UPDATE - You will have to pay R3 599 to put the King Platinum on your feet.

Now this is a retro look we can get behind. Forget all the flashy shocking orange and yellow ones, Puma is paying homage to one of the most iconic football boots – the King.

Celebrating the 1968 edition, the year in which the Puma King was first launched, Puma has teamed up with Arsenal and France great, Thierry Henry to re-engineer the classic with the King Platinum.

The King has been the football boot of choice for some of the greatest players in the history of the sport, including but not limited to Maradona, Pelé, Mr. Total Football himself, Johan Cruyff.

So what’s new? The Puma King Platinum updates the original design with some new tech. The smooth, premium K-Leather boot upper remains and is enhanced with a 3D ‘touch’ texture for added control. Fit is improved with a snug fitting knitted tongue, and the slim silhouette combined with the lightweight ‘RAPIDSPRINT’ outsole makes it, according to Puma, the fastest and lightest King ever to grace the pitch. We really dig the all-black look, which perhaps points to a type of football where flashiness is left to others while these boots do the talking.

Sharing his experience on the product development, Henry says, “I was able to share my experience as a player with the Puma Football design team when developing the updated Puma King. The boot has more than 50 years of history and is renowned for its use of premium materials and style. We applied the same formula in updating this iconic shoe, focusing on craftsmanship and technical performance to meet the needs of the modern footballer.”

The new Puma King Platinum will be available at selected retailers from 1 July 2019, but at this stage cost is unknown. Below a brief history of this iconic football boot.