‘Power behind the suit’: Mr. Shop styles SU football team with primed, custom suits
Coach Fran Brown envisioned custom suits helping his players feel inspired and professional. The players wear the suits every game day as they enter the stadium. Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer
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D.A.R.T.: detailed, accountable, relentless, tough. The slogan that guided the Syracuse University football team to a successful season last year also shaped the process behind the team’s off-the-field uniform: custom suits.
“Not only work your ass on the field, but work your ass out in class because only a certain level of human being gets this type of suit,” Ron Cicoria, director of the custom suits department at Mr. Shop, said.
Mr. Shop has been creating custom suits in Syracuse since 1990. Last year, the crew started tailoring the SU football team. This year, Mr. Shop crafted new suits for the whole roster, even tailoring former SU football player and NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson.
The partnership started when SU football head coach Fran Brown and Chino Ingram, director of tailored sports at Mr. Shop, first met during Brown’s initial visit to SU.
Both loved the idea of custom suits for the team, but had slightly different ideas. Ingram, a custom tailor for 30 years, thought about how the suits could make the players look. Brown, a collegiate coach for more than a decade, thought about how the suits could make the players feel.
That outlook sparked a vision for the crew at Mr. Shop. The perspective of the project shifted from just formal attire to something larger and lifelong. Ingram repeated the phrase “power behind the suit,” creating something more than just fabric.
“(Brown) thought when they put on those suits, something was going to click a little differently in their head,” Ingram said. “Now they can see themselves in a more business fashion. They can see themselves as a professional.”
“Syracuse Football” is printed on each suit in tiny lettering, mimicking pinstripes. The fabric was imported from England. Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer
The process began with the fabric, a one-of-a-kind custom feel sourced all the way from Huddersfield, England. The text “Syracuse Football” is displayed on the suit.
The work was only beginning for the storefront. Cicoria said the proportions of an offensive lineman make for a difficult fitting process at a local Marshalls, where many players might get fitted.
After a great deal of measuring, the group at Mr. Shop said seeing the players in fabric instead of shoulder pads was a heartwarming experience. From 160 pounds to 400, Cicoria said each suit was tailored and tested so every player could feel inspired.
It was many of the players’ first time trying on a suit, let alone owning one. Ingram said the moment the players put on the garment, they didn’t just see fabric; they saw a future.
“This is something I’m going to wear to the draft. This is something I’m going to wear when I get my own business,” he remembered players saying. “This is something I’m going to wear when I get married.”
The sense of growth and maturity is tied to Syracuse itself. Ingram, born and raised in the city, grew up attending every SU football game and watched his brother, Christian Ingram, play on the 1987 undefeated team. From being a fan in the stands to shaking hands in the locker room, Chino is honored to be making an impact.
“They call me the OG in the locker room because I’m the oldest one,” Chino joked. “But they enjoy the fact that somebody’s taking the time and really coming to them and wants to be a part of their move.”
The team at Mr. Shop helped players with every step of the suit-making process. The suits had to be specially fitted to accommodate the unique dimensions of a football player. Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer
While the suits are crafted by the team at Mr. Shop, every player can choose a tailored message on the collar to wear into the JMA Wireless Dome.
Chino said many players contemplated the choice in the shop, going as far as calling their moms for advice. Players would “light up like a Christmas tree,” when trying on the suits, Chino said. Messages varied from parents’ or coaches’ names to significant Bible verses.
Joel Shapiro, the owner of Mr. Shop, said Coach Brown was a cornerstone of the operation. He said the process was very moving for all of the crew, watching the young athletes be passionate about something that would hopefully last a lifetime.
“It was about powering young professionals,” Shapiro said. “(Coach Brown) only cares about the kids. He makes them young boys into men.”
When it came time to deliver the final product to Coach Brown, the group was disappointed to hear he was busy in a meeting. Chino texted a picture, hoping he would see it before word got out.
But it only took a couple minutes before Chino and Shapiro received a text back from Brown saying, “Get up here right now!” Coach Brown loved how they looked, but more importantly, saw how they would impact the team.
Josh Spiegel, a senior at SU and football operations intern, said the suits were a huge part in cooling game day jitters. Between practice, classes and training, players have a lot on their plates heading into game day. Spiegel said that when the players walk into the Dome each week in a tailored suit, it not only lessens the load, but also gives players confidence.
Syracuse football’s slogan, D.A.R.T. is embroidered on the collar of the suits. The acronym stands for detailed, accountable, relentless, tough. Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer
The accommodating nature of the store helped players with an otherwise complicated decision, Spiegel said. Many players didn’t know how their pants or jackets should fit, and having Mr. Shop take care of the entire process was helpful.
“Having someone right there, step by step along the way is definitely an important aspect of it,” Spiegel said. “It’s more than just a suit you’re buying. They prepare it with love. They prepare it with care.”
The same care has been given to many famous SU alumni. Mr. Shop has tailored suits to the personalities of sportscaster Mike Tirico and news anchor David Muir, as well as Syracuse coaches like Gary Gait and Adrian Autry. But the crew said a project they were especially passionate about was their collaboration with Hanson.
Hanson, a player on the 1989-1993 SU football team, could’ve chosen anywhere to get his suit tailored, but went to Mr. Shop in Syracuse, Chino said. After meeting Shapiro at a name, image, and likeness event at SU, Hanson expressed interest in the crew tailoring his outfits for the entire NFL season.
“He wanted us to do his whole season, and he was like, ‘Whatever you guys tell me to wear for Sunday, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,’” Chino said.
Over the summer, the group flew out to California on a Tuesday and returned the next morning, ready to tackle Hanson’s suits.
Just like the players, Hanson’s suits had a message on each of the collars. His signature taglines: “Seven hours of RedZone football” or “the witching hour” stitched into the back. Hanson told Mr. Shop the suit made him feel like a million bucks and got him ready for his first “octobox” last Sunday.
From established industry professionals like Hanson to young athletes at SU, the suits serve as personal items for the future. While the suits certainly look clean, Chino said it’s not the look itself that makes them special.
“We know how suits should fit, and we know about all of this fabric,” he said. “But what we don’t know and is hard to anticipate is the feeling that somebody gets once they put that suit on. When those moments coincide at the same time, you can’t put a price tag on it.”
