To celebrate the 15th anniversary of their partnership with Lionel Messi, adidas drops another signature boot for their superstar. Dubbed as ‘El Retorno,’ the boot pays tribute to an iconic silo and colourway. But at the same time, adidas Retorno also provides a glimpse of the future of the adidas X line.
The dark beige colourway and the flowing black adidas stripes take inspiration from the Tunit boots Messi wore against Getafe in a Copa del Rey match in 2007, scoring a goal that drew a comparison to Maradona’s Goal of the Century. Other references to the Tunit boot are the new ‘Teamgeist’ logo on the tongue and the F30 branding on the vamp. There is also a yellow circular heel patch containing a Messi branding and logo.
‘El Retorno,’ however, is also a new direction for the speed silo X. The new signature boot is the X Ghosted Speedflow.1. The upper still has a thin profile that produces a raw sharp ball feel but is relatively softer than the upper of the X Ghosted.1. The tongue is also reconstructed and is now composed of a textile mesh.
The sole remains the same, which is the ultra-responsive Carbitex Speedframe. ‘El Retorno’ applies a wearable chrome finish to the soleplate and an orange and dark grey hue to the stud tips.
