Meet Sokito: The Best Football Boot Brand You Never Heard Of

"A football brand built by footballers."

It sounds obvious. Yet, the global football boots landscape is largely dictated by non-athletes, seasonal product churn, the pursuit of higher profits, and soulless numbers. Every now and then, the industry's longstanding duopoly will demonstrate glimmers of player-first hope, but these moments often arrive with higher price tags, limited runs, or some other string-attached.

Luckily for footballers across the world, Sokito exists.

If you've never heard of Sokito (pronounced soh-KEE-toh) before today, you can't be blamed—in comparison to legacy brands, the London-based company only has four full years of proving itself in the market; an operation of around 10 people; and billions of dollars less, meaning it can't sign a Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, or Lamine Yamal (yet). But even if it did, it's likely the brand would stay away from coughing up huge endorsement deals in favor of inviting passionate athletes to become shareholders in Sokito. This way, everyone involved has a more profound stake in the success of the company than they would if they simply received a check to promote product.

"We’ve never paid an athlete," Sokito Founder and CEO Jake Hardy tells me over coffee in Manhattan a couple of months ago. "We have [nearly 100 athlete-investors], which means they’ve physically put their own cash into the company. And they believe in what we’re doing. It’s not like, ‘All right, you're an asset. Please help us plug this new thing that we need to sell loads of.’ It's like, ‘Oh, you're really interesting because of this. Let's talk about that and see how we can help amplify you,' rather than kind of the other way around."

As Hardy and his team get ready to launch the first run of their revamped Sokito Devista, they're fully committed to their vision of delivering sustainable football boots that don't compromise on performance—all while disrupting the indsutry.

The American Front

Hardy sat down with House of Heat° while on his most recent tour of the U.S. Aware of the importance of North America to his business (more on that later), he's being strategic with Sokito's presence across the United States of America.

During the early fall trip, Hardy went down to Pennsylvania to see the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Washington Commanders in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season. Eagles Kicker Jake Elliott made history for Sokito in that game when he made a 35-yard field goal wearing the Scudetta BioTouch football boot on his kicking foot.

Elliott's decision to wear a relatively unknown footwear brand instead of one of the giants is is rare, but he isn't the only NFL player to believe in Sokito: there are eight active athletes from the National Football League among the English company's investors. Hardy and team have begun working with this cohort and other U.S. football players to begin ideating what a Sokitio cleat might look like for their sport in the next three years.

In the meantime, the close-knit operation will continue looking for ways to cement its place in and expand its youth football (soccer) presence across the country—especially in California.

"We sell more shoes in the U.S. than we do in the U.K. alread," Hardy disclosed. "California alone is fast approaching U.K. sales. And it's our biggest focus, to be quite honest."

Sokito's presence on the West Coast is impressive for a number of reasons—in particular because the Swoosh's home base is nearby, and because Hardy and team has only been shipping product since August 2022.

Sales efforts and grassroots initiatives have targeted growth among youth footballers in California, but the state's longstanding ban on K-leather has also helped Sokito's compliant boots—which are made with bio-based and recycled materials—gain appeal.

Hardy also credits his company's acceptance in California to a fundamental difference he's noticed between youth sports in the U.S. and his native United Kingdom: "When I grew up and I was playing in the U.K., it's usually one of the parents takes their kids to go and play football. That parent has usually played football. So if the dad wore adidas Copa Mundials or adidas Predators when he was playing, the kid’s wearing Predators. And that kid's probably wearing Predators forever, and he's never changing. [Here], it’s quite often the first generation playing. And it's kind of a free game. They go with the shoe they like the best."

And Hardy and his team go through exhaustive processes to make Sokito football boots "the best."

Boots That Do The Talking

As of Nov. 10, 2026, Sokito only offers two football boot franchises: Scudetta and Devista. This isn't because Hardy and team don't have ambitions or resources for more—but because the company stands for making product that lasts while minimizing harm to the planet.

No animal materials are used in any of Sokito's offerings, as verified by both The Vegan Society and SHOEBOT. The Scudetta's BioTouch upper, for example, is made out of corn waste, sugarcane, bamboo, castor beans, and recycled materials (denoted by five different emblems printed onto the one-piece construction). Other examples of eco-friendlier footwear has existed before (and exists beyond) Sokito, but Hardy and team's efforts are consistently recognized for being top quality, performing in a way most consumers might not expect from sustainable product.

Hardy wear-tests every Sokito design. Although he doesn't put product through the same intensity that professional athletes (e.g. DeAndre Yedlin (Real Salt Lake, MLS), Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest, Premier League), Wini Heatley (A.S. Roma Women, Serie A) do, he's accrued decades of football boot expertise—an education that he combines with on-pitch performance to evaluate prototypes.

In recounting the development of one of Sokito's boots, Hardy shares a story that speaks to the lengths he and his team are willing to go to in order to launch product they can wholeheartedly get behind: "The brand's not driven by marketing cycles, which is quite an important factor. So we've missed major tournaments by months because we've moved a stud by 2 millimeters, you know? For us, we think that someone wants to try Sokito ahead of Nike or adidas—that's a huge deal. And so the shoes have got to be the top, top level. So if there's something in testing which isn't quite right, we fix it, and it doesn't go out until it's as good as we think it can be."

