MAD//Fest 2025: Culture, collaborations and creating a new identity for women’s football

UK – On day two of MAD//Fest 2025, Ruth Hooper, chief marketing officer at the Women’s Super League (WSL), set out a vision for reshaping the visual identity of women’s football. While the latter offers a distinct culture and fan base, it has long been presented through the creative lens of the men’s game.

Collaborating with creative agency Anomaly, Hooper introduced a new identity for WSL grounded in biometric design, using the players’ unique movement patterns as the basis for a bold, dynamic visual language. Clara Mulligan, Anomaly’s European head of design, described the approach as a ‘lens of distinction’, with a vibrant colour palette designed to capture the bright future of women’s sport. In Game-Changers: The Future of Sports Fandom report, we spotlight the sports brands adopting new identities that promote inclusivity and accessibility. 

Later, in a panel entitled Don’t Be Defined: Creative Opportunities Between Sports, Fashion & Music, Andy (Fem) Ali and Fasal Kamara, co-founders of streetwear and fitness brand No Soldiers Left Behind (NSLB), discussed creating an authentic brand grounded in community and culture. ‘Our audience is an extension of us,’ said Ali. ‘We ask ourselves, if we weren’t running this brand, would we show up? Would we take part?’

Big brands often try to buy into culture through collaborations with community-led initiatives, but Ali and Kamara stressed the importance of saying no. ‘Timing is important,’ said Kamara: too many collaborations weaken your brand identity and eventually make your audience lose interest. Head to our report on The State of Streetwear to discover more newcomer brands striking the sweet spot of organic matches for hype-boosting brand collaborations.