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Anton Cruz shares how his brand, Syndrome Supply, brings sport, community, and fashion together.
When Anton Cruz and his brother, Iñigo, attended one of the Philippine National Football Team’s matches in the New Clark City Athletics Stadium, it all felt very familiar. The two grew up in Pampanga and were raised on football fields, and now they were back — though in a very different way. Instead of being on the field, the Cruz siblings could be found off it, setting up a merchandise booth for their clothing brand, Syndrome Supply.
“We grew up in Pampanga, so it really felt like home ‘cause all of our friends came,” Anton Cruz told The GAME. “It felt like a full circle moment.”
That moment encapsulated the entire vision Anton has for Syndrome Supply: community, creativity, and passion.
Syndrome Supply began as a sneaker cleaning business. Anton shared that he and Iñigo had an “obsession with sneakers to the point that it became a very expensive hobby.” And what’s a guy to do when his hobby isn’t cheap? Start a business.
“So we started a sneaker cleaning business called Sneaker Syndrome,” he recalled.
Sneaker Syndrome took off in Pampanga, and the duo got to reap the benefits of starting their own business. But a time came when they felt the need to evolve. When they saw a decrease in sales during the pandemic, due to the simple fact that people were no longer getting their sneakers dirty during quarantine, they decided to start a line of merchandise.
Funnily enough, Anton looks back and calls it the “worst merch ever.”
But little did they know that the merchandise they made back then would lead to a bigger idea altogether: Syndrome Supply, an exciting and fast-growing clothing brand with a fresh, intentional, and authentic identity that stands to redefine local sportswear.
A space for creativity
When Anton Cruz thinks about the origins of Syndrome Supply’s brand identity, he openly shares that he never wanted it to fit into just one category. Rather, he likened it to what he calls a “concept house.”
“It’s more of how we do things,” he emphasized. “So we don’t brand ourselves as a clothing company. I tell our customers and our partners, we don’t sell clothes. We sell energy, experiences, and emotion. And that’s what we kind of partake in each story that we do.”
Thus, Syndrome Supply became an avenue where Anton and Iñigo could freely explore their creativity, inspired by their passions. And one thing these brothers have always been passionate about is sports.
From Formula 1 to the NBA to football, the Syndrome Supply founders have always been huge sports fans. Anton himself is a loyal Real Madrid fan, and having grown up playing the sport, football has always been a major source of inspiration for him.
Thus, Lightning FC, one of Syndrome’s most popular concepts to date, took off. Lightning FC is a football-inspired collection, featuring elevated football jerseys with a loose, casual fit — perfect for those who love sports fashion.
“Basically, Syndrome is just a representation of what we like, honestly,” Anton candidly shared. “I can’t sell something I don’t stand for.”
Indeed, Lightning FC took football fashion, which became a huge trend a couple of years ago, to the next level. Taking inspiration from jerseys of many different teams, Syndrome put their own creative spin on their designs, and not only did they look good, but they also were of great quality, a feature Anton doesn’t skimp on.
“We made it a point [that] within our first two years, we have to stand for something great, whether it’s the quality of our clothes, the designs, our storytelling, our marketing — we kind of created our own signature first.”
And their creative storytelling resonated with their audiences. Many of the original jersey designs from Syndrome Supply’s Lightning FC collection are still sold out as of writing.
Beyond this, staying true to their passions and what they believe in has led Anton and Iñigo to some pretty huge opportunities in the space of Philippine sports.
Creating space for sports fashion
One of Syndrome Supply’s shining moments was when they caught the attention of IShowSpeed, an internet phenomenon who rose to fame for his high-energy video content (especially his FIFA streams) and has amassed over 100 million followers across his streaming platforms. When he visited Manila in 2024, Anton Cruz designed a custom football jersey.
The Syndrome Supply founder shared, “I was like, ‘I’d want an IShowSpeed jersey for myself.’ And then I found out that he’s actually going here. Okay, might as well give it to him. And then I just looked for his location. I gave it to him. He featured it on his stream.”
Though seemingly small at the time, that moment snowballed into something bigger. On IShowSpeed’s trip to Cebu, Syndrome Supply made even more merch for him: a FIFA card, fun trading cards, and more. The best part? People were really starting to take notice of the brand.
It was around that same time when GoTyme Bank, a major supporter of the Philippine Football Federation, was looking for ways to deepen their community presence through their merchandise. When they discovered Syndrome, Anton pitched them a simple idea: “Whatever you need just let me know then we’ll do it for you guys.”
From that moment on, GoTyme earned the trust of Syndrome Supply, and they are now the Official Merch Partner of the bank. This collaboration would ultimately lead to their popular co-branded jerseys for the Philippine Football Federation, which football fans may have even spotted in some of the national team’s recent matches.
This boosted Syndrome’s identity as a fashion brand that not only created sporty designs, but elevated sports style as a whole. Their jerseys are edgy, bold, and fashionable — enough to tempt even non-football fans to click ‘Add to Cart.’
In fact, other well-known athletes have also been loving Syndrome’s merch, one in particular being Filipina racing superstar herself, Bianca Bustamante.
She recently posted an Instagram story of herself donning a white Syndrome Supply x GoTyme Bank Roboto Jersey.
Anton even revealed that he received a message from Bianca Bustamante, complimenting the jerseys, a gesture he was warmed by. This was proof to him that whatever he and Iñigo were doing with Syndrome Supply was working.
“It has to be the storytelling,” Anton emphasized. “It can’t just be like this is a nice shirt, go buy it. It’s like, why is this a nice shirt? The quality is great, but they wouldn’t know that through the social media. So we had to focus on the stories, and we just had to go back to our roots.”
More than clothing
One thing that Anton Cruz made sure to emphasize is that Syndrome Supply is more than just a clothing brand. Beyond this, it is a reflection of the energy that he and his brother Iñigo bring to the table — fun, creative, intentional, and passionate.
Even in the early stages of their brand building, the pair never intended to cater to one specific niche, or stick to one specific style, or box themselves into one particular trend. From the beginning, they wanted it to simply be a platform for genuine, authentic storytelling, and Anton believes this is why they are now able to tap into other communities, such as the Philippine sports community.
“Syndrome doesn’t sell clothes. We sell energy, experiences, and emotion,” Anton shared.
In blending style with sport, Syndrome Supply provides Filipinos a fresh way to express sports culture and style. As a brand, their projects and meaningful collections prove that sports fashion doesn’t need to be limited to one thing. If anything, they are showcasing that it can be expressive, fun, and rooted in real community and purpose.
Images courtesy of Anton Cruz.