Salwa Rahman in the new Adidas campaign. Courtesy Adidas
Salwa Rahman in the new Adidas campaign. Courtesy Adidas
Salwa Rahman in the new Adidas campaign. Courtesy Adidas
Salwa Rahman in the new Adidas campaign. Courtesy Adidas

Lifestyle

Hijab-wearing make-up artist Salwa Rahman tapped by Pharrell Williams and Adidas for new campaign

As football tops get a revamp, a bold new talent appears in the campaign

Sarah Maisey

November 01, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Showing that both the hijab and Muslim women are becoming more mainstream in sports, Adidas has just tapped up British-Bangladeshi make-up artist Salwa Rahman for its latest campaign.

Already known for her fearless use of colour and pushing the beauty boundaries, Rahman is something of a wild card in the beauty world, preferring to walk her own path, rather than follow someone else’s. This bold attitude made her a perfect pick for Adidas and its new partnership with Pharrell Williams.

Salwa Rahman in the new Adidas campaign. Courtesy Adidas
Salwa Rahman in the new Adidas campaign. Courtesy Adidas

The partnership sees Williams and his company Human Race reimagine famous retro football shirt designs and deconstruct them into something less formal. Using tie-dye and paint, the ensuing new designs remain faithful to the colours and patters of the originals, but with a softer, more approachable air.

Of the project, Human Race declared the new designs to be “iconic, creative, imperfect, human. The [club] jersey, redesigned by hand for the human race.”

Created for five of the biggest clubs in the world, Arsenal, FC Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, the pieces have now launched, and for the campaign Adidas decided that bold new voices were needed. Cue Rahman.

Hailing from mixed British-Bangladeshi heritage, the make-up artist's past works have seen her create entire landscapes across her own face. For this project, she is seen wearing a vibrant yellow and blue tie dyed top, that she has matched with spray painted make-up, and finished with a red hijab. Swirls of colour run across her eyelids and cheekbones, and her inner eye is marked with roundels of blue.

“To me, creativity has the capacity to ground and uplift oneself and the community," she said of the project. "Football jerseys are not just for football players and football is a game for everyone. When I work with make-up, I’m able to express myself, as a human being. To me, this jersey is a reminder that colour unifies and will always spark inspiration.”

Her creative spin on make-up has also seen Rahman collaborate with the likes of Glossier, Champion and Nike in the past.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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