Peanut butter and jelly. A T90 sneaker in a cheeky, borderline offensive volt colorway. Palace and Nike. Some things just feel right.
For the first time ever, Nike and British skate brand Palace have teamed up; the resulting collaborative effort, dubbed the P90 collection — a spin on T90, Nike’s early-aughts footy silhouette that’s become something of a cult icon among soccer fans old enough to remember a time before VAR, or Messi, for that matter — is about as YTK-tinged as a gloved-up Thierry Henry.
This isn’t Palace’s first collab — far from it, with an archive of projects that include Adidas, Mercedes-AMG and Gucci — but it’s poised to be one of its biggest yet, and, if the previews are any indication, one of its best.
After heads first caught wind of the Palace x Nike campaign — photos of Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney, kitted out in what appeared to be a full co-branded tracksuit, surfaced a few weeks back — the duo made it official earlier this week, announcing the partnership with a teaser trailer that featured Rooney along with Chelsea captain Reece James, Arsenal star Leah Williamson and UK rap legend Giggs.
The trailer, a very British affair, was set to B-roll (shot by longtime Palace collaborator Alasdair McLellan) of greasy-looking (complimentary) Londoners railing kickflips and shoves in warm up-inspired skate gear, and announced not only the collaboration, but a new (permanent) free community center for those lucky enough to reside across the pond.
As part of the P90 campaign, Manor Place, a historic London box gym turned indoor skate park, has been completely remodeled by the brand, complete with a hidden footy cage, exhibition space and all the skate spots you could ask for. The center serves not only as a celebration of the brand’s wide-reaching appeal, but of the inherent connection between skate and footy, both in aesthetics and in clientele.
“We wanted to do an indoor football collection to launch alongside Manor Place, so we picked something that was nostalgic for us, something we all loved growing up, something iconic — Total 90. I’ve always loved the shoe too because they’re great to skate in,” said Palace co-founder and creative director Lev Tanju in a release from the brand.
Of course, for soccer fans (read: American consumers), the real excitement lays with the imminent ’00s-coded capsule.
Equal parts nostalgic and fresh, the Palace x Nike collides swoosh and tri-ferg in an explosion of electrified neon, grey and anthracite, introducing a ton of archival styles and all-new designs in the process.
At the heart of the collection is the Total 90 sneaker, a snaky, torepedo-esque footy sneaker modeled after the original ’00s-era cleats; the mandem-approved grey-silver-volt colorway is fully loaded with the distinctive asymmetrical lacing and futsal sole. It makes perfect sense as an inaugural offering, combining Nike’s current push for fresh lifestyle silos with Palace’s British heritage and skate-centric styling proclivities.
A variety of hi-viz apparel — some leaning skate, some leaning soccer — round out the collection. The drop includes two-piece track suits, nylon pullovers and cotton staples, emblazoned with piping, co-branding and a P90 graphic that pays homage to the original T90 iconography. Visually, it’s the best of both worlds; the irreverent, splashy legacy of the T90 is there, just reengineered for today with the semi-ironic vibe that 2000s-era apparel demands.
The Palace x Nike P90 collection drops Oct. 31 at Palace’s webstore. Expect it to move even faster than a typical launch.
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