Brands Bet on the Value of Retro

In recent years, both Nike and Adidas have embraced the trend of releasing products heavily inspired by —or direct recreations of— items from the 1990s and 2000s.

From the three-stripe brand, the historic Predator boots have been recreated multiple times, with stars like David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane featured in their launches. In 2025, Adidas released the Adizero Archive Pack, an exact replica of the boots worn at the 2010 World Cup. These milestones have been accompanied by football jersey and apparel designs using the “Teamgeist” template, which rose to fame at Germany 2006 and has been reissued for the brand’s top clubs worldwide.

As for Nike, the focus has been on reviving the “Total 90” style from the 2000s. The swoosh brand launched boots in various color ranges from that era, with Ronaldinho as the main figure. Nike also revived the distinctive shirt designs of that time for current releases with national teams such as Brazil, the Netherlands, and South Korea, as well as clubs like FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

The commercial success and concept behind these releases may be linked to what social media calls “Football Nostalgia,” which celebrates the players and aesthetics of football from years past. Many of the most beloved players —and clear examples of this phenomenon— are the very ones brands have recruited for relaunches of their iconic product lines. This trend has also extended into video games, as EAFC regularly introduces “retro” cards to allow retired footballers to be used in its Ultimate Team mode.