Rafa Leão
Dietro il sorriso
Chronicle of the six months spent with Rafa Leão to edit 'Smile', the first book about his story.
In an interview with BSMT, Måneskin Damiano David, frontman of the most popular rock band of the last three years, said: "We've opened Rolling Stone, I've met some of the biggest artists and celebrities on the planet, but nothing has such an effect on me as meeting a footballer. They are like gods to me'. Damiano is certainly not alone in this opinion: football is not only the most popular sport in the world, but also the cultural flywheel that has influenced the lives of all millennials (at least in the Western world, with the exception of the United States) more than any other - especially if they are male. There's nothing quite like footballers, and there's nothing we want to know more about than the lives of footballers. But what happens when you immerse yourself in their lives for months on end and take that life apart, analyse it and then try to rework it for everyone? Who do they really become, the footballers at that moment?
Shirt DOLCE&GABBANA, coat, socks and shoes PRADA.
Shirt DOLCE&GABBANA, coat, socks and shoes PRADA.
Shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA.
Over the last six months, nss has been fortunate enough to work with Rafa Leão to publish the first book on his life, which will be published by Piemme Edizioni on 20 February. Publishing a book about the life of a footballer means digging behind a myth, accepting that there are disappointing aspects to his life and idealising a person who is ultimately human. Rafa Leão, on the other hand, is exactly as you would expect him to be. Although he speaks very little in public, he is completely transparent and at the same time able to hide and show himself without any kind of filter. Rafa Leão is often referred to as the footballer of the generation. Based on the subtitle of the book, 'My life between football, music and fashion', some elements become clear that are not typical of the lives of all footballers. In some ways, Rafa Leão is a generational footballer, not so much because of his performances on the pitch, but because of the way he approaches football. When we met him, we learnt that football is a dream for Leão, but not the only dream in his life: «When I was growing up, there was a magazine that didn't obsessively talk about the pitch, but focused on bringing fans closer to the tastes, passions and lives of footballers. They used to promote a positive culture around the players and bring them closer to the fans, whereas today it seems to me that they are just trying to isolate the players and put as much pressure on them as possible. We are used to seeing footballers as one-dimensional beings with one-dimensional dreams. Leão is not that, and in that respect he is not exceptional, but quite normal».
Rafa Leão was born in 1999 and grew up surrounded by football, smartphones and video games, just like any other boy his age. There is an anecdote that perfectly describes Leão's childhood and his relationship with football. Leão played for Sporting and for a tournament in Germany he needed his parents' permission: «I went to my father and was sure that he'd give me permission to do anything for football, so I took it. Back then I played a lot of video games, something I still carry with me today - in my first house in Milan I built a room just for video games. Today I like racing simulators, back then my life consisted only of PES, FIFA and Pokémon. I had just got a Game Boy, but like all children, I got tired of things very quickly. However, we couldn't afford to change video games as often as my classmates, so I decided to earn them my way. I had heard of a new video game - to be honest, I don't even remember which one - that ran better on the PC, but my mum would never buy me one.
"Dad?"
"Tell me, Rafa."
"Do you remember the computer I wanted?"
"Yes, so what?"
"Here, we have the tournament in Germany soon, if I play well, will you buy it for me?"
"Well, you have to do more than just play well. You have to be the top scorer of the tournament. Come back with the trophy and I'll buy you the computer."
I didn't need to be told twice: I scored a hat-trick in the final and scored almost twice as many goals as the second-highest scorer. We won the tournament, but I was only nine years old and all I could think about was what was waiting for me at home. I took a photo with my mobile phone and sent it to my dad with this message: "Do you remember this bet?».
Necklace DSQUARED2.
“I have the impression that many people in football today try to isolate the players and put as much pressure as possible on them.”
“I have the impression that many people in football today try to isolate the players and put as much pressure as possible on them.”
Shyness is certainly the reason for the reluctance to speak to the media, but it's not just that: Rafa Leão belongs to a different generation that the football world has not yet learnt to intercept. Mediation by the media is no longer necessary, indeed it is sometimes even harmful for someone who can reach many more people with a simple Instagram story without having to worry about how his truth is reconstructed: «I think the way the football world treats footballers is deeply flawed. We tend to think of footballers as superhuman, but in reality we are not. The media has built a narrative about footballers that I don't like at all. What kind of world is it where an article about a player's hat-trick sells fewer copies than an article criticising the same player? How did we get to this point?». When I think about it, it makes a lot more sense for a 24-year-old to tell his story in a book written in the first person than to rely on dozens of interviews that are all about his football season and the way he thinks about scoring goals. Of course, footballers are called that because they play football, but it is absolutely anachronistic to limit them to that in this day and age; just as the mainstream and traditional media's treatment of footballers like Rafa Leão is anachronistic, their passions and their lives outside football.
T-shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA, socks PRADA.
T-shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA, socks PRADA.
