Adidas’ current contributions to the zeitgeist are primarily connected to fútbol, as the Samba and (to a slightly lesser extend) Gazelle are two of the trendiest sneakers of the year. As Nike looks forward to 2024, though, it’s setting its sights on good ole American football to find another hit from its archives.
Together with one of its top partners in Union, Nike will bring back the Field General silhouette next year, according to a report from Complex‘s Brendan Dunne. The turf shoe originally debuted in 1982 and, although few are likely to remember it now, was worn by Nike quarterbacks including Archie Manning and Dan Fouts. A return for the Field General comes as Nike is also reported to be tapping Bode to help revive the Astro Grabber, another football shoe that dates back even further to the ’70s.
Nike’s playbook for collaborations on archival models is well-established at this point. First, it taps strong creative partners such as Union to help generate attention for a lesser-known or lesser-appreciated models. After one or more of these collaborative drops, Nike then releases inline versions of the silhouette in hopes that the principles of trickle down economics apply to hype. Thus, if Union is involved with the Field General, we can likely expect to see plenty more of the model going forward.
Watch on FN
The Field General should also benefit from its properties as a vintage, low-frills sneaker similar to the likes of the Samba and Gazelle. The sneaker also bears immediate resemblance to the Toms Sachs x Nike General Purpose Shoe, which created goodwill through both its look and relative ease of purchasing until the artist was hit with troubling accusations for his studio environment and was all but dropped by Nike.
Football has never been as much of a focal point to sneaker culture as basketball or running, but its role looks due for at least a slight increase quite soon. Deion Sanders recently resigned with Nike after years of swearing off the company and gaining a high-profile appointment as the head coach of the University of Colorado football team. Reebok has also teased the revival of the ES22, Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith’s signature sneaker from the ’90s, when football-driven sneakers had the most resonance.
