To Jonnie’s Bodega, Football Shirts Are a Canvas for Creativity

The football shirt is an enduring symbol of the sport’s impact on culture and fashion around the world. In Malaysia, there is a time-honoured tradition of football fans gathering at a mamak restaurant to watch late-night, live broadcasts of games, wearing their team’s jerseys.

However, in the last decade, the football shirt has become more than a way to show allegiance to a club or team. It is a cultural phenomenon in its own right as a street style staple, even for non-football fans. Increasingly, the football shirt has become a collector’s item; there are communities of enthusiasts searching for rare vintage designs from specific years while the market for reworked or customised football shirts only continues to grow.

Catering to this niche since its inception around 2022, Jonnie’s Bodega is a small lifestyle store tucked away in the corner of JAM PJ, formerly known as The Gasket Alley, selling vintage jerseys as well as customised football shirts. Known for its frequent collaborations with local and international brands, its latest projects include the nostalgic Glory Days collection with Admiral inspired by retro football shirts, a capsule collection with Selangor FC, as well as a highly-anticipated linkup with local streetwear brand, Futuremade Studio (FTMD.).

As the summer shapes up be one of the most exciting seasons of football, especially with the FIFA World Cup 2026, BAZAAR speaks to the four friends who run Jonnie’s Bodega–Azizi Rahman, Jonathan Wong, Julian Leong, and Zairul Azmi–on how a new generation is discovering and participating in football culture through fashion.

Read BAZAAR‘s interview with the founders of Jonnie’s Bodega below.

How did you meet and when did you come up with the idea for Jonnie’s Bodega?

Julian Leong (JL): The four of us used to work together. At a certain point, we all went our separate ways to focus on our own projects. It was Jonnie (Jonathan Wong) who had the initial idea of bringing people together in a space to work on projects related to clothes or photography. At first, he would come to us to check in, asking us about our thoughts and brainstorming ideas, and the next thing we knew, we had the opportunity to open the shop. So, we all came together and went for it.

Why do you think football culture is so strong in Malaysia?

Zairul Azmi (ZA): Football is one of the main sports in Malaysia. A lot of us grew up watching and playing football. Even when we were kids in school, we were kicking everything that we could find on the ground. It’s one of those things that we were exposed to early; it becomes part of our ecosystem [and fosters] the love of the game. For us, we don’t play as much but we go together to watch football at a local level.

Are you collectors of vintage football jerseys?

JL: I started off buying football jerseys casually, to wear outside or to play football. I wasn’t much of a football guy but I got into collecting jerseys after college, and maybe sometimes, took it too far! As someone who started off not really understanding the culture, I think it’s something I take into the creative aspect of [Jonnie’s Bodega] football shirts: making sure people can still relate to the designs, even if they are not fully familiar with the sport.

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Tell us more about the design process behind Jonnie’s Bodega’s original designs.

Azizi Rahman (AR): We try to incorporate something different into our collections, whether it’s the materials or techniques. It may not always be a [straightforward] interpretation of football but it will always have the feel of the sport and the lifestyle.

Can you share some of your favourite Jonnie’s Bodega original projects?

Jonathan Wong (JW): I would have to say our signature Mates Rates jersey. From day one, the main message of Jonnie’s Bodega is to connect people and this jersey was the starting point of bringing us together and bringing us to where we are now. So it’s quite incredible to see homies still wearing it today.

JL: And I don’t know if you know this but it has a real-life application. If you wear the Mates Rates jersey into the store, everything is 10 per cent off.

You are no stranger to the football shirt. How do you feel about it now that it is entering the mainstream?

AR: It’s cool seeing how Gen Z are styling their jerseys to reflect their own tastes. Back in the day, you would rarely see people wearing jerseys unless they were actually going to play football.

Gen Z, in particular, has been a big driver in bringing back vintage, retro designs.

JL: When it comes to big brands reproducing a design they have archived for a long time, there are pros and cons. When it comes to football legacy, a new generation are able to relive historic moments in time and if past designs were ahead of their time, they have the opportunity to find a new audience. For novice collectors, it would be great because now they are able to obtain a certain reissue at a more affordable price and better condition. Of course, it’s going to hurt if you have been collecting for a long time and dropped a huge amount to buy certain jerseys. At the same time, the weather in Malaysia makes it difficult to take care of your football kits properly; it is easy for jerseys to deteriorate in colour and print.

JW: I think it’s a good opportunity for the younger generation to be exposed to the story behind different vintage jerseys and collections. There can be more to it than just looking good in a jersey; they slowly become more aware about why certain design features were incorporated or why things were done in a specific way. Moving forward, they can probably rep the teams that they like and wear their shirts with more pride.