Celebrating the places that football is born from, Nike launch the ‘Neighbourhood Pack’, with designs across the Mercurial, Phantom VNM and VSN II, and Tiempo that feature zip codes highlighting key neighbourhood football hotbeds in Europe and South America.
As we all know, Euro 2020 and Copa America are unfortunately not going ahead this year, but despite the hardships facing the world, football is on the way back. To celebrate its return and to pay homage to the places where football truly begins, Nike have launched the Neighbourhood pack, which presents the standard quartet of Mercurial, Phantom VNM and VSN II, and Tiempo in a uniform ”Metallic Bomber Grey, Black and Red” wrap, with nods to locations throughout the globe where football is played in its purest sense.
The Neighbourhood Pack expands on the theme seen on the 'Bondy Dreams' collection, Mbappe’s first signature capsule, exploring and celebrating the roots of football, only on a wider, more global scale. The base colour of the boots is silver, a nod to the trophies all players are playing for, while they also feature the debut of the lightning Swoosh – a disjointed take on the standard Nike logo, modernising it with a more aggressive aesthetic.
There are 11 zip codes (post codes to us Brits) embedded in the boots, representing neighbourhoods in 10 of the cities that would have been hosting games at Euro 2020 and Copa America 2020. These are not the neighbourhoods of the stadiums themselves, rather they relate to the neighbourhoods in the cities where street football is rife – the places where football is truly made, celebrating the ‘From the streets to the stadium’ mantra.
The numbers can be seen flashing through the disruptive red strip that runs across all silos or in the same red tone, and those numbers relate accordingly: Georgia, Nápoles, 03810, Mexico City; Rue Gaston Defferre, 93140, Bondy, Paris; Lavapiés 28012, Madrid; Placa de Josep M. Folch i Torres, 08001, Barcelona; Badstraße 53 13357, Berlin; West Way Fields, White City, W12 0DF, London, Pekcham, SE15, London; Via Veglia, 20159, Milan; Av. Cond. Elizabeth Robin, 5120, Sao Paulo; Cerritos Park 110121, Bogota; Barrios of La Boca C1160ABM, Buenos Aires.
For the Mercurial, in both Vapor and Superfly formats, its a strong silver coating on that textured upper, while the disruptive red runs down the lateral side of the boot, with the numbering appearing on the medial side, running down to the underside of the boot, where a faint pink graphic can be seen through the weave. The new look Swoosh takes its place on the forefoot, slightly less prominent than on some of the other boots in the pack.
The Phantom VNM takes on arguably one of its strongest looks to date, with the lightning Swoosh taking on a bold execution, bordered in the same red that pops throughout the upper, contrasting with the black for a standout presentation. The numbers here are highlighted in the red band that wraps around the forefoot, while a subtle pink graphic on the lateral side contrasts nicely with the different tones of grey and silver throughout the upper.
For the Phantom VSN II, that numbering is split between the band that again runs across the forefoot and a position on the heel. The VSN II boasts both a bordered and non-bordered lightning Swoosh, taking positions on the medial and lateral sides respectively.
Completing the pack is the Tiempo, once again looking resplendent in silver, with the lightning Swoosh bordered once again for a stronger contrast. Like the Phantom VSN II, the numbering is again split, but here it is all restricted to the rear foot, taking position through the red band on the rear lateral side, and then independently through the heel. All four silos feature a special global logo on the insole for a yet another unifying sign-off.
The Nike Neighbourhood Pack will be available on Monday 1 June at prodirectsoccer.com
