In any soccer tournament, there is always competition beyond the official winner's trophy or individual awards like the Golden Boot.
Which team has the best uniform?
This summer, 24 European national teams and 16 teams from the Americas will compete in Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024 wearing uniforms designed by eight sports apparel brands, ranging from big names such as Adidas, Nike, Puma and Reebok to lesser known names such as Hummel, Homa, Macron and Marathon.
But far from the Ronaldos and Messis featured in Fox's shaky coverage, a seven-a-side soccer tournament is being held in Philadelphia this weekend, co-hosted by Kensington-based kit-design company Icarus Football and recreational soccer league CASA.
“The goal of this tournament is to bring the whole community together for a weekend of celebrating soccer,” said CASA President Nolan Baer, ”but it's not just about soccer. It's about coming together, being a part of Philadelphia, traveling to Philadelphia and using soccer as a platform to really showcase what our city has to offer.”
As in previous years, Icarus will design uniforms for each team (80 in total) exclusively for the tournament, giving Philadelphia-area players and those traveling from further afield a unique look that will set them apart from generic soccer attire long after the football festivities are over.
This design approach isn't unique to Icarus: it's part of the brand's approach to creating unique soccer jerseys that express each team's identity and stand out on and off the field in a way that off-the-shelf or catalogue alternatives can't.
Icarus takes off
Icarus was founded in 2017 by Robbie Smukler, who grew up sketching soccer uniforms and emblems, incorporating the culture, history and identity of the place and group his designs will be used in.
The business initially built its presence through grassroots soccer in Philadelphia, partnering with CASA to offer teams discounted prices on custom kits, and Smukler said CASA's goals of inclusivity, accessibility and affordability aligned with Icarus' own desire to disrupt the status quo.
“I want to play in a league that really cares about its players,” Smukler said. “They're not just trying to squeeze money out of you. They're really trying to create a sense of service and community.”
Baer said the league's teams previously lacked uniformity, with some wearing similar colored shirts and others not even having uniforms. The partnership worked, and it snowballed.
“He did such a great job with the design that it was really easy to pitch their product,” Baer said. “It was appealing, and the lead time and production time wasn't too bad for the team… and the discounts helped too.”
The relationship led to the Icarus Cup in Philadelphia and then expanded to Austin. Icarus' grassroots soccer involvement has expanded to Atlanta, Austin, Boston and Chicago. The company opened an office in the UK in 2020, catering primarily to the LGBTQ+ scene, Smuklar said.
The first professional team Icarus worked with was New Amsterdam FC of New York City, a club in the National Independent Soccer Association, the third tier of US soccer. Icarus has since added clubs in Bhutan and Ghana to its portfolio, including Samartex, the 2023-24 Ghana Premier League winners.
“For us, it's about giving teams access to graphic design professionals who can help them build the kit of their dreams,” Smukler said.
Icarus also contributes to the youth soccer scene in Philadelphia, including the nearby Kensington Soccer Club, where several Icarus employees are coaches. Diego Gallardo is one of them, and he said kids love getting custom-designed jerseys.
“we had [the kids] “They designed the away kit and we had a bunch of designs to choose from,” he said. “So they're not just getting a cool jersey, they're getting a cool jersey that one of them made. It's literally theirs.”
Soccer etc.
While Icarus has no plans to branch out into other sports, it has made jerseys for music groups like Philadelphia's Snacktime and is soon making jerseys for British rock band Yard Act. Icarus also designs for organizations like the nonprofit Grassroots Soccer, as well as for company getaways and bachelor parties — as long as there's plenty of advance notice, Smukler said.
During a visit to Icarus’ Philadelphia offices at Billy Penn Studios (no relation) in Old Kensington, the shelves, tables, walls and even the floor were covered with piles of boxes and shirts for tournaments and the upcoming youth and recreational season.
“This is our second home. We were in a bigger place before, but we didn't need that much space,” Smuklar says. “Now I wish we had stayed there.”
Icarus has a staff of nine, five in the U.S. and four in the U.K. — not even enough to fill a typical soccer starting lineup. Everyone we spoke to is soccer-mad, and their passion is palpable in the workplace, decorated with posters, stickers, figurines and other knickknacks paying tribute to the beautiful game. The Euro last-16 match between Austria and Turkey was broadcast on a large TV and multiple laptop screens, and interviews were interrupted every time a goal was scored.
Between them, Smukler and design director Jayden Stevenson, a trio of designers, say they come up with about 40 to 50 kits a week.
“I love putting my all into the Icarus Cup designs,” said Stevenson, who designed the majority of this year's kits. “This is one of the most fun jobs for me because it allows me to interpret the prompts we give ourselves in my own way and let what comes from there come.”
Since its founding, Icarus has produced about 300,000 jerseys (10,000 unique designs) for about 4,000 customers, Smukler says. Designers have about 15,000 unique designs in their computers, virtually, as alternatives or concepts. There's just one factor that makes most of the designs on the computer turn into fabric:
“If a client likes it and says, 'OK, I want this,' we make it,” Smuklar said.
But for the Icarus Cup, those restrictions are lifted: jerseys will be designed and posted, and teams will be able to choose one after registering, creating a first-come, first-served competition to win the most popular design.
“It all comes down to using inspiration and creativity from our team. All of us on the design team have been looking at kits since we were about 3 years old,” Smukler said. “Inspiration is really limitless, and references like geography, history, flags, architecture, etc. are all great sources of inspiration.”
Artistic blockages happen, but Smukler and Stevenson said getting out and about – visiting a museum, browsing the archives on a classic football shirt website, listening to music or playing football – can help people get through them.
“I think events like Icarus Cup are a place where we can break free from the constraints of collaborating with a client and design purely for our own enjoyment,” he said. “What makes Icarus Cup really fun for us is it's like, 'OK, let's design like 100 shirts,' and then the whole team just says, 'Okay, these are the 80 we're going to use.'”
Smukler said his artistic inspiration doesn't come often from Philadelphia or his Princeton, New Jersey, roots, but from the passion and identity that comes with being a Philadelphia sports fan.
“The clubs we work with may not be the Philadelphia Eagles or Manchester United, but this is very important to them and it hurts when they go to work on Monday and lose at the weekend,” he said. “Love for our hometown of Philadelphia, love for our team, love for our identity. We want to show that in every kit.”