Fixing the weak point on this design's sole plate (which Hardy was the only wear-tester to mention it) set the company's release calendar back and lost it thousands of dollars. These types of setbacks aren't uncommon in the industry, but their impact is a lot more crucial to an operation like Sokito's than it would be a legacy institution.

The London-headquartered team's efforts have not gone unnoticed. In addition to earning the trust of thousands of footballers across 46 different countries, trusted platforms like Boot Wizard and Unisport have sang Sokito's praises in the performance department.

The newly re-launched Devista seems ready to build on this reputation.

Aware that his brand's latest franchise looks like the original Nike Hypervenom Phantom I, Hardy proudly proclaims that he thinks the Sokito Devista is "better than the Hypervenom."

"I'm a boothead, right? I'm a collector...I've probably worn every football boot that's been released...the last 20 years...And I prefer this. It's personal preference. I'm incredibly biased also. But yeah, I prefer it," he says.

Equity Over Endorsements

Hardy's relentless commitment to consumers has been admired and supported by many.

In May 2022, fellow Englishman John Bostock became the first professional footballer to invest in Sokito. Over the next two years, more than 67 pros had claimed a stake in the disruptive operation, helping product gain credibility in competitive levels of football and expanding the brand's visibility in markets like Australia, the U.S., and Canada.

As aforementioned, athletes who've co-signed Sokito have not received a single payment for promoting any product. Instead, they've joined a growing team of dedicated professionals looking to challenge larger sportswear conglomerates in delivering performance-first football boots.

"The thing that stood out to me most about Sokito was the purpose behind the product," explains DeAndre Yedlin, former USMNT defender and current Sokito athlete-investor. "Whenever I get involved with a project, and especially when I invest in a brand, I want to make sure we’re aligned in our values and broader mission, and with Sokito it was a 100 percent match. On top of that, every boot that goes out to the public, I, along with the other Sokito athletes, have had a say in not only how it looks, but how it feels and functions. Knowing that I’ve played a part in shaping the boots while staying aligned with my values is incredibly rewarding, and it’s why I have so much respect for Sokito and the unique way they’re building the brand."

Yedlin's experience might seem unique when compared to most footballers who endorse product for major companies, but it's the norm among the dozens of other professional athletes who wear Sokito boots.

Hardy interfaces with athlete-investors on a regular basis, but he's also started a WhatsApp group in which more than 90 members vote on design choices and colorways during the development of new products. Any item that makes it to retail, then, is a group effort.

And the collective approach doesn't stop there.

A return on their investment is important to athletes who've financially contributed to Sokito's growth, but everyone who's gotten involved is more focused on scaling the business and improving its range than on cashing out.

One such way that Sokito's core team displays appreciation for the athletes that've believed in its vision is by working with them to tell their stories in an authentic way that would likely not fit into the plans of other sportswear brands.

When Oakland Roots midfielder Tucker Lepley joined the Sokito Family in August, Hardy and team welcomed him with a custom pair of pink boots after learning that the 24-year-old's grandmother had trouble seeing most other colors when watching her grandson on television. The bespoke Scudetta kicked off a lifetime promise to allow the North Carolina-native to only wear pink-colored football boots.

"We’re not going to force somebody to wear the new release," Hardy expresses while speaking of Lepley. "We want to tell the stories of those individuals."

Any of the "Big 3" football boot brands would've surely restricted what Lepley could wear, prioritizing a concerted marketing push for the latest product launch. (This common practice is reportedly why elite players like Michael Olise held out on signing an exclusivity deal for so long.)

Disrupting The Market

By simply existing, Sokito challenges the global football boot duopoly by giving athletes another choice.

Most of the Scudetta line (Kaizen, BioTuch) and the all-new Devista are currently only offered in Elite versions, and priced at $225 each. The older, but fully capable Scudetta AG has an MSRP of $200.

When compared to equivalent product from Nike, adidas, and PUMA, Sokito's lineup is more affordable. And yet, Hardy recognizes that his competitors' ability to provide takedown versions of its top-of-the-line product is important to business growth.

"By the 2030 World Cup, we want a full suite of products—three to four [silhouettes], lower price tiers, Indoor, Turf, Kids—while challenging the norms of this industry," Hardy shares.

The road ahead for Hardy and company won't be easy, but the team is determined to capture at least 1% of the multi-billion dollar football boot industry by 2028 with the game plan it's been following since the start: painstakingly-considered design, tried-and-proven performance, and fair pricing.

Sokito sells most of its boots direct-to-consumer through Sokito.com, but it also partners with more than 20 global retailers to facilitate purchases for thousands of footballers.

A more noticeable physical presence within the U.S. is a next step for the brand—both in a retail sense and on pitches everywhere.

However, if you pay attention, the Sokitio revolution has already begun.

Sokito runs an Ambassador program that offers "early access, exclusive discounts, and a direct line to the brand and team." Interested parties are welcome to learn about the program here.