Paulo Dybala has taken on a very literal meaning of becoming the face of the COPA 19 series as adidas team up with sneaker customiser Zhijun Wang to create a bespoke 'Gladiator' mask for the Juve forward.
The Three Stripes went all out to secure the services of Dyabla ahead of the 2018 World Cup, and they kept his presence on the lowdown until a bigger project was ready to launch. That project was the COPA 19, a boot that Dybala now headlines with his classy play, charismatic personality and signature style. Now he's big time, now he's a leading adidas figurehead. Yep, that's right, now he gets to wear masks made out of his football boots.
The mask is obviously a reference to Dybala's iconic celebration of which he explains; “Gladiator is not just one of my favourites films, the gladiator spirit is also how I try to approach my game. It is the reason for my mask celebration and this takes that to a new level.”
The man responsible for transforming the laceless adidas COPA 19+ football boots into the mask is Chinese sneaker designer and mask artist Zhijun Wang. He dismantled the boots and carefully selected a number of the pieces to rebuild the mask for Dybala. The heel of the boot making up the nose cover, with the three stripes of the upper either side. Clever stuff.
Look out for the full Dybala Documentary "Behind the Mask" launching on Thursday 6th December.
Stay tuned as we sit down with the designer, Zhijun Wang, to ask him all about his latest project with adidas...
