And finally, a little off topic, but Lilly, given that you are a female working at such a big level in what has previously been a very male-oriented field, do you see yourself as something of a role model? FL: There are different elements. Starting with the FUZIONFIT+ technology you get the ultimate fit. There’s no need to adjust your lacing anymore, you’ll get it from the first second. Then there’s the tooling, which is super-aggressive. It has been developed with the medical staff and academy players and it has been tested and validated and in the end you are more agile – that’s a fact. You are more agile than with the predecessor. So it’s a combination of the perfect fit and ensuring that you will be more agile. While the Puma Future Z has retained the “Future” DNA of providing the perfect fit, Puma’s boot engineers sought to express that same DNA in a wildly different approach after 3 years of Netfit, their innovative technology that allowed you limitless lacing options to accommodate any foot shape. Instead of depending on laces, the adaptive FUZIONFIT+ compression band is the star of the show here.

LC: In terms of the design from the initial stage as well, the Future boot is known to be quite unique, to look quite different and to have this new technology. So I mentioned before that after NetFit we needed something else that was even better and that was super-visible. Part of our briefing was also to have this new shape, and that is how the design started, but it also helped with my development, because I had a goal right fro the beginning to create a certain shape and to create a certain fit and that was what helped us focus, right to the end, and that’s what helped us create and develop this technology.The budget Future is where the price decrease is noticeable because of the cheap synthetic mesh and stetchy knit, as opposed to the high-performing materials found on the top Future tiers. Match also has a cheap nylon liner and a more solid and weighted feel to the TPU soleplate. Fuzionfit is still on the arch of the midfoot, but the tension it provides is significantly less felt now. PWRTAPE is limited to cosmetic function. Previous Future compression band feels too concentrated on the midfoot; compression in new Future Z 1.3 feels evenly spread out

That was the same with FUZIONFIT+. We had meetings with the medical staff of AC Milan for instance, and also with Newcastle academy players, along with some well-known universities, to really make sure that FUZIONFIT+ was the right technology for us to use.

In This Section

LC: The whole journey and process of the Future Z took around two and a half years from start to finish and the whole thing was extremely exciting, but it came with challenges. I think with the FUZIONFIT+ band, this was, personally, something that I was challenged with right from the beginning because creating this technology that gives you the compression-like fit but that also allows some freedom of movement and allows every single player to fit well into the shoe and perform was really a challenge. For those looking to be a ball hog like Neymar, the grippy textures across the boot do help you a little in keeping the ball close to your foot. Perhaps it’s not grippy enough to help you add spin to your passes but it provides just enough traction to give you confidence when controlling at a moderate dribbling pace. What does that process look like from a development side of things, from the Future to the Future Z? Tell us about the journey you've been on to get to this product? How did it differ from creating boots of the past?

Puma claims that “the band was developed using a special combination of polyester and spandex yarns, along with special technical yarns to create the perfect balance of compression, comfort and durability, giving the wearer that second-skin feeling.” Putting on the boot isn’t a chore despite how small the mouth looks. All you need to do is to loosen the top laces and in goes your feet. The Puma Future Z fits perfectly width and length wise when I went half a size down. Those with super wide feet should go true to size but for everyone else, go half down. The boots feel light on feet at 220g in a US 9 and you’d be hard-pressed to hear anyone having issues with its weight or how they fit especially when you take your first steps in them. The first time I put the boots on, I thought the compression band was tight around my midfoot – if it was a little tighter, the band would have caused cramping in my feet. Within a couple of minutes of light jogging and warm ups, my concerns and the tightness melted away. The compression band is comfy AF. The Puma Future Z is all about mobilityThe idea of putting Generation Z into a boot - what were the key things that stood out in the idea phase of design? One of the most difficult things that I realised throughout the process is that it’s actually very difficult to create an upper pattern that’s not the same as the last. Everyone asks me if this last is different from this Future and the previous Future and actually they are exactly the same, but we really work on the pattern and the engineering of the materials and the knit to create this different visual effect, and along with that this different feeling as well.