NO two footballers are the same.
And for Jordan Dawson, their boots shouldn't be the same either.
The artist has customised boots for some of the biggest names in the .
From and to and – Jordan has catered for them all.
And it all starts with just a message.
followed Jordan through the process of customising a pair for Premier League icon following his return to .
“So how it all works is I'll get a message from a footballer, obviously asking for a customised pair of boots,” the designer explained.
“Some may have some sort of idea of what they want, some will have no clue.
“Brazilians are known for being out there and skilful, having a bit of flair. So I created this design.
“I wanted to be able to express the skill that I have, but it was just a little bit too much for him. So this is where we started and now we've toned it down a little bit and now it's where it is now.”
Jordan first got into customising when he worked at and was given several pairs of shoes.
He then took it upon himself to start personalising them from his own house.
After designing his first pair – some plain white Nike Air Forces – he started building a portfolio.
Despite being knocked back by a number of different brands, he took his work back to Nike and the sportswear company offered him a space to design at its flagship Nike Town store in central London.
Jordan was then enlisted to help design boots for and ahead of their respective England debuts.
That gig seemingly opened a world of possibility for the entrepreneur, who then received more work from Adidas and the FIFA video game franchise.
But it was his work for Declan Rice that really helped the business snowball.
For Jordan, the highlight so far has been working with Brazil legend at a FIFA event.
He said: “I think a pinch me moment was when I did work with Kaka.
“I remember players queuing up to meet him and at that moment I was like, OK, this is professional footballers wanting to meet their idol.
“I grew up watching Kaka as well, that Brazilian team with , Kaka, Rivaldo.
“And I remember his manager coming up to me saying, I hear you've got a pair of trainers for Kaka.
“So then being able to present that to him in person as well was, yeah, that was a pinch me moment.”
A lifelong fan, Jordan hopes to one day work with .
striker is also a dream client: “Guaranteed to get pictures of him scoring goals!”
There has even been some suggestion that his boots have helped players find their goalscoring form.
Jordan continued: “I gave a couple of pairs of boots to and Marcus Rashford at very similar times.
“Darwin Nunez just wasn't scoring, he hit this really bad patch and all of a sudden he puts on these boots and he's scoring backheel goals against Real Madrid, he's scoring thunderbolts against Newcastle.
“Marcus Rashford then couldn't stop scoring when he was wearing them.
“So I had a lot of direct messages saying: ‘Maybe your boots are giving them superpowers,' which I laughed at, but I've kind of just gone with it as well.”
The best part of the process, however, is handing the boots over to the Premier League star.
“I love meeting the players in person. I get to sit down with them and have a normal conversation, get to know who they are on a personal level and then also seeing their natural reaction to seeing the boots for the first time.
“You get those goosebumps feeling because you see their face light up. I've delivered boots to Darwin Nunez at his home and he kissed the boot and you knew it meant something to him. So that was a great feeling.”
On Willian's reaction to his customised boots, Jordan said: “His response was amazing. He's played for Chelsea Football Club, which is my boyhood club.
“So meeting him, seeing his reaction, he opens the box and you see his whole face light up. That's the best reaction I can ask for.
“A nice signed shirt for the collection. So that will be going on the wall framed in my new flat.”
And the ultimate goal for the businessman?
“To create my own shoe. I would love to have that feeling of walking down the street and someone pointing to my shoe and saying: ‘What are you wearing?'
“And I'd be like, ‘it's my shoe,' I think that would be the ultimate flex for me.“