Rafa Leão is not a generational footballer because he has so many interests, but precisely because he represents a generation, the Z, that has not thought for a moment about being one-dimensional, because the world in which it lives does not allow it. Unfortunately, this attitude is always misunderstood and Leão is asked what he would rather win, a Golden Ball or a Golden Record, without even knowing how to get a Golden Record or what Leão's goal in music is, a universe into which he has entered under the name Way 45: «I want to play football in my life and make music in my free time. It's my medicine, my outlet. When I come home from training, the only things that relax me are my siesta and sitting in my little home studio and writing. I don't care if I never get anywhere. Lil Baby, Travis Scott, those are idols for me that I listen to before games to get in the right mood, but I don't strive for that perfection,' Rafa said in one of the most intense sessions for editing his book».
Shorts GUCCI, shoes DSQUARED2.
He prefers to talk about his surroundings rather than the pitch. After all, football is simple, it's the people who complicate it. During long conversations in his Milan flat after his proverbial relaxing siesta, it was often obvious that Leão would much rather talk about how he decided to start rapping or what he expects from life after football than about his sporting successes. And it's not because he's inattentive or unfocussed on the pitch: that's a toxic narrative that's been foisted on him because he seems sluggish on the pitch ('whatever that means'), but in reality there's no professional like Leão. There is no guy as young as him who has learnt how to manage his body and how important it is to take care of his body and every single training session. Just because he has exceptional qualities, we act as if he's obsessed with football, like Andre Agassi or Kobe Bryant. But he's not. And he doesn't have to be.
With this in mind, the answer he gave us when we asked him what you want to do after your career as a footballer is strange: «It's not an easy thought, I was born a footballer and I've built an identity through playing football, and it's also difficult for me to imagine what comes after that. But to this day I'm certain that if I stop playing football, I won't stay in football... my future will definitely not be in football, and even though it's still far too early to think about tomorrow, the world of fashion is a serious alternative for my future». The way Leão talks about fashion is admirable: he is humble, he is willing to listen and hear other people's stories. He even tries to explain what he thinks and what his vision of this world is. Some time ago he founded a brand, Son is Son, with the aim of telling a very immediate story, but not only that: he goes the extra mile to understand how to build a collection, how to make a brand.
Shorts GUCCI, shoes DSQUARED2.
Shorts GUCCI, shoes DSQUARED2.
Shorts GUCCI, shoes DSQUARED2.
T-shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA, socks PRADA.
T-shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA, socks PRADA.
T-shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA, socks PRADA.
Jersey PUMA AC MILAN 23/24 HOME KIT, shorts GUCCI
Jersey PUMA AC MILAN 23/24 HOME KIT, shorts GUCCI
T-shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA, socks PRADA.
When he talks about his brand, he never uses the first person singular, and if he does, it's only to talk about a formative rather than a creative process: «I observed the creative and production process closely, with humility and dedication: I understood what it means to choose a form, how and why a material is chosen and which producers need to be activated and how. It was a learning experience and, apart from football, my first 'job', because unlike music, which you set in motion when you want to make a production, I would hardly call it a hobby. I have no training, but I'm young and I apply a lot. I'm slowly getting to know designers and recognising their style».
Shirt DOLCE&GABBANA, coat, socks and shoes PRADA.
T-shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA, socks PRADA.
Shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA.
Shorts GUCCI, shoes DSQUARED2.
Shirt and shoes adidas, trousers DOLCE&GABBANA.
Shirt DOLCE&GABBANA, coat, socks and shoes PRADA.
Full look GUCCI.
Full look GUCCI.
The cover of this generational story shows Rafa Leão's universe in a simple close-up. You can see the movement, physique and energy of an exceptional athlete, the attention to style with the braids that Leão admitted he grew because his father had them and they reminded him of Bob Marley, one of his musical idols. You can see the many tattoos he got after arriving in Milan, but above all the smile that gives the book its title and helps to understand so much about Rafa as a boy on and off the pitch. Leão has often admitted that his smile is a kind of unconditional reflection of his body, spontaneous and natural, but when you think about it, it expresses the spirit with which the Milan number 10 approaches life and football. With a smile, Leão played for Barrio do Jamaica when he didn't realise he would win a Scudetto with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and play a World Cup with Cristiano Ronaldo. The same smile has remained throughout the years, the most powerful means of conveying emotion, even more so than the look. When the photographer lifted his lens to shoot the cover, it all came naturally, with eyes closed and a smile as big as the story Leão wants to continue writing. «This book is a gift from me to all the fans», at this point all that remains is to say thank you, Rafa.
Smile - the book about Rafael Leão’s life, edited by nss and published by Piemme, is available is available to buy here.
Photographer: Andrea Ariano
Stylist: Andrea Colace
Set Designer: Alina Totaro
MUAH: Silvia Mancuso
Photographer Assistant: Andrea Murelli
Stylist Assistant: Anna Lucia Denti
Set Assistant: Matteo Abbo
Interview: Francesco Abazia e Tommaso Berra
Full look GUCCI.
