Nike revives the Phantom GT football boot

Who remembers the fantastic Nike Football series of adverts titled – Secret Tournament? The greatest footballers of that generation in 3-a-side teams battle out to be the best on an oil tanker. Eric Cantona was the commentator and ‘A little less conversation’ was the theme tune. All to launch a football boot.

Well, Nike is now reviving the boot in the Phantom GT Scorpion. The link between the secret tournament and boot materializes through a chrome upper and plate referencing the tournament’s ball, painted brush strokes mimicking the on-ship location and the yellow and black hazard stripes framing the goals.

Added to that, the scorpion graphic that now features the phrase “Secret Tournament” and “Engineered for Skills”. Who thinks Nike needs to go back to these fun ads? The boot is available now on nike.com for £239 for the Elite FG version.

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Remind yourself of what a great series of adverts they were with the full sequence below.

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Nike x Comme des Garcons Air Force 1 Mid

Embracing the idea that it is not possible to make something completely new. That was Rei Kawakubo’s mantra when working on a Nike x Comme des Garcons collaboration. Initially revealed at Paris fashion week, this has been a highly anticipated shoe.

Looking through the back catalogue of Comme des Garcons and taking a beloved Nike Classic to create a shoe that is still truly AF1 sprinkled with Comme des Garcons greatness.

The two customized styles feature paneled cut-outs with raw edges on the shoe’s leather exterior and Comme des Garcons embossed on its proprioceptors belt. The textured effect is a new application for the AF1.

Offered in both black and white and on sale in select Comme des Garcons retailers, but if you can’t wait, StockX is always the place to go.

Nike is bridging the gap between data and design

Nike has recently announced a new apparel line that fuses athlete data with design. We have seen something similar when Adidas announced the FUTURECRAFT.STRUNG concept for shoes.

“Athlete data and digital design converge, a mastery of body-motion study meets virtuosic traditional craftsmanship and cushioning platforms are reworked in experimental new silhouettes.” The unconstrained application of these elements comes to fruition in the Nike Design Exploration. The latest in this journey is ‘Every Stitch Considered,’ a lifestyle collection that combines craftsmanship with data-informed fit and function.

Kurt Parker, Nike VP of Apparel Design said, “Every Stitch Considered is ultimately a sportswear-inspired lifestyle collection, but our unique understanding of the body in motion, based in decades of scientific study, paired with dedicated old-world Italian craftsmanship, sets these garments apart as distinct, timeless articles.” The collection will be released on October 26th.

Nike reveals Dia de Muertos 2020 collection

Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead is a national holiday in Mexico celebrating friends and family members who have died, helping support their spiritual journey. The celebration is typically very vibrant with lots of bright colours, flowers and elements from the life of the departed put together as an ‘ofrendas’ or altar, with the intent to encourage visits by the souls, to hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them.

To further celebrate the festivities, Nike has released a collection of shoes and apparel paying homage to family. Taking the Nike Air Max 90, Nike DBreak Type, Nike Blazer Mid and Air Jordan 1 silhouettes whilst taking design inspiration from the traditional ‘ofrendas’.

The pack focuses on intrinsic colors, patterns and materials and employs Marigold — the traditional Mexican flower — as a collecting thread throughout the pack and apparel, whilst also connecting back to family with the phrase ‘Para Mi Familia’ on the DBreak Type heel, the toe of the Air Jordan 1 and the tee and hoodie graphics.

The pack will be made available worldwide today, October 15, on nike.com and the SNKRS app with prices ranging from $100 to $140.

Nike ISPA Drifter Gator promises to keep your feet dry

Nike ISPA, an arm of Nike that has a very specific philosophy – Improvise. Scavenge. Protect. Adapt. Basically pushing the boundaries of their designers to answer questions and the Nike ISPA Drifter Gator does just that.

The Drifter Gator is a shoe that is prepared for any shift in the weather, with an integrated gator that can be deployed and used when needed. It wraps around the leg, forming a waterproof membrane that will keep legs dry during cycling or walking in bad weather. Once you are back inside, roll it up and carry on with your day.

The sole, as on the original Drifter, is built with a lightweight, supple foam compound that includes regrind Nike ZoomX foam — a key component of Nike’s fast marathon shoes. The shoe’s upper shifts from a split toe design to a hearty full toe form to provide stability and prevent abrasion.

The Drifter Gator is due for release on October 8th at £189.95, here in the UK.

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Nike Flight: A game changing football

Football is a sport that brings out the best and the worst in people and if the football performs in a way that isn’t familiar to players it can cause mistakes and somewhat spectacular goals. Who remembers the 2006 Adidas +Teamgeist and the 2010 Jabulani? One didn’t go where players expected and the latter ended up slowing down part way through flight.

Nike Flight is said to change all of that, addressing the issues of inconsistent aerodynamics through the revolutionary ball design. Called AerowSculpt technology, the ball is said to travel 30% truer than its predecessor. That means if you miss, it is 30% more likely to be your fault than the ball’s.

The Nike Innovation Lab spent eight years of research looking into improving the consistency of a football’s flight. This meant measuring ball flight through numerous different kicks in a game, recreating in the lab with a robot leg before turning to testing different constructions and materials.

The team worked through 68 different iterations over thousands of hours with over 800 athletes participating in the research. The result? Nike Flight.

Fitted with Nike’s proprietary aerodynamic technology called AerowSculpt, the ball promotes air movement around it rather than gripping it much like the dimples on a golf ball.

It is built with a fuse-welded four-panel construction with 40% fewer seams than a traditional 12-panel ball. Nike didn’t stop there and went to its All Conditions Control department and borrowed some 3D ink to ensure optimal grip in the dry and wet whilst adding ‘micro-flaps’ to further optimise aerodynamic stability.

The Nike Flight is going to be official Premier League ball for 2020/2021 and is available now for £119.95 and can be purchased from the button below.

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Misfit Shine

On this blog, I have looked at a few activity monitors including the Nike+ Fuelband and LarkLife. Here is a new and completely different activity monitor. most monitors have chips embedded into bracelets as do the Nike+ and LarkLife. The Misfit Shine is something completely different, looking like a a thick coin with a halo of lights.

In the same way the Nike+ fuelband works, it gives you fuel for your daily activity which you can track by tapping the Shine and the lights will shine through somewhat in the same way Apple shows off its battery lights on its Macs.

The Misfit Shine’s party trick is that you can sync with your smartphone just by placing it on your phone screen.  Wear it how you want, wherever you want. There’s no cables, no bluetooth pairing, no charging stations – just an easily replaceable battery that lasts about six months.

When buying this activity tracker you have the option to get it with a bracelet or leather clip,  it can be worn just about anywhere, even when wearing next to nothing.

the company that came up with the idea and product opened its doors in 2011 and this is their first product. For a new company to come up with a product that will look good rubbing shoulders with most Apple products must breed success. we can only wait and see.