Diego Armando Maradona Street Style

It has been said that Maradona does not play soccer, but he is soccer. His identity has extended beyond the limits of his person and his discipline, becoming something absolute. When, at the height of his glory, El Pibe de Oro went out in the field it was Diego – or D10S for many – when he went off it, he was Maradona. Naples, the 80s, cocaine, dinners with stars and mobsters and a type of popularity difficult to manage because it’s normally reserved for Saints.

Maradona did almost everything to make his own amusements proverbial. That wasn’t a pose, he was just himself: something bigger than Diego. Naples and the whole world loved him for and despite women, drugs, brazenness and that larger than life attitude that no one could imitate.  Today, on his 59th birthday, the champion has achieved a status that transcends sport and is a true icon. An icon that was unforgettable on and off the playing field, as these archival photos show.

Maradona's outfits, when you look at them years later, seem to be the very embodiment of that era and place. The essence of that atmosphere imbued with sport, of light-hearted luxury, of hedonism and of excess.  Acetate and fur suits, silk shirts and colorful t-shirts. Each of these garments, as soon as Diego wore them, became for the world the clothes of Maradona.

SPORTSWEAR

For his athletic outfits, during training or just off the soccer field, the favorite feature is comfort. The color palette is simple and decisive: blue, white, red color-blocking and colorful acetate suits. For workouts, shorts are almost ubiquitous. The looks are elevated by accessories such as sunglasses, necklaces and earrings.

LEISUREWEAR

For leisure time, the midfielder opted for more cheerful and relaxed looks. Multicolored patterned t-shirts, leather jackets, hats of all kinds, jeans and shorts. The best outfit, however, is the one in which he went to meet Freddy Mercury and Queen: a t-shirts with the Union Jack, blue pants and white sneakers. The legendary Freddy, on the other hand, wore a jersey of the Argentine national team.

THE FORMAL  LOOK

In the Pibe's life there were certainly no shortage of elegant occasions. From awards to chats with Fidel Castro, to his appearances on the sidelines as coach. Over the course of more than forty years of career, Maradona has declined the men's suit in all its versions, from the most formal to the most witty, and he has never lacked neither imagination nor style.

THE SMART CASUAL LOOK

Maradona doesn’t just mean sportswear. The legendary soccer player has also sported a number of more sophisticated looks over the years, including patterned polo shirts, silk shirts, knitted waistcoats and furs. And even with these outfits he has demonstrated his taste for flashiness and color-blocking.