Athens Kallithea FC Is Making Football Kits Be Elegant
The 2024/25 season is going to be a big one for Athens Kallithea FC.
Returning to the top flight of Greek football for the first time in 18 years is a huge moment for the team and it needs an appropriately stylish kit to mark the occasion — which is where Ted Philipakos, President and Creative Director of the club, steps in.
Some might feel pressure at having to deliver a football kit for such a momentous season, but not Philipakos: "Pressure kind of implies that, in the process of making something, I would be thinking ahead to how it’s going to be received, and, by this point in my career, I really don’t do that at all," the 42-year-old tells Highsnobiety.
"With our team, we’re just following our own tastes and instincts, you can’t control anything else. So, honestly, the process felt the same as always. Just some extra excitement to be graduating to a bigger stage, but no pressure."
Formerly Chief Brand Officer at Venezia FC, where he turned the largely unknown Italian side into football’s most fashionable club, he joined Kallithea in 2021 after leading its acquisition.
“Last season’s home shirt is one of my favorites that we’ve worked on over the years, but we wanted to pivot to a less sporty and more elegant look this season,” says Philipakos. “I think the shirt is a testament to the power of restraint and subtlety when it’s well considered, and how it can allow distinctive color to be the protagonist.”
Designed in collaboration with Munich-based design powerhouse Bureau Borsche for the third consecutive year, the elegant shirt comes with a traditional collar, blue-on-blue color palette, and debossed lines providing a light texture.
True to Philipakos’ tastes, it’s a football shirt of the retro variety. And, true to Philipakos’ past endeavors, its retro looks have been expertly executed.
"In the new season’s collection, especially in the home shirt just released and in the away shirt to be released soon, there was an approach towards restraint and subtlety, to produce a classic and understated result," says Philipakos. "The fact that the home shirt didn’t feel at all out of place in the short film we released, I think that says a lot."
Not ones to reveal their new shirts through the typical studio photoshoot featuring awkwardly posed professional players, Athens Kallithea has produced a 1960s-inspired, 16 mm short film that shares its name, Hold Me Close to You, with the ‘60s Greek film that inspired this year’s kit.
The campaign is also modeled by a familiar face: Theopisti Pourliotopoulou, who Philipakos recruited for many Venezia FC campaigns.
Available exclusively from the Greek teams’ website, this is yet more proof of Athens Kallithea FC’s stylish sensibilities.
