What was trending when the Total 90 III came out in 2004?

It’s official now: on Monday, the reissue of the Nike Total 90 III will be released. Several stores have already released them through early releases in the previous days. A release that sounds like a statement from Nike, which may have identified the Total 90 III (seen in a silver version, but which will be released in many other colorways) as the perfect way to regain authority both in the lifestyle sector (not by chance, instead of the OG soleplate, they will be sold in the indoor soleplate version) and in the sportswear sector. Over the last 3 years, adidas’ dominance has been evident: the Three Stripes have taken over the market, reviving all the low-top models from their archive – Gazelle, Samba, Spezial – leaving Nike a bit behind as, when it comes to archive models, they haven’t kept pace with that type of silhouette. The same detachment has also been amplified in sportswear, especially in football: adidas has monopolized the nostalgia sentiment by re-releasing almost all the Predator models; documentaries featuring Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham have created a perception gap between the two brands that feels almost unreal. 

Now is the time for a turnaround, or at least for the historic battle between the two brands to become more interesting and regain balance. As always, however, the weapon to wield remains nostalgia: the Nike Total 90 III are ready to return, and Nike has accompanied the launch with an excellent marketing campaign, releasing, exclusively for the Premier League, the last season of sponsorship with the Swoosh before switching to PUMA, the T90 ball used in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons. The company from Beaverton is trying to play with our feelings, bringing us back to the past in a really intense way: the Total 90 III universe brings with it an aesthetic imagery that transcends the boundaries of football. For this reason, we at nss sports wondered: What was trending when the Total 90 III came out in 2004? And most importantly, can the return of the Total 90 III imagery create a domino effect and bring back fashionable items, clothing, and electronic devices that were trendy at that time?

Video Games and Consoles

We are in the midst of the Y2K era when Nike releases the Total 90 III, and 2004 is a year that marks the launch of numerous iconic products in technology, cinema, and fashion. It’s the year when GTA San Andreas was released, both in Europe and the United States. The impact of the masterpiece by Rockstar is immense, hard to quantify, but if we were to associate a video game more in tune with the aesthetic of the Total 90 – which, we remind you, were worn everywhere and by everyone, with a stereotypical age range between 12 and 25 years – it would definitely be the entire Need for Speed saga. In 2004, Underground 2 was released, but in 2005, when the Total 90 III were still in the full swing of their trend, Most Wanted was released: the game cover featured a BMW M3 GTR in metallic silver, with graffiti-style font. It’s also the launch year of the PSP. Imagine walking through the streets of the Romagna Riviera with the PSP in hand, drifting with cars from Need for Speed Most Wanted, wearing wired earphones, 3/4 Bermuda shorts, and, of course, the Total 90 III.

Movies, TV Series, Mobile Phones, Clothing, and Accessories

2004 is also an important year for the film industry and TV series: the final season of Sex & The City airs, the movie Troy starring a statuesque Brad Pitt hits theaters, but neither of these projects fully captures the aesthetic of that time. Staying in the tech sector, Blackberry (long before its definitive rise to fame) launched the 6210 model, a crucial chapter in the arrival of QWERTY keyboards on smartphones, Nokia presented the 6630, but most notably Motorola launched the Razr V3, including its shocking pink colorway, an innovative and never-before-seen chromed silhouette, which marked the beginning of the trend of incorporating electronic devices into outfits: this would happen a few years later with the arrival of Beats by Dre, and in more recent days with Apple's AirPods Max. But what remains in the imagination of the early 2000s are some hairstyles and clothing items that became popular: for example, the spiky hair, a style that characterized David Beckham and that many tried to replicate, pairing them with Carrera sunglasses, True Religion denim, and tribal tattoos.

The Total 90 III may bring with them the boldness of the Y2K years, all the messy style that would contrast sharply with some fashion trends (possibly creating an interesting mix) – like quiet luxury and the rise of Scandinavian brands; or, if we stay in sportswear, the rise of running aesthetics with brands like On and Satisfy, which focus on a more minimalist and stripped-down style.