Prada and adidas marked the entry of luxury into the game of football

The style of football and the gear worn by athletes have for years been an inspiration for fashion designers, who bring to the catwalks jerseys, shorts, and even sneaker inspired by those with cleats. It happens less frequently that a fashion brand collaborates directly in the creation of a garment designed primarily for performance to be worn during matches, as happened between Prada and adidas, who yesterday unveiled three shoe models. The result of the collaboration in part should come as no surprise, but in other ways it represents a unique step in that link between football and fashion, overcoming certain limitations and attempts made in the past.

The first fashion brand to create the design of football boots was Bikkembergs, inventing the 'Sport Couture' concept that paved the way in the early 2000s with a product that was, however, not very successful on the pitch. Often the collaborations of the big designers were limited only to graphics, colors, or creating custom boxes, as in the case of the two Nike Mercurial Vapor 360 models launched in 2018 and designed by Virgil Abloh and Kim Jones. Prada Linea Rossa not only combined a creative touch with design, relying on the Predator Accuracy, Copa Pure and X Crazyfast models but brought the design and appeal of its performance collection, as well as references to the collection's iconic materials and colors. 

The New Balance Furon V7 model launched last November as part of the capsule created with Stone Island always follows the pattern of the big fashion brand that silently steps in on the football boot, in what is not far from simple customization. The same can be said for the Nike Mercurial shoes mentioned above and for Paul Pogba's Predator Freak, which adidas created together with Stella McCartney. The latter has a joint collaboration with the German brand, just as it is true that Prada has recently collaborated with adidas, the latest drop however has the uniqueness of wanting to bring the fashion identities of one brand and the performance identity of the other to overlap, without however really blending in.

When fashion has wanted to mention football boots on the catwalk - something that has not happened with other sportswear such as jerseys - it has always kept the priority on aesthetics, without ever really caring about a product designed for performance or without ever expanding on the context of matches. Acne Studios, citing the Nike Total 90 II during the last Paris Fashion Week in January, removed many of the specific details of football boots, as did other brands such as Miu Miu, who only took inspiration for the soles or tongues. 

Something different in recent years has been done by Botter, a Parisian brand that has used adidas cleats (Predator and X) combined with a classic silhouette worn by models on the catwalk in addition to goalkeeper gloves. A major brand that has come close to making a real football boot is Balenciaga, who during Paris Fashion Week 2020 presented a three-colored version of a boot, with a tongue to cover the laces and elastic to pass under the sole. Although the attempt connected the fashion world to the world of football like few others, the shoe (sold for over 700 euros) had no functional performance features. The sole is far from the technological ones of today, the structure of the shoe and the materials are heavy and with too many contact surfaces compared to the standards of perfection followed by brands today.

Prada and adidas thus seem to have entered into this game of collaborations, quotations and creativity, trying to really create a sports product that is born together with a more fashion-oriented idea. For now, the three models will be worn on the court by Leão, Dybala, Catarina Macario and Pedri, the collection is a limited edition on adidas confirmed with a retail price of €500, two stumbling blocks that certainly won't extend the three models to a wide audience.

The Prada-adidas connection, however, marks a unique step in football, which goes beyond the collaboration as just a quote, going all the way to the design concepts. The tongue of the new Copa Pure is the clearest example of this link, moving away from the more contemporary choices for boots and quoting adidas models of the past, introducing a new idea of design and creativity into the linearity of today's uppers. Prada has closed the triangle formed by fashion, football and performance.