adidas and Stormzy just launched their joint project called Merky FC, a community hub that involves access to football, music and gaming. And the Stripes brand is letting everyone know about it in the football community by also launching the adidas Merky Predator FT. It’s a special release and is the only boot to represent this joint cause. Bolstering this marketing endeavour for both boot and Merky FC is the choice of colourway. Safe to say that they effectively did so by applying the theme of the Merky FC Project to one of the recognised football silo of all time.
Colourway-wise, it’s black with bright (almost neon-like) yellow accents. It does remind me of the adidas Crazycharged Pack with the way the accent colours the stripes, the Strikeskin elements and the fold-over tongue. The stripes though have the black fade towards the top. Some tonal outlines across the upper produce a thunder-like aesthetic for the boot. And this time of course there are additional bespoke details to highlight the Merky FC project.
And that bespoke detail involves a handwritten-like signaturemark that read #MerkyF.C. It has a crown above the M and an adidas performance logo below the F.C. You can see this boldly popping out from the fold-over tongue and the forefoot sole. The boot applies it contrastingly against its background for maximum visibility, which I think is best if the boot is to represent Stormzy’s collaboration work with adidas.
Merky FC is set up in Croydon. Being born in the said South London town, one can see how the multipurpose hub is the rapper’s way of giving back to the community. There are multiple pitches to play in, and it would be great to get a pair of the Merky Predators and use them on those surfaces. Equally enticing though especially for the youth is the video gaming room and recording studio. Stormzy has envisioned Merky FC to be safe space for everyone, and we could see how this can help the people out there to go ahead and enjoy their football.
