Footballer's wife Awa Cisse has launched her debut fashion collection - and it's already causing a buzz among the sporting elite. Former volleyball champion Awa is married to Senegal international footballer Papiss Cisse, who used to play for Newcastle United.
When he was playing for the Toon, the couple decided to settle here in the north west, building their own home in Wilmslow and have loved being based here ever since. Papiss now plays for Turkish side Çaykur Rizespor and Awa has retired from professional sport so is concentrating on her own business projects.
Awa unveiled her high-end menswear brand Gods Gift at a star-studded fashion show in Cheshire last week. Guests included a host of international footballers who headed to the plush private estate Merrydale Manor in Over Peover to be the first to get a look at the new collection with a catwalk show.
Read more : Inside Man City's title celebration party at The Ivy
The brand’s debut collection has been created in collaboration with an undisclosed creative director, widely believed to be a high-profile name in fashion. Awa says it is already proving popular with the UK’s A-list, with part of its appeal being attributed to the shroud of secrecy around their artistic collaborations – an innovative concept thought up to afford full creative freedom to the designers involved.
The audience at the catwalk show was filled with premier league footballers including Man United's Axel Tuanzebe, Everton's Niels Nikounkou, Mbaye Diagne and retired football stars Fabrice Muamba and Quinton Fortune and BBC pundit Ashley Williams. Also spotted at the bash were Hollyoaks star David Tag and model Ebeneze plus national fashion media and industry professionals.
The debut collection does come with a rather Premier League price-tag though. Prices start at £395 for t-shirts, £695 for hoodies and £1795 for leather jackets.
Awa and Papiss first moved to England when he was playing for Newcastle United, but Papiss had many friends in Manchester so the couple decided to chose Cheshire to settle rather than the north east. They built a house here in Wilmslow and have invested in property in the area ever since.
Awa says: "There's so many French players at United and City so we've always stayed together in this area. My husband plays sport, I play sport, I'm an ex-Volleyball player but when I had my two kids I stopped. I always wanted to do a clothing line connected to football and sports at the highest level, and combine street, sport and fashion.
"There's a few designers that we are not naming, for privacy for them. I didn't even want people to know that this is my brand as I'm very private, I don't like to show off."
Awa explains that she had long had the idea to create a fashion range, having spent years "dressing her husband". She said: "I'm the one who dressed my husband, and a lot of friends, footballer's wives, dress their husbands too! I like design, I like fashion. This brand is such that women could wear it too, with the whole unisex side of things. Many items can fit women and men at the same time."
The inspiration of the collection is diversity and fusions of cultural heritages in the UK. A percentage of profits from every item sold will also be donated to charity.
Awa is mum to two young children while also working as a football agent with clients across the world, and also deals with all her husband's contract negotiations. It is through her sporting connections that she first sent out samples of her fashion range to get their honest opinions about the brand.
Awa said: "When I first did the collection I kind of hid it a little bit, but I've sent it already to 20 football players and I said tell me what you think about it, and I wasn't expecting the reaction, but they were all saying oh my god where are these designs from? I want to order this one and this. It went a bit viral just from my whatsapp."
Awa played volleyball for the Senegal national team, which is where she first met Papiss who played for the national Senegal football team. She said: "We were best friends for six years and then we just decided to stay together.
"I was always like "I don't want a footballer or basketball player, I don't want any sports people" but I ended up with a footballer. It was hard because he trained every day for Newcastle and at that time I played for Paris at the Stade Francais so we could hardly see each other unless one of us was injured. But now I'm retired from volleyball it's ok."
The Gods Gift debut collection has launched online now, with plans for a further collection in the summer.
Get the latest What's On news - from food and drink to music and nightlife - straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter .
