Welcome to ‘Together We Rise’, a new editorial partnership from VERSUS and Nike exploring the women who are blazing a trail to shape the future of sport and culture. Nike’s Third Kits for the 24/25 season have turned the Swoosh vertical to mark the non-stop rise of women’s football – and this is where we celebrate the players and fans who have made this change possible.

Imani Naki is a cultural curator and creative director based in Barcelona. Living in a city that lives and breathes football has influenced her attitude to life and work, founding her own agency that uses the visual language of football to celebrate the diverse cultural identity of modern Catalonia.

Imani spoke to us after wearing Barcelona’s new third shirt to speak about her love for the club, the inspiration she gets from FCB Femení’s success, and why community is key to women finding success in sport and culture.

If you look at men's football, for a long time, we've seen men's players work in fashion and music and gaming. There are other areas, other cultural industries that they operate in, too. And we're seeing it a bit more in women's football now. 

‍Aitana Bonmatí was on the cover of EA FC25 for example. Leah Williamson has attended Gucci and Burberry shows at Fashion Week. Is that something that you want to see more of in women's football?

Yeah, I would absolutely love to see women’s players going around different industries. I think it's very important, especially because I think that more and more fashion, sports, music and art are related and enrich one another. Seeing more players interacting with other industries will inspire us a lot to keep searching for other passions and keep blending interests. You are not only a female football player, you are a lot of things. It's also a way to express yourself and your interests outside of matches.

‍You can't rise to the top without overcoming barriers. What are some of the obstacles you’ve overcome on your way to the top?

The barrier that I had to overcome was more like self- development and improving myself in each season that life threw at me. At the end of the day you're the biggest barrier to the next level. 

Over the last few years I have been doing a lot of work on self-development. Each time you have to say, “okay, I'm not good at this, but I can improve it. Okay, I see that I have this deficiency. How can I be better?” So I’d say improving my self-confidence but there’s also been several barriers with launching my own business. My business is very community focused and culturally focused. How do I put my heritage, my Moroccan roots into the business but still make money? And looking at ways to make money while still managing people. So it's very challenging to figure out but at the end of the day, everything works with patience.

‍What's the best piece of advice somebody has given you?

Actually, I was thinking about that this morning. It sounds cliché but, ‘Just Do It’ is the best advice that I’ve gotten. A lot of times we are thinking about doing a project or starting a business and we are in the planning stage or scared. But ‘Just Do It’ is how I always get started. Just launch the thing! Start it now, and on the way you are going to figure it out. Follow your intuition. That's how I ended up here. By just doing things. Sometimes it makes no sense, sometimes it makes sense, sometimes I do it with fear, sometimes I don't know where I am going to end it. This is my biggest advice.

‍How does your wider network – whether it's your sister, other family members or your friends – help you achieve your goals?

They’ve been crucial. I don’t think that I would be here if it wasn’t for them. My family, my mentors, my partners, my community. I rely on them a lot. They help me and advise me. 

Sometimes when I don't know what to do or where to go, I talk to my community. I have a pretty good community of creatives in Barcelona. So I go there when I have a problem, and everyone is so helpful. I help them also. We do projects together, especially between women. We help each other a lot. So they have all been crucial for my development and where I am now.

‍If you were to collaborate with an artist to write a song for “Together We Rise” who would it be? 

Rosalía. I think that she's an icon. She also comes from Barcelona. Although she's big now, her essence and her roots are still with her – she has a lot of humility. She's also very supportive of women, so I would do something with her.

Barcelona's 24/25 third kit is available to purchase now via Nike.com

---

Imani wears Nike, Hey Harper, HOOPS + CHAINS LDN, KITTENstudio and Dinosaur Designs.

VERSUS: ‘Together We Rise’. It celebrates the upward trajectory and the ascension of women's football. How important is it to showcase that narrative?

‍Imani: For me, it's super important because it's a way to empower women and give them the attention that they deserve. Also, it's about showcasing all the talent that we have around the world, not only in sports, but also in the creative industries, artistic industries and in “regular” jobs. It's a way to give them a space and showcase women.

‍What does ‘Together We Rise’ mean to you? 

‘Together We Rise’ means more like community and a collective effort. That if we come together, if we join forces, we can change things. We cannot do it alone. We have to come together, support each other, be there for one another and create this community so we can make change. Especially between women because we are a minority and in some industries, we are misrepresented. So I think that joining forces is the way to change the world.

‍How do you think football kits can help push women's football forward?

For me, it's not only about the shirt or the functional part, it's more about the aesthetic. And now, I don't know about here in the UK, but in Barcelona we see a lot of women wearing jerseys, representing football teams. Now it's no longer about football or sports or the functionality of the clothing. It's more like a fashion statement. So these people wearing kits and women wearing kits – I think that brings more attention to football. Also with the rise of Barça Femení, you see more and more people in the streets with the jerseys. It's empowering and giving visibility to the team.

‍I think the Barcelona women's team has one of the most passionate, loud and creative fan bases in football.

They are huge! Now they are filling out the stadiums and selling out games. Even guys go to see Barça games now. It's super exciting. Years ago, I never saw that attention to the women’s team. But now it's like everyone knows the names of the players, everyone goes to the games. Now they are in a bigger stadium, so it feels like we are in the right place.

‍Who’s your favourite player?

Alèxia (Putellas).

‍Of course. Isn’t it always! Or Aitana Bonmatí.

Yeah, between the two!

‍We've seen a lot of excitement and energy around women's football in recent years. You just spoke about Barcelona getting bigger and having more fans. What would you like to see in the future for women's football?

I mean, for the past few years, it has been great to see the uplifting of women in football.

But I think that there are still a lot of things to do. I think we need more representation, more visibility and brands sponsoring more women’s teams to bring them to a similar level as the men’s game. At some point, I believe that we'll be at the same level because now they have a lot of interest. But I would love to see more representation and more businesses investing in women’s teams.

‍Let's talk about the kit and the design. What do you like about it and how would you style it?

I like the colour and how it suits me. Before I was like, I don't know about this colour, but it looks very good on me and my skin! I like the Swoosh. It represents women rising in football, and I love that idea. I love that there are two Swooshes and it represents the two teams. So for me, that is the thing that I love most about the kit.

‍Why do you think it's important for brands like Nike to try and tell a story with their kits?

Storytelling is the key to everything. People connect with stories, and with storytelling, we can connect with the athletes and understand them better. It's a way of joining fashion with culture and understanding the athletes, bringing everyone together to tell a story.

‍We're seeing more footballers work in fashion. Why do you think that is?

I think that it's a form of identity. They're building their personality and expressing themselves outside of football because a lot of time we see only these athletes on the training pitch or in games, but they are more than that. They have their own culture, their own style. It's a form of self-expression.

‍How do you think fashion helps grow women's football?

I think that even if you just wear the shirt, it's a fashion statement in some way. As I said before, it's no longer like a functional item. It's more like an aesthetic and how it plays with the whole outfit. Even now we see a lot of fashion brands doing football shirt designs. So I think that over the last two or three years, we have been seeing a lot of fashion brands doing this and that pushes the fashion industry into football.