SEASON meets: Nicole Chui on Redefining Power with Sport Direct
Words Aymen Babar
‘It’s going to be a big year for Asian women in sport. Being at the forefront of this campaign is huge,’ Nicole Chui tells me over Zoom as we bond over our love for embroidery and how Hong Kong and Pakistan both share an unwavering loyalty to Manchester United and Arsenal.
The Hackney-based embroidery artist, zine maker, and Victoria Park Vixens goalkeeper is already making big moves. Last week she appeared in Arnold Clark Cup tournament content with some of her Vixens teammates and grassroots football friends and this week her latest campaign with Sports Direct dropped.
In it, Chui stitches over prints of Manchester City’s Ellen White wearing the new adidas Predator Edge boots which transforms them in her own unique image. Crafted to harness all players’ abilities and provide more power, swerve and control, no matter their gender, adidas Predator Edge is a boot for the new era of football.
Through her artistry and athleticism, Chui is breaking boundaries and encouraging more women to take up their space. She has worked with Manchester United and adidas in the past and uses her platform to campaign against experiences of Asian hate.
The creative is also a friend of SEASON zine after meeting founder Felicia Pennant at an ASOS zine fair in 2017. Joining forces during Euro 2020 last year, the embroidery artist led an upcycling workshop to teach participants how to elevate their football jerseys with a needle and coloured threads and also stars in season 2 episode 6 of The SEASON podcast.
I was excited to get the opportunity to interview Chui and discuss her latest campaign, her creative process, and our experiences of being South Asian and East Asian working in sports.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: How did your interest in football begin?
Nicole Chui: When I was eight. My dad put me in an after-school club where I played in a mixed team. I was one of three girls out of 20 boys. It wasn’t long until more girls wanted to join and we had our own team. In 2019 I joined Victoria Park Vixens, first as an outfield player but I discovered I really liked being in goal so I trained up for that.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: I used to play for a mixed time during university and I always felt like there was the added pressure of having to constantly prove my worth. Did you ever have that feeling?
Nicole Chui: Yeah, I also feel that way. Football overall is very chauvinistic. I have felt this a lot more lately. There have been tournaments for which I have wanted to put a mixed team forward and they straight up said no. I found it shocking how strict they are – which continues to gatekeep what football is. But through my football experience, I have met lots of women and non-binary people who carve out their own space by just being who they are and it’s encouraged me just carve out my path.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: I’ve definitely felt a lot of that growing up. How are you doing that as a freelance embroidery artist and what is your creative process?
Nicole Chui: My embroidery style is very brash and disruptive, driven by emotion and moods. It’s all freestyle because it’s intuitive and that’s very important to me as embroidery is still a therapeutic practice. Things that I find difficult to express through words, I channel into stitches. As you grow up and live through different things, you get inspired by different interactions and conversations with friends or sports.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: I love how you bring embroidery and football together. They have always existed in my life as two separate entities so it’s really exciting to see them come together in this project.
Nicole Chui: Thank you! Sports Direct commissioned me to create a series of artwork inspired by the new adidas Predator boot with adidas and filmed my process as part of the campaign. The project concept is to ‘redefine power’ and with regard to football and my creative practice, they link well together. I am redefining power through my craft and existing in this football space that you don’t typically see me represented in. I’m reclaiming my space by being there and inserting my work which is great.
My emotion with this project was excitement and joy and hopefully you can see that as it's very colourful and loud. I am stitching directly on top of prints of Ellen White who plays for Manchester City. I wanted to channel that level of power you see when she scores goals. It was important to include her name in the stitching because it’s powerful to see that, especially at grassroots level. I wish I’d seen that as a teenager.
Embroidery is usually seen as a Victorian and docile thing to do. My work isn’t against that but I’m trying to show a different side to what a football creative and fan is. Embroidery is not seen in sport so it’s very nice to be involved in this project as the main character.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: Representation is so important for women of colour. Is this something you hope your work will contribute to?
Nicole Chui: Yes definitely. I hope to show that you can be part of football from different angles. I want to show that football is limitless and, hopefully, this will spark a lot of other artists to involve their creative practices with football. I would love to see more Asian women and South East Asian women play in the UK because the typical stereotype is that we are submissive. But on the pitch I see power and it’s important to show we’re multifaceted and not a monolith.
“I wanted to channel that level of power you see when Ellen White scores goals. It was important to include her name in the stitching because it’s powerful to see that, especially at grassroots level. I wish I’d seen that as a teenager,’”
Um-E-Aymen Babar: Definitely and we can also be both passive and powerful. We don’t have to be one or the other.
Nicole Chui: Exactly, we are not all the same and we can exist in the football space. I don’t want to feel like the token, I just want to exist in the space.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: It would be so great to see more women of colour artists working in and around football culture. What creatives do you admire?
Nicole Chui: [As I said] I have met extraordinary women of colour and often when we say ‘women’ we don’t even think of women of colour, but I want to show we’re here even if we don’t fit the typical image.
Ruth is an artist who paints portraits of women footballers. Historically, you could only do that if you were really wealthy so the application of it into contemporary content with footballers is very beautiful. Often the painters behind the portraits are still men, so to see more people like Ruth painting is great and I love her visuals.
There’s a graphic designer Texas and she made these amazing posts for the Women’s World Cup. I love that simple design and she has a really colourful aesthetic. I love @BabecityFC. It’s a group of women and non-binary people working in UK film and TV and they’re all brilliant people. I also love @moosleemargh who did the illustrations for Nutmegs.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: What are some of your goals for this year and things you’re looking forward to?
Nicole Chui: I would love to do more in-person exhibitions. I am hosting a workshop at V&A Museum on March 6. It’s a workshop for young people to hopefully increase their engagement with the museum. I’ve got something coming out with adidas for International Women’s Day with an opportunity to buy my prints too. It’s going to all be super affordable and accessible which is something I’ve always wanted.
Um-E-Aymen Babar: Congratulations! Finally, do you have any advice that you would give your younger self?
Nicole Chui: I would say just go for it and don’t be afraid to ask for help. We should reclaim our space and power as women so always ask because nobody knows everything.
Images courtesy of COPA90