Global fashion brand Champion has launched a new genderless pride collection in collaboration with AU NZ sporting club Queer Sporting Alliance in time for Sydney’s World Pride debut.
The Progress Pride Flag is championed throughout the collection, across hoodies, crews, tees, hats, socks, and jerseys.
Champion has been the major sponsor of QSA since 2021, delivering ongoing funding and uniforms for clubs nationwide. As part of the brand’s offering, a series of colourful Pride patches will also be available with 100% of profits going directly to QSA.
The opportunity to donate to the organisation will also be made available to all Champion shoppers online or in-store
To mark the collection launch, Champion partnered with LGBTIQA+ activist and director James J. Robinson to help produce a short film and stills for its campaign titled ‘The Game is Not Over’.
The campaign is set in a 90s-inspired locker room. The queer cast includes QSA member Sam Cremean (they/he) and dancer Amrita Hepi (she/her), and it addresses the viewer to "do it for those who can't, those who are gone, and those without a voice".
Robinson said he had been interested in unpacking the concept of the locker room since former US President Donald Trump made his comments about women and defined them as ‘locker room talk’.
“It made me think about what locker room talk is, and this microcosm of masculinity [that] exists in a bubble that can’t be pierced by outsiders,” Robinson said. “We can reclaim the locker space with people from the community whose very existence is almost radical against the concept of ‘locker room talk’ in the way that Trump described it.”
“We've come far with queer rights, and I'm so happy to exist in this day and age, but there’s still a stigma in sport and a lingering sense of masculinity that plagues the community,” Robinson continued. “I think my own experiences with basketball are an exact allegory for queer people being lost in sports.
“What needs to change is the culture within these locker rooms, but that must be started by the people in those rooms.”
Champion AU NZ marketing manager Sheleen Jegasothy (she/her) said diversity, solidarity, identity and advocacy are key pillars for the brand.
“We’re honoured to work with the community both in-front and behind the camera to present our latest Pride campaign, ‘The Game is Not Over’, as an important message and part of our on-going commitment towards creating a more inclusive world.”
To mark Australia’s World Pride debut in Sydney, Champion and QSA will take their partnership to the court by hosting a Ba-skate-ball Jam at the KGV Recreation Centre on February 23, 2023.