Palace’s Nike England Collab Is Weird, Brilliant, and Exactly Right

Personally, when it was first announced, I was half-expecting a couple of co-branded easy-wins that we'd all pretend to love for a few weeks, like some logos switched around onto already-existing, popular silhouettes. But instead, well, we’ve been treated to an all-you-can-eat buffet of some of the tastiest collaborative goodness I've seen in years.

For starters, Palace x Nike works so well because it doesn’t feel like Palace has been asked to tip-toe around the England national team. In fact, it almost feels like England has been dragged into Palace’s world and made itself at home. It's a bit grey, a bit loud, a bit funny, a bit London.

And that, honestly, is exactly where England football is at its best. Not overly polished and not trying too hard, just a concoction of strange national energy, weird pride, big tournament emotion and the kind of collective madness that only appears every two summers.

The campaign, naturally, is also completely unhinged in the way only Palace can really get away with, and sees Wayne Rooney dressed like an Elizabethan fever dream – ruff, Nike x Palace varsity jacket, flag-painted skull in hand – reciting Shakespeare. Jill Scott turns up as a kind of Stonehenge mystic, while Marcus Rashford has already been doing the important early work of teasing the stained-glass-inspired England jerseys.

The pieces themselves land well because they understand that England is more than a kit. For many, it’s the tracksuit in the pub garden, a pre-match top you wear for five years after the tournament and a jacket you convince yourself is investment outerwear because it has a Three Lions badge and Palace typography on the back.

And then there’s the footwear. The black leather Cryoshot is the bit that really tips it over for me. It’s ridiculous in the right way: part terrace shoe, part skate shoe, part tournament artefact. It’s the kind of thing that will be looked back on in years to come as a proper little moment.

I’ve said already, but Nike is killing it with its World Cup-adjacent collaborations so far. From Jacquemus and Virgil Abloh Archive, to NOCTA, Patta and Slawn, the Swoosh isn’t leaving any stone unturned this summer. 

This one, though – and I admit I may be a tad biassed, here, being an England man – feels especially sharp. Because with this, it feels like Palace hasn’t just made another round of England merch, it’s made England feel cool again, and done so without sanding off the weirdness – which is easier said than done.

The England Nike Palace collection will be available exclusively June 12th at palaceskateboards.com and Palace retail locations globally, with a wider release at select retailers June 16th. Including Nike.com and England.