When you have two legends that had worn your boots, it makes a boot release even more special. And in this case, it makes this King Icon LE launch a two-in-one drop. Puma take inspiration from their connection to Pele and Johan Cruyff in presenting these two King icons, dedicating a pair to each of these all-time greats. But while the design is inspirational and historical, the boot itself takes on the modern synthetic leather form of the King Ultimate (instead of going traditional with natural leather like how it was with OG Puma King).
Both King Icon LE boots are predominantly black. This at least jives well, at least in the aesthetical sense, with the Puma King being traditionally K-leather. It’s the accent and medial design that determines whether one is the Pele version or the Cruyff version. General views indicate the the King Ultimate lags behind the Future and the Ultra. Reminding everyone that, once upon a time the King was the go-to boot of names inside the football pantheon, could be just the kick needed to increase its appeal in today’s times.
Who could forget that 1970 World Cup moment when Pele asked the referee some time to tie his laces, getting all the camera attention to himself and his Puma boots? It was definitely a masterstroke in publicity! It also helped the case of Puma that Pele and his Brazilian team went on to win it all that year. So it makes sense that the Pele King Icon LE has yellow as the accent colour for the lateral Formstrip, KING heel branding and the shirt number 10 on the tongue. Pele’s silhouette print image overlays the Formstrip outline on the medial side, and the player’s signature and the phrase ‘The Beautiful Game’ are respectively positioned above and below the lateral Formstrip’s tail-end to express more bespoke detailings.
The Cruyff King Icon LE follows a similar design template, just tweaked to stamp in Cruyffian references. Orange accent refers to his Dutch nationality. The signature is changed to his and the phrase below reads ‘Total Football,’ a system he was one of the most famous exponent for. The medial image is unmistakably that of football’s The Flying Dutchman. Lastly, his famous shirt number 14 sits on the tongue.
Another common detail is the set of three stars, golden like the signature and football style phrase, positioned on the heel. The year below each star, for the Pele boots, are the years he won the FIFA World Cup. On the Cruyff boot, the years references he won the Ballon d’Or.
