When FIFA’s ban on the hijab was finally lifted on March 1, 2014, the soccer world hardly seemed to notice. There were reports in mainstream media outlets, but very few recognized sportswriters had anything to add, and for prominent women’s soccer players, the issue was irrelevant. Major sports equipment companies such as Adidas and UnderArmour were similarly unmoved by the news. But one sportswear company was paying attention: hummel.

Two years after the FIFA ban was lifted — on International Women’s Day 2016 — hummel released new kits for the Afghan Football Association (AFF). The kits are beautifully designed, but one very special detail stands out: the shirts come with a matching, integrated hijab.

With the release of this kit, hummel helped to normalize headscarf-wearing women in sport. It has also demonstrated the responsibility of sportswear companies to consider all customers and demographics when designing their products. And they have done it all while supporting a team that advocates for the empowerment of women through soccer.

Christian Stadil, hummel’s owner, says that his company is dedicated to elevating the game and helping communities. In a recent interview, Stadil highlighted why this particular project is so meaningful.

“The female angle is still a very important part of this too,” he said. “Still today, it can be difficult for girls to live out their passion for sport. So that mission and vision is also a part of this; we would like to empower the fantastic strong women of Afghanistan through this collaboration.”

Since it’s humble beginnings more than 90 years ago, hummel has sponsored projects everywhere from Sierra Leone to Lithuania, and supports different clubs that promote unity and understanding.

The pictures of Afghan players modeling the new kits are fierce. The kits themselves, which have a lion subtly embossed on the front of the shirt, are gorgeous. But the story of how the kits were created is equally important.

Anne Skovrider, hummel’s International Marketing Manager and manager on the AFF kit project, explained over email how this unlikely partnership was formed. In 2009, Khalida Popal, former captain of the Afghanistan women’s team reached out to the team at hummel. Popal described how the soccer programs in Afghanistan were struggling due to a lack of proper equipment.

“From there, the cooperation developed into a sponsorship of all Afghan youth and senior national teams, kids academies and training camps as well as all teams in the Afghan Premier League,” Skovrider says. Not only did hummel provide clothing, but they committed to assisting with coaching and training support in order to stabilize a decent soccer program in the war-torn country.

Women’s soccer in Afghanistan has not been able to develop organically. Taliban control of the region from 1996-2001 meant that women were not allowed to attend school or to work in public. They were certainly not permitted to play sports in public.

After the Taliban lost their iron-grip, Afghans began to reconstruct their country and their society. Soccer is a passion in Afghanistan, for men and women. Fortunately, hummel was there to help the soccer community back on it’s feet by supplying kits and goalkeeping equipment to both the men’s and women’s programs.

In 2011, filmmaker Leila Ahmadzai chronicled some of the journey of the women’s team in her inspiring documentary: A Woman’s Goal. The players wear bright, red kits, the color of Afghanistan’s famous pomegranates, proudly bearing hummel’s name.

Like many other women’s soccer programs around the world, the Afghanistan women’s program struggles with pay equity and funding, and a lack of access to training opportunities and suitable facilities. After 1996, Ghazi Stadium, Kabul’s main theater for soccer matches, was transformed into a site of horror when the Taliban took over and used it for public executions. Eventually the grass was replaced so the players “would not be stepping on to the blood of so many people.”