Mercurial Origins
Chapter 2
The natural progression of my PHK journey on campus has led me to Ronaldo Field, where I joined Reed McKenna, expert product line manager within the Global Football sport category at Nike. With Reed at the helm of football, he was able to shed light and a valuable perspective on the inspiration behind the Mambacurial story. For all intents and purposes, the Mercurial from 1998 broke the mould. "It brought dynamic colour to the football pitch for the first time ever", shared Reed. "From the beginning, it stood for the edge of style, with bold colours, expressive graphics and flashiness, arming players with equal parts confidence, audacity and state-of-the-art performance tech".
In keeping with tradition, the iconic Fireberry colourway of the 2013 Mercurial Vapor 9 featured similar characteristics in an entirely fresh, new way. With Pink, Purple and Electric Green blanketing the upper, the sneaker instantly stood out on the pitch and it gave the players wearing them not just "an advantage through the tech, but through expression as well", explained Reed. "The Fireberry design was all about balance and creating a hierarchy that allowed the shoe to be stunning but also cohesive, and that allowed the players wearing it to feel truly fearless".
Over a decade removed from the debut of the Fireberry colourway, it feels just as relevant, innovative and striking as the first time it touched the pitch. My time with Reed was very insightful and he helped me to better understand the connection between performance football boots and performance basketball. Here's a look at chapter 2 and my time with Reed during my PHK visit.
