Saudade House & Kevin Leonel Design Bespoke …

2 MIN READ

Saudade House continue to rock the game, teaming up with Kevin Leonel to design a custom piece that celebrates Michelle Alozie’s individuality, alongside her recent success with Nigeria at the 2025 WAFCON.

To mark Nigeria’s dominance and the Super Falcons’ tenth Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title, creative studio Saudade House have partnered up with New York based designer Kevin Leonel to create something bold. Together they have produced a one-of-one custom jacket designed around Nigeria’s footballing heritage, layered in history, culture, and individuality.

Leading the way as the face of the piece is Michelle Alozie. The Nigeria International and Houston Dash star has always stood as a force of duality. On one side, she’s a fierce competitor, a Nigerian international whose presence with the Super Falcons is continuously growing. But she is so much more than that. On the other side, she’s a cancer research technician at Texas Children’s Cancer and Haematology Centre. And threaded in between it all she is an emerging style icon rewriting what it means to be a modern footballer in the women’s game.

“Fashion to me is just so freeing. It allows you to express yourself creatively and authentically,” Alozie said — her personal style becoming as much a trademark as her play.

The jacket itself is a work of art fused with legacy. Created using repurposed kits, each with personal resonance for Alozie’s connection to the national team. All have been cut and designed, each layer telling a different story. From the iconic Super Eagles from ’94, to the shirt the Falcons just wore to lift the WAFCON. This is a wearable archive.

“For Michelle’s jacket, I pulled from three different eras of Nigeria’s football story: the iconic 1994/95 kit, the 2022/23 design, and the 2025 release,” Kevin Leonel explained. “Each carries its own identity, so merging them with a luxury Italian tweed allowed us to create something that honours tradition while pushing modern style. It’s about showing how history and progress can live in the same piece.”