Congolese team’s World Cup leopard style channels history and pride

The most charming team outfit we have seen thus far at the World Cup did not derive from some Portland sportswear juggernaut with a billion-dollar advertisement budget. Instead, it was the product of a self-taught 30-year-old whose brand has fewer than 10,000 Instagram followers. Alvin Mak, a Congolese designer in Paris, is the man responsible for the leopard-embellished suits and leopard bags that the Congolese national team wore for its arrival in Houston last week. The team, which is appearing in its first World Cup since 1974 (a less-than-providential run that most Congolese sports fans would rather wipe from memory)…