Palace x Nike Total 90 III — Football Heritage Meets Streetwear Energy
October 27, 2025
The Nike Total 90 III—one of the most instantly recognizable football boots of the early 2000s—has officially been reimagined by Palace Skateboards. A connection that fuses the charged energy of Y2K football culture with Palace’s irreverent skate sensibility, the project marks a historic first between the London brand and Nike, following years of Palace’s partnership with adidas. The result is not just a sneaker drop but a full cultural remix that brings the Total 90 into a new era of street relevance.
origin
When Nike introduced the Total 90 line at the dawn of the millennium, it was designed for power and precision. Worn by legends like Wayne Rooney and Luís Figo, the boot was unmistakable for its asymmetric lacing system, its padded strike zone, and its bold circular “90” logo stamped onto the heel. It represented a time when football gear carried a kind of futuristic optimism—chrome panels, synthetic textures, and wild colorways that matched the bravado of the era’s stars.
The Total 90 III, in particular, was known for its sleek curvature and striking design language. It felt fast even when it was standing still. Two decades later, those same elements—its aggressive paneling, neon contrasts, and industrial edge—fit perfectly into the contemporary Y2K revival movement sweeping through streetwear and fashion.
a new chapter
For Palace, the collab represents a major shift. The London-based brand made its name through irreverent skate videos and its long-running collaborations with adidas, becoming synonymous with the intersection of British street culture and European sportswear. To partner with Nike, therefore, signals something fresh—an alignment with the global narrative of heritage-meets-future.
Palace’s founder Lev Tanju has said that the Total 90 was a “massive part of growing up” for many on the Palace team—a symbol of Saturday league football, playground rivalries, and early-2000s fashion. This connection takes that nostalgia and filters it through Palace’s winking humor and love of subcultural storytelling.
The campaign imagery drives this home. Styled like a late-night sports broadcast and fronted by football icons Wayne Rooney and Leah Williamson, the visuals merge the raw, tongue-in-cheek energy of Palace’s skate videos with the dramatic heroism of Nike’s sports advertising. It’s nostalgia with a grin.
lang
At first glance, the Palace x Nike Total 90 III looks unmistakably familiar. Its key features—the padded upper, metallic silver overlays, and bold “90” logo—return almost unchanged. But beneath the surface, it’s a transformation.
The original studded outsole has been swapped for a flat rubber sole, turning a boot built for the pitch into one ready for the pavement. The upper features crisp white leather accented by panels of chrome-like silver and vivid “Volt” green—a colorway that feels like pure Y2K energy. The combination of smooth and stitched textures across the toe box pays homage to Nike’s craftsmanship of that era, while Palace’s iconic Tri-Ferg logo sits subtly on the heel and insole.
It’s not a skate shoe, but it nods to skate culture in its own way: durable, weighty, and bold. The silhouette’s sturdy frame and exaggerated details feel right at home among the chunky sneakers and terrace-inspired styles dominating 2025 fashion.
flow
The deeper story of this collaboration isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about how cultures overlap. Football and skateboarding, at first glance, couldn’t be more different: one is structured, team-oriented, and global; the other thrives on individuality, chaos, and rebellion. Yet, both are deeply rooted in community, repetition, and expression through movement.
By choosing the Total 90 III, Palace and Nike have created a physical symbol of that crossover. It’s as comfortable on the feet of a skater as it is on someone who remembers lacing up boots for Sunday league. This synthesis reflects a larger cultural trend—the erasure of the borders between sport, fashion, and lifestyle.
The collaboration also arrives amid a surge in Y2K nostalgia. Fashion is rediscovering the loud, tech-driven aesthetics of the early 2000s: metallic fabrics, curved lines, neon accents. The Total 90’s original identity fits perfectly within that framework, and Palace has simply re-tuned it for the modern age.
the campaign
The campaign, shot by Alasdair McLellan, channels Palace’s signature mix of sincerity and satire. Football legends appear in mock-interviews alongside skaters and Palace regulars, creating an atmosphere that feels both nostalgic and subversive. Rooney, once the face of the original Total 90 advertising, returns two decades later as a kind of living time capsule.
The shoe will be released globally on October 31, 2025 via Palace’s official channels and Nike.com, with Asia following shortly after. The official SKU—IM1381-100—corresponds to the White/Volt/Metallic Silver colorway, priced around $115 USD. Palace’s drop will also include a small apparel capsule featuring retro football jerseys, training jackets, and sporty tracksuits that echo the Total 90’s early-2000s roots.
Expect limited quantities. Palace drops tend to sell out in minutes, and this one carries additional weight due to Nike’s involvement and the silhouette’s heritage status.
why
The Palace x Nike Total 90 III is more than a sneaker collaboration. It represents how cultural nostalgia can evolve into design innovation. It bridges the past and present—linking early-2000s football culture, 2010s skate fashion, and today’s broader movement toward archival reinvention.
For Nike, the project revives a key chapter in its football history while reaching audiences beyond sport. For Palace, it’s a statement of intent—a demonstration that the brand is no longer confined to skate shops and London’s backstreets, but now sits confidently within the global sportswear conversation.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen streetwear brands reinterpret old performance silhouettes—Supreme has done it with Nike’s Air Max line, and KITH with ASICS and New Balance—but the Total 90’s comeback feels especially timely. It taps into football’s ongoing fashion renaissance, visible in collaborations like Wales Bonner x adidas or Martine Rose x Nike.
The T90’s re-entry into culture through Palace speaks to the way sport, memory, and design intersect in 2025. It’s nostalgic, yes—but also futuristic, bold, and perfectly tuned to our era’s obsession with remix culture.
fin
Palace’s reinterpretation of the Nike Total 90 III does more than reissue a retro football boot—it recontextualizes it. The shoe’s metallic flair, padded geometry, and fluorescent highlights now belong to a new world: one where skaters, footballers, and fashion enthusiasts all share the same visual language.
It’s a release that celebrates what made the early 2000s exciting—the unapologetic confidence of design, the crossover between sport and culture, and the joy of gear that looked as powerful as it performed. Two decades later, the Total 90 III still feels fast, loud, and alive—and in Palace’s hands, it’s more stylish than ever.
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