The Adobe Women’s FA Cup is a genuine field of dreams for players across the pyramid, with 491 clubs of the competition’s 514 playing in tier three and below. The unpredictability that’s woven into the fabric of this competition means an amateur team can draw one of the biggest sides in the country and – in theory – lift one of the most iconic prizes in all of football if luck falls on their side often enough. The format is made for once-in-a-lifetime stories.

And while every season is filled with its fair share of on-pitch sensations, one of the most impactful narratives from this year’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup has been happening off the pitch at Camden Town WFC.

Camden Town WFC symbolises the significance of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup for so many teams and players at non-league level. Playing at tier seven of the women’s football pyramid, every season this competition is their chance to play on the biggest stages and potentially mix it with the elite.

But the reality is the gap between non-league women’s teams and the elite level is wider than ever. While the women’s game is in the mix of explosive economic and cultural growth – more fans in attendance than ever before, more TV viewers than any other time in history – so much of this is yet to trickle down to clubs like Camden Town WFC.

Kits and performance products are one such area of inequality. While elite professionals are now receiving bespoke kits made for women athletes, non-league teams are still playing in product ‘made’ for the male body, limiting comfort and performance.

Challenging inequality via fashion is in Hattie Crowther’s DNA. The designer and lecturer has used football as a canvas for messages of equal treatment, from customised England shirts in support of the team’s Black players to jersey-inspired corsets that toy with preconceived notions of gender identity.

Hattie’s spirit of creativity and changemaking made her the perfect candidate to overhaul Camden Town WFC’s visual identity alongside Adobe, who are committed to empowering football clubs creatively on and off the pitch via their Women’s FA Cup partnership.

Over the course of pre-season, Hattie connected with Camden Town WFC’s squad to design and produce the greatest Adobe Women’s FA Cup kit of all-time, with a view to showing what’s possible when women’s football is given the creative space to reach its full potential.

While the creative requests from players were heard, so too were their stories about size and fit. The new kits now include additional ventilation panels and ample space under the shirt for players to wear sports bras, leaping beyond most existing off-the-shelf football apparel. “As women, obviously we are very different,” said Hattie. “It’s important that those elements were featured within the kit – we needed to create a garment that was comfortable but also one these girls feel confident in. They’re amazing and deserve to feel like it.”

Confidence is key to performing at your very best, and when it comes to your kit, that starts when you step on to the pitch for the first time. “When you're lining up against people and they look smart and prepared, it makes a world of difference to the mind games before kick-off,” explained Sophie. “Once that kit's on, we'll definitely feel some sort of power and it’ll come from those words that make us feel like Camden Town WFC – unity and sisterhood.”

Ensuring women players at all levels can play in appropriate kit is just one part of the game’s fight to give women a real sense of equality in every sense. But teams like Camden Town WFC can’t do this alone, and need the support of partners. This is where Adobe’s impact becomes all the more pronounced.

“I think we're a really ambitious team – but without support, I'm not sure how much we could do on our own. Sometimes when you look at women's football clubs, they haven't had the best support in the past. This sponsorship and opportunity to support the team and club’s ambitions means the world to the girls, and it gives us the support we need to get there.”

Adobe’s support doesn’t stop with this kit – and it doesn’t stop with Camden Town WFC. The company has provided all clubs in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup with free access to Adobe Express Premium Plans, and also hosted online workshops to train up all club players and volunteers so they can learn how to create consistent, high-quality content with ease and efficiency across all marketing and social media channels – from match-day programmes to Instagram reels celebrating victories.

From creating a new standard in performance product to helping club’s understand how to market their biggest moments, this is all about creating a bigger and better ecosystem for all clubs in the women’s football pyramid.

“There's no ceiling,” claims Josie. “You can see clubs that have never had the opportunity to play at such levels achieve things that people never thought they could. It's just nice to be able to have that opportunity with this project, particularly as a woman in football.”

Hattie Crowther designed the new Camden Town WFC kit with the help of Adobe Express. Unleash your creativity with Adobe Express now.

“We struggled last season quite a lot with our kit,” explains Josie Shand, Camden Town WFC captain. “It was tailored for men when we really needed something that was comfortable, but also feminine. It needed to be more breathable because you could see the sweat patches due to women sweating in different places to men.”

Defender Sophie Hoyle, who joined Camden Town WFC this summer, opened up on the extra mental toll not having the right kit puts on women’s players: “You shouldn’t be coming to football and thinking ‘are my shorts going to fit?’ – you can't concentrate on the game, and there are times I've been running around the changing room trying to find a pair of shorts that either aren't too short or too baggy. It shouldn't be an anxiety and you shouldn’t be worried that there's going to be a photographer there catching unflattering angles of short shorts.”

Women playing in kits made for men is a long-term byproduct of a sport that’s largely been governed by men for several decades. Sophie, like so many others, actually grew up playing with boys at school and it wasn’t until her late teens she found her first girls’ team. Now playing at Camden Town WFC, she's found a club and community that’s made for her.

“I'm new to London. I've only been here for less than a year. So as well as a club, I was looking for new friends. Camden Town WFC stood out as a club that had both culture and a competitive environment, and it’s really hard to get that sort of mix in this game.”

Capturing the spirit of Camden was as important for Hattie as anything else: “When you think of Camden, you immediately think of creativity and colour – but from talking to the players, you also realise that the culture of this team is so special. It’s about sisterhood.”

The end result is a bespoke kit that’s full of heart and soul. The shirt features a bold blue and purple gradient base – inspired by historic club colours – while a map of Camden is weaved into the print. Words describing the spirit of the club like ‘sisterhood’, ‘unity’, and ‘culture’ are woven into the jersey, directly taken from interviews with Camden players.

Adobe creative apps powered the process every step of the way. Hattie used Adobe Express and Adobe Stock to craft a dynamic mood board and collaborate with the club to bring their vision to life, before transitioning into Adobe Photoshop, using its power and precision to create the intricate patterns and mock-ups needed to move the kits into production.

Giving Camden Town WFC’s players a sense of ownership in this process was paramount, and Hattie’s quick to credit Adobe Express’ accessibility with that sense of collaboration: “Adobe Express has made the whole process a lot cleaner. I could share mood boards and design ideas with them so much faster and whether they’re on mobile or computer, they were able to give feedback quickly so I could really harness their creative vision.”