Nike reach deep into their distinguished archives to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the '97 Air GX football boot. Throwing old school style on modern football flair, the famed design is refreshed and reinvented on the Hypervenom Phantom silhouette.
Created at Nike's legendary Montebelluna factory in Italy – the birthplace of the original and home to Nike's professional players boots – the Hypervenom GX retains the iconic signature details of the nineties offering, while blending it with Flyknit and K-leather for an alternative marriage of modernised retro.
Restricted to a limited edition release the Nike Hypervenom GX celebrates a pre-Mercurial era. Nike’s Montebelluna facility was established in 1996 and the first football boot to leave its doors was the Air GX, debuted the following year. The original design was the final Nike boot before the introduction of the Mercurial series and helped shape the journey that Nike boots took up to this day. The Swoosh could've been expected to celebrate the 20th anniversary on the Superfly silo, but rather they've opted to mix things up by throwing down some game on the Hypervenom.
Above: The original Nike Air GX boot
The upper of the Hypervenom is transformed to host the GX design on a K-leather blanket that replicates the blue, white and black colourway of the original aesthetic. The Swooshes follow the same design as the original while the blue Flyknit area represents the old tongue of the '97 design. Naturally, the update is lighter than the original: 35% to be precise.
Underneath you're looking at the same Hypervenom 3 soleplate, but it's the heel where the limited edition tag is earned; Nike have stamped the boot with Montebelluna made approval that hosts the Italian flag as a further shoutout to its birthplace. Shaken shapes and throwback flavour.
Will they feature on pitch? The answer to that is yes, and in some style too. AC Milan's Andre Silva and Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi will both lace up in the Hypervenom GX boots this weekend in the Milan derby. Icardi wearing the blue versions featured here, and Silva wearing an AC styled red pair.
Get the Nike Hypervenom GX from prodirectsoccer.com
