How friends turn from strangers to found family in sun-soaked Marseille

Marseille. A green dirt bike revs down a sunbaked city street. A group of friends skate down to the ocean to hang out. Someone sends a backflip into the glittering waves. It’s the kind of scene that would send a pang of jealousy through you, as you tap through Instagram stories. But not for Ismael (Bako), Fares, Mohamed and Sheri, a group of friends from a wide range of different backgrounds, who all call the city home. For them, it’s every day.

The start of a friendship can be spontaneous; you never know when a chance encounter with a stranger could turn into something much more. At least, that’s how it happened for Bako and friends – each coming from very different social and cultural backgrounds – they found each other by chance, crossing paths as strangers at the skate park, the beach and around the neighbourhood, before gradually becoming something resembling a family. And that sense of family has nothing to do with blood or social status. “What makes our friendship feel like a family is our ability to stay united despite everyone’s personal and collective problems,” Bako shares. Everyone comes with their own baggage, he continues, but, “despite that, we all look out for each other so that we can succeed together”.

The city itself played a role in bringing the friends together, acting as a kind of meeting point for people whose lives might otherwise never have crossed. “Marseille has influenced our relationship as a group because the city allowed all of us to meet even though our lives are all very different,” Bako shares. “It’s like a checkpoint that brings people together, no matter where they come from.”

The bond they share has been tested through difficult moments as well.  When Bako faced serious health problems, the rest of the group stuck close, proving that their friendship extended far beyond the everyday. “They never stopped being there for me throughout that difficult time,” he says. “Today I’m happy to be surrounded by them.”

For the group, a fulfilment isn’t necessarily about individual pursuits or achievements, but about sharing a life lived to the full. It’s about that instinct to have each other’s back, stay connected through thick and thin, and pushing beyond the norm of what is expected. They bask in the daily pleasures of life in the sunny city that brought them together, with a typical week including motorcycle rides together, hanging out, skating and swimming in the ocean. But it’s all unerpinned by the knowledge that they’ll stick around for the big stuff too. Driven by a community-first mindset that priortises care, openness and lifting each other up, they share a rare sense of intimacy – if you know you know, and if not you’d better hope you can find it, because this is what life’s all about.

Below, the group break down how they keep looking out for each other, stick true to their values, and continue to build a community that feels like kinfolk.

1. NEVER LIE

“We’re a family, and we trust each other. As we say: ‘A lie takes the elevator, and the truth takes the stairs.’”

2. ALWAYS STICK TOGETHER 

“Despite the ups and downs, we stay in the same car, and nobody jumps out while we’re on the road.”

3. LAUGHTER

“Honestly, when we’re together, we do not even have to try.” 

4. MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER 

“For us, we like to lift each other up so that we can move forward together and see each other grow.”

5. SHARING

“This is the most important one. The 5-5 mentality. It means that if I have something and you don’t, we have it. If you have something and I don’t, we have it. And if neither of us has it, we figure it out. In our family, when one person eats, everyone eats. And it applies to everything. We make sure that nobody is missing anything.”

The community that Bako and friends have created is part of Under Armour’s Rest Less story, spotlighting the communities and collectives manifesting their restless energy IRL. For them, it’s not about taking shortcuts or competing with each other. It’s about embracing an abundance mindset, making room for each other’s self-expression and feeding each other’s momentum, no matter what.