Diana Al Shammari: Meet the artist who reinvents football shirts using embroidery
Diana Al Shammari, also known as The Football Gal on Instagram, has created some of the most sought-after reinvented football jerseys. Using the art of embroidery, the London-based artist uses football shirts as the canvas for her creativity. Earlier this year, Al Shammari collaborated with FC Barcelona footballer Jules Koundé to create his own jersey after previously donning her reimagined 2022 Japanese shirt.
Al Shammari started ‘The Football Gal’ project in 2017 and has reinvented football shirts ever since. ‘’I love the ever-changing artistic interpretations of the game. When art combines with football the result is always unexpected, and what I do fits into that bucket. People find my work weird or wonderful, and I want to see more people produce work that gets the same reaction,’’ said Al Shammari in an interview with Versus.
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Joe Jonas and Jules Koundé
Her proudest work has been the football shirts she created for musician Joe Jonas and FC Barcelona defender Jules Koundé. ‘’Last year, I created a couple of football shirts for Joe Jonas. He wore them on tour and that was a huge deal for me, it’ll sound silly, because he was my ultimate teenage crush. A few months after that, Jules Koundé, who is not only great on the pitch but very stylish off it, bought my Japan third kit. I had no idea it was him when the order came through and was super surprised when he wore it before one of his Barcelona matches. The picture got posted and it went everywhere online – he didn’t have to do that but it was really nice of him to do so. It put more eyes on my work, but also pushed the art of embroidery far more among other people. That’s been cool to see.’’
However, her journey as an artist in the football world has not been straightforward. Growing up in Iraq during the war, Al Shammari wasn’t able to express her love for football. ‘’My motivation comes from remembering why I started this and my journey so far,’’ said Al Shammari. ‘’Ever since I was little, I always loved football and football shirts growing up in early 2000s Iraq – during the war – playing football wasn’t an option for us as kids. I couldn’t express my love for football freely and safely so when I had the chance to move to a safer country and pursue my passions, I always wanted to keep football close to me. My motivation is to make my younger self proud and inspire other girls who might not have had the chance to play football when they were younger to pursue a different side of the game.’’
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Imposter syndrome
Since starting her artistic journey in 2017, Al Shammari has also faced resistance, both internally and externally. ‘’Externally, as is the case with any artistic endeavour, whenever you try something new you find people that don’t like what you do. I always need to remind myself that I won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s okay.’’
‘’Internally, I’ve always faced imposter syndrome – statistically, women face impost syndrome more than men so it makes sense – but also I have to remind myself that I deserve to be here,’’ said Al Shammari. ‘’I’ve worked hard to get where I am and it’s taken persistence and dedication.’’
Al Shammari also has big aspirations for the future of her embroidered football shirts. ‘’I want to keep doing what I’m doing right now but make it bigger and better than ever. I want to bring ‘The Football Gal’ into partnerships with more brands, more clubs, more players. I’d love to inspire more people to take up a hobby and make it the next big thing.’’
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