’s bespoke version was supplied by Jason Andrew. Andrew is one of the founders of Brooklyn Invincibles, an Arsenal supporters club in Fort Greene, New York, where celebrities including Spike Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Sol Campbell and Mamdani watch games.
Andrew had just five days to make the item – a deadline exacerbated by a shortage of shirts after the title win. “It’s going to be sold out because every fan who was on the fence about buying one this season is going to grab a piece of memorabilia,” he said.
Having sourced the shirts through his connections, Andrew then dispatched them to his longtime tailor in the care of his mother, the daughter of a seamstress, “to walk him through the specifics”.
Dr Fatima Rajina, a senior fellow at the Stephen Lawrence research centre at De Montfort University in Leicester who in 2024 curated an exhibition about what Muslim men wear to Friday prayers, believes some of the negative comments around Mamdani’s kurta are about his refusal to hide his faith in public office.
“He’s the first Muslim mayor of the most multicultural city in the world and also one of the most significant cities in the world. He’s disrupting a lot of things, socially, culturally, politically,” she said.
Arsenal’s reputation as the Premier League club with the most diverse and global fanbase aligns with Mamdani’s vision of an inclusive New York. Any Arsenal-inclined social media feed since the title win has featured videos of celebrations not only in culturally diverse north London, but also from around the world. A video on TikTok shows a man in Uganda wearing an Arsenal thobe –a floor-length garment similar to Mamdani’s kurta.
Andrew said the way Mamdani approached the look was on brand. “He doesn’t do anything crazy. He’s like: ‘Hey, I’m a New Yorker. I wear Timberlands, I wear a Carhartt jacket’ … [The kurta] embraces his fandom – we’re no different to him, and he’s no different to us.”
Faris and Aaliyah Gohir, the sibling founders of Arsenal Muslim Gooners, said the image of Mamdani in the kurta was a powerful one for their community.
“[It] brought faith, culture and football together in one image,” Faris said. “Muslim football supporters often feel invisible, so a globally recognised Muslim Arsenal supporter has certainly put us in the spotlight.”
Official Arsenal kits have sought to engage with the team’s diverse fanbase in the past. The British-Sierra Leonean designer Foday Dumbuya designed the club’s 2024-25 away shirt, while a 2022-23 season prematch jersey in Jamaican colours became a favourite at Notting Hill carnival.
Now Aaliyah Gohir believes Mamdani’s kurta could be an inspiration for further designs. “Arsenal-branded thobes and hijabs would be popular,” she said. “Female fans are also using AI to design Arsenal abayas … A Muslim-inspired range would feel like a natural next step.”