ROMA BRUTALE

Could you introduce yourself and your crew in a few words?

I'm Andrea, also known as Muten Factory and founder of Muten Crew. I'm a designer and Art Director grown in Catania, Sicily and based in Milan. Muten Crew is a sportswear brand born in 2022 from the crossover between football and street culture. Retro kits and meticulous details give life to garments that speak of passion, counterculture, and identity.

Where does your love for football kits come from?

My love for football kits start from far away: when i was a kid, while football players were on the pitch i was really focused only on their boots and their kits. I was really into boot and kits because, as a lot of kids, my dream were to be a football player (not too bad, but i found my way on a different route to be into the football system lol) Anyway, in this situation, when my parents were traveling around Europe, my only request was to have the football kit of that city.

So in my archive i actually have some goodie like the 2003-2005 Arsenal Away kit, or the 2006-2008 Chelsea's Home kit, the Marseille's 1999-00 Third Kit and many more. One of the craziest thing was when i asked to my grandma to buy me a Benfica's kit in her holidays to Santiago de Compostela. She bought the OG kit to me even though he felt unwell during the trip, fortunately recovering, but this is the best memory about my relationship with football jkit. Generally i love them because they are a manifesto, because kits tell stories more than other visual item that you could see in our world.

All around the world you can see people wearing kits from their beloved clubs and a statement, a way to say something about themselves, a way to be part of something bigger, a community of people. Most common called as "tribal marketing" in a certain way.

How did you get the idea to make a bootleg?

I'm really into the US and UK arts, subcultures and style movements. And in America, Andy Warhol inspired me a lot because of his way to redefine the aesthetic of art using pop-cultural elements. My idea starts from here: recreate something perfect, to become imperfect, different, not same to other things. Is a way to express myself using visual and code languages from other cultures.

How would you describe your concept for this Roma shirt?

I can describe it only with a word:"Brutal". Because Rome is rationalist in a lot of his architecture but is also "brutal", raw and visceral as soul, a city that is intense and alive, capable of being both beauty and chaos at once.

Your influences are clearly streetwear and brutalism, right?

The kit is reinterpreted with bold front and back graphics in a brutal style (as you said) and breaks the conventions of the classic football kit, turning it into a powerful visual statement of identity and street culture. Among the key details are bootleg-style patches inspired by UEFA competitions, symbols of an ironic and street reinterpretation of football heritage, and the use of the Capitoline Wolf, enclosed within a graphic ellipse that emphasizes strength and continuity, a powerful tribute to the eternal heritage of the city of Rome.

And last question : What’s your favorite typeface for a football kit?

Very difficult question. Generally for kits, considering my retro/pop-cultural background and approach, my favorites are absolutely the 3D College fonts, like 90s Adidas Font Kits used for Germany, River Plate, and more. But i like also simple and condensed fonts like Franklyn gothic. In my approach, i use a lot of fonts out of the football context like gothic fonts because they reflect my bold approach and style.