What is sparking all the football boot nostalgia?

adidas and Nike are going B2B with iconic releases as we enter a huge year of football

Football’s relationship with fashion in the mainstream has reached fever pitch and even the most mainstream retailers like Urban Outfitters and Boohoo Man have joined streetwear giants like Patta, Supreme and BAPE and designer brands like Acne, Martine Rose and Ahluwalia in releasing their own football jerseys. Maybe its the familiarity of the global game, or something geometrically satisfying about the sponsor, logo, emblem trio that makes it basically impossible for a football shirt not to look good. This uptick in style consciousness in the game may be one of the reasons football boots have also been getting more fashion makeovers. In 2018 Off White reimagined Nike Mercurial Vapor XII 360, 2021 saw Nike drop the SK Phantom boot in collaboration with Skepta and New Balance’s Furon v7+ got the Aimé Leon Dore last year in a campaign fronted by Bukayo Saka. So considering all the forward motion in football culture, it may be a surprise to see so many brands turning back the clock…

2023 saw the 25th anniversary of one of the most iconic boots of all time: the adidas predator. The brand capitalised with a series of rereleases and exhilarating marketing, including a first come first serve sale of the boot for £19.94. Boots can only be as iconic as they players who wear them and despite the predators looking great, having an association to Zidane and Beckham was a huge factor in their icon status. Players who straddle on pitch dominance with cultural relevance are the prime sportswear concoction. Despite Lionel Messi being an adidas athlete and the greatest footballer of all time, his aversion to the limelight and not speaking English limited him as a cross cultural poster boy throughout the 2010s. On the other hand over a similar period adidas heavily backed Paul Pogba throughout the, whose larger than life personality and undeniable talent rarely materialised into the kind of on the pitch career that would have taken a boot into the predator level stratosphere. There is of course an argument to say that if a brand’s new products were good enough, they wouldn’t need to rely on churning out past ones to engage people. But sports marketing carries a huge unknown quantity because predicting athletes trajectory isn’t an exact science. A lot of the success of the predator’s re-release has come down to Jude Bellingham. His fairytale career on the pitch and fashion exploits off it make him the perfect conduit to pass the predator down to gen-z. adidas seem to be on to another winner with the Euros champion and seeming reincarnation of Messi, the F50 wearing Lamine Yamal.

Not to be left by the wayside, Nike are reminding audiences that they are not short of iconic silhouettes. We recently got the re-release of the Nike Premier FG III popularised by the incomparable Ronaldinho. Nike’s 2005 ad featuring R10 was the first YouTube ad to reach a million views. The 2006 Joga Bonito ad campaign encapsulating a legendary era of football media. Then there was the total 90, synonymous with one of the 21st century’s most explosive entries into men’s football in the form of a bullish Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry making a mockery of English football in a string of mercurial vapors. Reminding audiences of legacy is especially important in a footwear ecosystem that is becoming more densely populated. Its true that the Nike and adidas still have the biggest stars in men’s football. Mbappe, Vini, Haaland, Bellingham and Yamal respectively. Three of whom play for Real Madrid, arguably the biggest commercial winners amongst all of this. But New Balance have Bukayo Saka and the hugely exciting young Brazilian and Madrista Endrick, Harry Kane signing the dotted line with Sketchers and Greizmann rocking Decathlon mean that loyalty for the big two is no longer a foregone conclusion. Nike are already reporting big losses due to competition from running brands like On and HOKA and will not want to see the same thing happen in the football world. However much new brands innovate, no one can emulate history which may be why there’s a renewed focus on reiterating it. 

The lines between sportswear and sporting goods is becoming more blurred. With the Total 90s and Predator ACUBS set for Astroturf rereleases this year and a Women’s Euros and AFCON to put football even further onto people’s radar, we could be set to see Astroturf trainers become a legitimate fashion item. After all, people have been wearing Jordans for years. With baggy acid wash jeans already dominating fashion TikTok, we’re one flaming disco shirt away from the full circle school disco look become acceptable public attire. We’ve seen Y2K trends and plenty of aesthetic references to the 2000s in recent years. For millennials, our childhood football memories offer obvious nostalgia based dopamine hits. Sportswear brands with their finger to the pulse are going to want to be at the forefront. 

Article by Martyn Ewoma