Managers' Style at the World Cup The players don’t get to choose what they wear at the World Cup, but the managers do

There are no rules dictating how football managers dress, but for a very long time they all abided by a sort of unwritten dress code. Two options were available to them: a formal suit or a tracksuit. Polar extremes on the scale of formality. Most coaches tended to take their pick and stick with it for their whole career. With the passing of time this unofficial dress code has become less rigid, in line with the more widespread decrease in formal dressing, so nowadays we see a lot more sartorial variety in the dugout.

There are two men, however, who set themselves apart from the others by means of individuality and charisma. Hervé Renard was the architect behind Saudi Arabia’s shock win over Argentina, Zambia’s unlikely 2012 African Cup of Nations title and Ivory Coast’s less shocking triumph at the same competition in 2015. For each of these achievements, he was decked out in a figure-hugging white shirt (with at least two buttons open), carefully cropped black trousers and some form of dark coloured fashion trainers (he’s gone for Louis Vuitton this year), the kind that are a wardrobe staple of every wealthy, middle-aged Frenchman on the Côte d'Azur. Of course his tanned skin, blond hair, impressive physique and chiseled good looks give Renard a head start, but he still deserves credit for finding a signature aesthetic that accentuates his existing advantages. 

Rigobert Song was already a hugely popular figure at home before he took the job of Cameroon manager in February this year and his dress sense certainly isn’t harming his reputation. His jet black dreads contrast sharply with his grey goatee, and both of these prominent features are immortalized on the range of slogan-bearing caps he wears. The slogans “C’est de ça qu’il s’agit” (that’s what it’s about) and “La théorie du danger” were both originally uttered by Song himself during a press conference and went down so well with the public that he trademarked them and splashed them across black and white baseball caps. A silhouette of his face appears in the wording in place of the letter “a”. Not many men could get away with sporting a hat that bears their likeness, never mind pairing a baseball cap with a suit, but Song exudes a cool aura that makes it all work. His suit is branded with the Cameroon badge but personal touches like his thick rimmed glasses and various bracelets make sure his own identity shines through. He is proof that it’s not about what you wear, but how you wear it.