DOHA: Since the emir of Qatar draped a traditional black-and-gold Arab coat on the shoulders of newly-launched Argentine world champion Lionel Messi on Sunday, Ahmed Al-Salem’s shop has been full.
His family’s company, based in Doha’s famous Souq Waqif, made Messi wear a ‘bisht’ when he lifted the trophy from the worldview, sparking a flurry of comments, with some questioning whether the gesture was appropriate.
Typically, the store, which has long supplied the Qatari royal family, sells between eight and ten clothes a day. And sales rose on Monday to 150 copies, including three copies that resemble the elegant coat Messi wore, made of Japanese cotton and German gold thread, with a value of approximately 2,000 euros.
“At one point, there were dozens of people waiting in front of the shop. Almost all of them Argentine,” Al-Salem told AFP, his eyes on eight new world champions’ supporters taking pictures of themselves wearing bisht. From the cup in the hands.
There was still a steady stream of fans entering his shop on Tuesday, all praising the prince’s gesture. Mauricio García, who had come to try on the gown but priced it in the end, comments, “We were all happy to see it, it was a gift from one king to another.”
Some European commentators said that the Qatari leader should not have covered Messi’s shirt while presenting the trophy, but the gesture was praised on Arab social media.
“honor and appreciation”
Al-Salem explains: “When a sheikh dresses someone in a bisht (traditionally worn by men at weddings, graduations, and official events in many Gulf countries), it means honoring and appreciating them.”
“From a communication point of view, it will be very important because we know how these images are saved and rebroadcast, and the notes on their part are Carol Gomez, doctoral student in mathematical sociology at the University of Lausanne. This is what we will remember.”
Al-Salem watched Argentina defeat France in a cafe near his shop after the World Cup Organizing Committee handed over two coats by hand, the measurements of Argentine captain and French junior Hugo Lloris.
“We did not know who they were and I was stunned” when I saw Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani covering Messi’s shoulders with it, he told AFP.
Members of the World Cup Organizing Committee who placed an order with him “wanted the lightest and most transparent fabric possible. I was surprised because it was winter, so it seems to me that the aim was to leave the Argentine jersey on and not cover it up.” The merchant adds.
Al Salem employs about 60 tailors, and is the largest of about five bisht makers in Qatar.
It takes about a week to design each of the pieces, and it is the fruit of a seven-stage production during which different workers embroider the collar and arms with gold thread.
