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It was a random Thursday afternoon in October when, like all great drops do, a teaser for the Palace x Nike collaboration appeared out of nowhere. Captioned “Dreams come true,” the moment the post hit Instagram, the timeline immediately combusted. After a year of nothing but blurry photos and wild speculation, all the rumors turned out to be true. “We just had this really grand idea,” says Palace co-founder Lev Tanju over FaceTime. “Something that involved a sportswear brand, sure, but more than just making clothing. We saw it as a project for London, for skateboarding, for football—and Nike were the only ones who could help us execute it properly.” Dubbed the P90 collection—a play on Nike’s iconic T90 soccer boot—it’s a throwback to early Y2K footy culture, back when every striker in the Premier League had frosted tips. The campaign, shot by longtime collaborator Alasdair McLellan, brings together football legends like Wayne Rooney, Leah Williamson, and Reece James, alongside Palace team riders and grime pioneer Giggs. Featuring shell suits, jerseys, hoodies, tees and, yes, a pair of Total 90 IIIs, the pieces are all decked out with a new logo that fuses the British skate label’s Tri-Ferg mark with the American sportswear giant’s Swoosh. But the project isn’t just about nice clothes and nice shoes. It’s about building something bigger—something with purpose. All roads led to Manor Place, a historic South London landmark that Palace and Nike have helped reimagine as a free-to-access community hub. Once a Victorian bathhouse and later a boxing venue, the building’s next chapter includes a skatepark, football cage, and gallery space that’s open to everyone. “I met someone at a wedding who had the space,” Tanju says. “I went to see it, and instantly knew it’d be amazing for a skatepark or a community area. Then my mum told me that my granddad used to box there when he was young. That just sealed it for me. The place already had history—we just wanted to give it new life. It’s ten minutes from where I was born, five minutes from where Palace started. It just made sense. We're a South London brand. It felt like we were coming home.” “We've done a lot of collaborations, but we wanted to flip it—make something that gives back. Everyone’s out there collabing on toothbrushes and soap now, which is cool, but we wanted to do something that actually meant something.” Palace co-founder Gareth Skewis says the linkup with Nike wasn’t about hype for hype’s sake. “To be honest, Nike just felt like the right fit,” he says. “They’ve got such a huge heritage in football, but also this forward-thinking side that matches what we wanted to do. We wanted a partner who’d understand that this wasn’t just about a collection—it’s a whole idea.” And while the teaser blew up online (thousands of likes and comments and gassed lads posting it straight to their Stories with fire emojis), he insists the reaction wasn't the point. “It’s more about giving back to the local community—skateboarding, football, art. So to see people respond so positively to something that's actually quite different for us has been great.” From the silver nylon tracksuits to the ‘Volt’-soled sneakers, the ‘P90’ collection looks like something taken straight from a 2004 Sunday league kit bag. “We've always messed with nostalgia,” says Tanju. “That era of football and skateboarding was massive for us growing up. Rooney, all those players—they're just ingrained in our memory.” “Palace has always been about good product, sure, but also humour, community, and pushing things forward,” says Skewis. “Whether it was football jerseys in 2012 or this project now, the idea's the same. We're independent, we're skater-run, and we care deeply about South London. This is just us trying to do better, and to make things people care about. Plus, let's be honest—‘P90’ just sounds so cool, doesn't it?” The Palace x Nike ‘P90’ collection is set to drop via Palace on October 31. This story originally appeared on British GQ.
