Crazy Fashions on Cape Town's Fan Mile

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Text by Alex Marashian Photos by DEDON Tour du Monde Team

Crazy Fashions on Cape Town's Fan Mile

Stretching from the city center right down to the spanking new Cape Town Stadium, Fan Mile is three-kilometer catwalk of sorts, where football fans from around the world show off their crazy fashions. 

Though the looks on display will never make the pages of VOGUE, we have noticed quite a bit of flair, originality and invention among the 70,000 or so visitors — most of them bleating on vuvuzelas in the colors of their team — each day during World Cup 2010.

In the hours leading up to the Spain-Portugal game last week, fans of both sides put on quite a show, despite the pouring rain. On the Spanish side, we were particularly impressed by a group of men dressed up as a football-loving King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. 

The Portuguese had some impressive costumes as well, but at the end of the day, we felt that, just as they prevailed on the pitch, so too did Spain win the fan fashion game.

It must be said, though, that for all the color and excitement on Fan Mile, supporters of both teams were extremely well-behaved. There were no taunts or insults, at least not that we heard. No one was obnoxious. No one was drunk. And indeed, that’s the way it has been throughout our time here. Wherever you look, you see fans of many nations mingling, drinking together, celebrating and commiserating.

Fan mile will be gone soon, along with the estimated 400,000 football lovers who came here from around the world to be a part of the 2010 World Cup. But hopefully some of the spirit they brought here will stay behind. This has been a real “We are the world” moment. It’s easy to dismiss all those cliches about sport bringing people together, but once you’ve experienced it for yourself — and in South Africa, of all places — it’s hard to deny.