Getting in your opponent's head is a huge part of boxing and MMA. Do it successfully, and you'll throw him off his game, leaving you with the advantage. Conor McGregor does not need to be told this; the guy is a master of smack talk. Which is probably why he decided to get a jumpstart on wriggling his way under Floyd Mayweather's skin this week at a press conference for their upcoming fight on 26 August.
The peculiar thing? He used fashion to do it.
McGregor turned up to the conference—the first in the duo's world tour of yelling at one another in front of crowds—wearing a supremely tailored bespoke suit with a pinstripe. But on closer inspection, it wasn't just a pinstripe: It was the words "Fuck You" written over and over. That's one way to flip the bird.
"I wanted to do something irreverent that brought out the 'notorious' in Conor," says David Heil, CEO of David August, the brand that made the suit for the reigning 155 pound champion of the UFC. "Conor is a fan of our pinstripe and plaid suits, so I felt weaving this specific phrase into the cloth was the perfect way to bring together the bespoke details of a custom suit and Conor's personality."
The fabric is a custom, in-house product made of super 130s navy wool for the label, which has been dressing McGregor for the entirety of his career. According to Heil, if you were hoping to get a similar message across to someone in your life (like maybe your boss), you could get a similar suit through the company's bespoke business.
To pair with the suit, the mixed martial artist went for a lapel flower, hot pink tie, and a patterned pocket square.
But McGregor's insults didn't stop at what was written on his suit (according to Heil, the fighter prefers to wear a three-piece, regardless of what the fabric may call for). While speaking on stage at the press tour, McGregor pointed to Mayweather, saying "He's in a fucking track suit."
[youtube ]https://youtu.be/O7dg4seh46U?t=297 [/youtube]
"He can't even afford a suit any more," he continued. "He is fucked." With all of that talk, one would hope he doesn't get knocked on his back within the first few rounds.
