adidas × Orlando Pirates × Thebe Magugu

For the Orlando Pirates 23/24 kit, Thebe Magugu reworked the club’s skull and crossbones as a labyrinth. Thingking took that graphic and built it at full scale for the jersey launch in Johannesburg. The lines of the maze became curved walls, with the new jersey held inside a vault at the centre.

adidas wanted the launch to exist beyond the campaign imagery. The installation needed to draw attention before the reveal, host the launch itself and then become a space people could enter and explore.

Magugu’s labyrinth became the plan for the installation. Large curved wall sections followed the shape of the original graphic and created a physical maze around the central vault. Before the reveal, the closed structure gave very little away. The vault carried a date and the jersey stayed hidden inside. For the launch, the interior opened up to reveal the product, integrated lighting and display elements. A separate collection space placed the kit beneath a suspended halo light, with the rest of the room kept dark and restrained.