Landing back with a bold colour way, the launch of the New Balance Tekela is a head turning chapter for the brand. Getting into the detail of the 'Otruska Pack', we spoke to Product Manager for Football Footwear about what lies beneath the surface of this boot.
The boots are a real statement piece, could you start at the beginning, what was the main objective when you started designing these boots?
"Ultimately we wanted to create a strong emphasis on ‘attack’; two attacking boots with differing characteristics and personalities each offering their own distinct impression. We always ensure we are directed by consumer insight; that we maintain a purity of design & engineering decision making."
"When we picture the Tekela player, this is the innovator. Someone who combines pace and maneuverability to change the game in any given moment. On the other hand, the Furon player is the out and out attacker; the type that shows little mercy in front of goal. They combine speed and acceleration to get the finish off with lethal accuracy. This balance of playing styles gave us a great platform in which to make that statement."
The colours are the first thing that grabs you - where did you take the inspiration?
"As a creative team, we were pulled towards the tournament for inspiration. This lead us to absorb and take influence from the host nation; it struck us that duality and sheer contrast was apparent in many aspects of Russian life; football, youth culture, music and fashion. Therefore we wanted to explore this concept by providing a simple and understated base colour that highlighted the technology, innovation and features but use the Flame colour to provide a shocking intensity and contrast. The end result is really striking."
The soleplate is a work of art to, what can you tell us about that?
"The metallic Flame electroplating highlights that we have engineered two plates with distinctly different attributes. Tekela uses a conical stud format to provide 360 degree rotational traction; this mimics the control and micro movement of the player to be fearlessly creative. On the other hand, Furon is built for acceleration with a greater emphasis on straight line speed and a textured toe-off zone for greater responsiveness."
Under the hood, the detailing in the design - could you tell us what makes this boot different from a technical perspective to New Balance boots gone before?
"On Furon, we developed a material construction we call FantomFit. This provides absolute stability and control whilst limiting the weight impact and ensuring a clear contact area for the player to get their shot off with accuracy. The feedback throughout development has been exceptional with a real move on from its predecessors."
How about on the surface, what features stand out that you may not notice on first impression?
"I would say the Tekela has a really technical upper technology that comes through as a graphic at first glance. This is actually Kinetic Stitch; a TPU embroidered and thermo-formed yarn that can be positioned to manage areas of critical stress under player braking and cutting actions. This ensures that we can bring strength and durability in to the areas that are required, and leave clear on low impact areas. It’s another intuitive way of ensuring we are providing stability to the player in the areas they need it at those critical moments in the game."
This boot will be seen on pitch during the World Cup, was it important to create a boot that would get noticed?
"Ultimately it’s important that we are enabling the players to be noticed on this stage for all the right reasons; if we can match their ambition and performance and help them in that pursuit, then we have done our job."
How important is a style of a boot when it comes to design - football has moved fast into a world where your look is everything, even over performance arguably...
"Performance and style have never been mutually exclusive; the very best examples of this, within any walk of life, are those that have endured. However, fundamentally the boots have to be credible in respect to fit, comfort and technical capability; how we deliver this through style and beauty is our eternal ambition."
Does this set a new standard for New Balance football? Could you describe the mantra of the brand and how they're liking to move in the game going forward?
"We consider ourselves fearlessly independent in our pursuit of setting new standards for the brand and in the sports in which we play; this gives us a unique and tireless passion to create and recreate. We are restless in providing a boot that will exceed the expectations of the player at all levels and those just coming in to the game; this responsibility means we will be seeing more and more from NB Football in the years to come."
Pick up the New Balance Otruska Pack football boots from prodirectsoccer.com
Photography by Ossi Piispanen for SoccerBible.
