Quade Cooper launches Shosai fashion label

Newly minted Australian citizen Quade Cooper has admitted rugby retirement is on the horizon as he launches a new fashion venture.

Rugby star Quade Cooper has reflected on his plans for retirement as he revels in finally becoming a citizen for the country he represents on the field.

Cooper, who has 75 Test caps for the Wallabies, has enjoyed a resurgence in form in the past year, currently starring for the Kintetsu Liners in Japan after rejoining the Wallabies squad in 2021 following a four-year hiatus, helping Australia win a Rugby Championship match against the Springboks in September

He is expected to make Dave Rennie’s squad again for the upcoming series with England in July, but Cooper, 34, admits he is considering plans for life after rugby, and will launch his own fashion label, street and loungewear brand Shosai, on Thursday.

It’s a concept he has been developing for more than a year and will form part of his retirement plan alongside boxing, which he has taken part in sporadically since 2013.

Quade Cooper models a Shosai design.

“I know retirement will knock on my door at some stage and it’s one knock we can’t avoid, but I feel in a great place physically and mentally that when that time comes I will walk away happy and content as rugby is just a part of who I am as a person,” he said.

“I would love to continue boxing and I will continue to learn and grow with Shosai.”

Due to his unique rugby build, Cooper would buy ill-fitting clothes based on the colour or material and get it altered to what he wanted, but never had the confidence to pursue starting his own label.

“The idea has been something that had been in the back of my mind for a long time before I had the courage to go ahead and start,” he said.

“I was at a point in my life that I was sure of who I was as a person, so I was no longer scared of starting something that was a passion.”

It comes after Cooper, who moved to Brisbane from New Zealand at 13, was finally granted Australian citizenship in late February following a five year application battle during which he was rejected four times due to the large portions of the year he lived overseas while playing rugby in France and then Japan.

Quade Cooper models a Shosai design.

His recall to the Wallabies and his performance against the Springboks on the Gold Coast in September inspired Labor senator Kristina Keneally to join his social media push, lobbying for Immigration minister Alex Hawke to amend the pathway to citizenship.

Mr Hawke subsequently announced the Federal Government would begin to streamline the pathway to citizenship for some of the “most talented prospective Australians”.

“I don’t exactly know why it was so difficult but I’m truly grateful for the support of the public and especially senator Kristina Keneally for her help in pushing for change and helping people who were in a similar if not worse position be able to secure the right to call Australia home,” Cooper said.

“It’s great to know that I have been able to be part of change for a lot of people who have been trying for much longer than I have who just didn’t have that platform that I have. So that feels amazing.”

Shosai will launch Thursday at 7pm at shosaistore.com

Quade Cooper in action for the Wallabies last year