We speak to Old School co-founder and CMO Stephan Steinmann about the jersey that carried a nation’s hope in 1996, and what it means to bring it back now.
Thirty years after Bafana Bafana lifted the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, one of South African football’s most recognisable jerseys is back.
Old School has reinterpreted the team’s iconic 1996 shirt as part of its new Bafana Bafana Premium Range. The launch includes a collaboration with Johannesburg artist Stephen Langa, who was invited to reimagine the jersey as a cultural artefact alongside football legend Doctor Khumalo.
With South Africans once again rallying behind the national team on the road to the World Cup, we spoke to Old School co-founder and CMO Stephan Steinmann about the enduring appeal of the jersey, the decision to bring it back, and what the response has been like so far.
The 1996 Bafana jersey means different things to different generations. What made Old School want to revisit it now?
For us, there was never any doubt about how important this era is. We understood what this jersey carries and what it means to people. What mattered as the licensee was making sure we understood the specific story SAFA wanted to tell and that we were determined to tell it the right way. This jersey carried a hope and a belief 30 years ago that meant everything to this country. With Bafana heading back to the World Cup, the moment was there to bring that same feeling back. We knew we had to get it right.
The campaign positions the jersey as more than sportswear. Why was it important to treat it as?
Because it is more than sportswear, it’s a cultural artefact. If you treat it like a product and just try to sell it, you’ve missed the point entirely. This is Bafana’s story. It’s the players’ story. And we felt that from the start. Staying close to SAFA and the legends who wore this jersey wasn’t just the right process, it was the only way to make sure that story came through in a way people could genuinely feel.
You brought artist Stephen Langa into the project and paired him with Doctor Khumalo. How did that collaboration come about, and what did it add to the story you wanted to tell?
We felt the jersey deserved more than a campaign shoot. It deserved to be treated as the piece of art it actually is and that’s what drew us to Stephen. His reinterpretation draws on the meaning of the era itself, classical caps, vintage interiors, the small heritage objects that mark generations of South African home life, the trophy on its way back. It draws a parallel that positions this jersey as something beyond sport. Pairing him with Doctor Khumalo, someone who lived every moment of that era, gave the work a real anchor. His prints will be in every Old School store nationally alongside the jerseys. It gives the campaign a dimension product alone can’t carry.
A lot of people who buy this jersey will remember 1996, but many weren’t even born then. How do you make that history feel relevant to a younger generation?
This era is so much a part of Bafana’s story that you can’t separate it. When I hear the stories being retold, by the players, by people who were there, you can feel the passion. It’s that tangible. A younger person doesn’t need to have been there to feel that connection. That passion is contagious and the history stays alive because of it. That’s what this jersey carries forward.
South Africans seem to have a strong emotional connection to this particular jersey. Have any reactions from fans surprised you since the launch?
Seeing the fandom build the way it has, the excitement, the way people have connected with it, that’s been something. But nothing prepared us for the 1996 players seeing it for the first time. Watching what it means to them, the memories that come flooding back. Those players lived that chapter. Seeing their reaction, hearing them speak about what it unlocks for them, that’s when you realise this goes way beyond a product. If we’ve done right by the people who actually lived the story, we’ve done our job. That’s the only measure that matters to us.
With Bafana heading to the World Cup, do you think we’re seeing a renewed sense of belief and connection around the national team?
South Africans are some of the most passionate supporters in the world and it’s just been proven again. Right now it’s full-on football fandom, Football Fridays, wherever you go there’s just hope and belief, the country is united. It’s really special to see. And being able to play a small part in that moment with the Heritage Kit means a lot to us. This is exactly why we do what we do. I genuinely hope this isn’t just a World Cup moment, that it carries forward and becomes something lasting. A new 1996 era. That would be something really special for this country.
Thirty years on, the jersey is back in stores, Stephen Langa’s prints are hanging on the walls beside it, and Doctor Khumalo’s name is back in the conversation.
“This jersey brings us together. It does not matter what language you speak or what part of the country you come from-when you put it on, you feel like you are home, and you feel proud. That is what I wanted to honor in this work.” — Stephen Langa
The appeal of the shirt has never really been about nostalgia alone. It is a reminder of a moment when football brought South Africans together and gave the country something to believe in. As a new generation of supporters gets behind Bafana Bafana, the jersey carries that story forward.
