To create something truly unique, designer Phil Woodman started conceiving the boot from inside out. This resulted in a new proprietary construction that will debut in football with the PhantomVSN, and soon to be adopted in other Nike footwear.
The PhantomVSN features an internal ‘Quadfit’ mesh bootie that conforms to the foot, provides support in all directions, retains its shape and does not overstretch. While not visible from the outside, the impact is immediate on the inside.
“Players have long been accustomed to the rigors of breaking in their boots,” explains Phil Woodman, “but the PhantomVSN is match-ready right out of the box.”
Another never-before-seen design is the appropriately named ‘Ghost Lace System.’ To improve on traditional lacing, Ghost Lacing has minimal touch points and provides a one-pull construction implemented for equal tension all the way down the foot. The laces can be discretely tucked away to provide a clean, even striking surface.
“We’ve done tremendous amounts of research, talking with players and analysing data in the lab,” says Woodman. “the results are unanimously in favour of lacing to provide that customised fit each player desires.”
The long list of Nike players planning to play in the PhantomVSN includes Philippe Coutinho, Mallory Pugh, Kevin De Bruyne, Fran Kirby, and Leon Goretzka.
The boot’s dominant visual cue, the medial triangle, has been strategically placed based on data from NSRL (Nike Sport Research Lab) which has shown the surface between the 3 prominent bones in the foot (calcaneus, talus and metatarsal head), provides an intuitive connection, critical to ball control. The triangle that roughly covers these three bones, provides a visual cue for intuitive connection.
The PhantomVSN will be available in Australia on August 2 for $330 via nike.com.au and select retailers.
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