Inside the Italian Workspaces Where We Craft the Nike Mercurial Boot
- May 25, 2026
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Shoemakers. Cobblers. Stitchers. Pattern engineers.
These are only a handful of the specialists inside Italy's Montebelluna and Diamant workspaces, in which Nike partners with teams that guide a single football boot through 35 individual manufacturing steps. In about three hours, the shoe moves from pre-assembly to shaping and stitching to final build.
This work represents the final stretch of a much longer journey — nearly two years of development, testing and refinement — to deliver Nike’s pinnacle football boot, the Mercurial.
Nike came to the region in 1996, drawn to a place long regarded as the best in the world for boot manufacturing. For three decades, Nike has relied on the expertise here to provide old-world Italian craftsmanship to complement its advanced footwear innovations, using hands as often as machines.
Inside the Montebelluna sample room lives a one-of-a-kind collection of roughly 300 pairs of foot lasts. These custom forms honor more than 200 players who’ve shaped Nike Football, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Kylian Mbappé to Sophia Wilson. And while Montebelluna perfects the boot for Nike’s most elite athletes, the process starts in the Diamant factory, where this year’s Mercurial Vapor 17 and Mercurial Superfly 11 are made for footballers around the world.
Every iteration of the Mercurial builds on what came before, raising the bar for speed, performance and confidence on the pitch. For the artisans who meticulously engineer these boots, the reward goes beyond turning a “prototype into a masterpiece,” as one bootmaker put it. It’s the pride and responsibility of knowing their work will be worn by football’s elite athletes on the world’s biggest stage.
Here, go inside the Italian workspaces where the Mercurial comes to life.
“Innovation drives the Mercurial forward, but tradition keeps it grounded. Italian shoemaking is about patience, touch and responsibility toward quality. When I work with Nike’s most advanced speed systems, I apply the same mindset — every detail matters, because performance is built through care.”
Michele Galasso, Lead Footwear Product Developer, Mercurial Vapor
“It’s the constant search for how to make the best-looking boot and, at the same time, the best-performing one. That’s the DNA of Montebelluna: pushing boundaries but doing it in a craft way, in a ‘made in Italy‘ way.”
Fabio Marniga, Sr. Director, Footwear Product Creation, GM Partner Management Lead, Italy
Montebelluna’s wall of custom lasts is a hall of fame of past and present football legends.
Claudio Tessaro, a 20-year Montebelluna veteran and shoemaking maestro, stands beside a cart that carries each elite athlete’s components and specs — guiding every pair from parts to finished boot.
Montebelluna is home to both the Mercurial Vapor 17 and the Mercurial Superfly 11, among other models made for the world’s best footballers.
The anatomy of Kylian Mbappé’s Mercurial Vapor 17: every component laid out beside a spec sheet with notes, measurements and special requests.
A bootmaker assembles and stitches Vinícius Júnior’s Mercurial Superfly 11 with careful attention to every thread and component.
“I’d like the 2026 Mercurial to be remembered for its authenticity. A boot that didn’t try to redefine Mercurial for the sake of change, but instead refined what Mercurial stands for — speed, precision, light weight and confidence — through discipline and attention to detail.”
Michele Galasso, Lead Footwear Product Developer, Mercurial Vapor
A new Mercurial takes about two years to create and involves many global teams across development, engineering, testing, materials, innovation and manufacturing.
Vinícius Júnior’s foot last with his Mercurial Superfly 11. Athletes’ boots are shaped through wear tests, feedback and constant iteration.
A precision laser aligns the upper during lasting. It’s one of the most critical steps in shoemaking, ensuring the boot is centered, straight and free of defects.
“For me, Mercurial is all about the shape. It’s so iconic. When you hold it in your hands, it’s a beautiful object. It doesn’t even matter if you love football — it’s an amazing product.”
Fabio Marniga, Sr. Director, Footwear Product Creation, GM Partner Management Lead, Italy
Roughly 300 pairs of custom foot lasts line the walls in Montebelluna, each built to an elite athlete’s exact measurements for a true second-skin fit.
“Everything we do — from how we design, manufacture, launch and adjust — is meant to serve the athlete,” says Camilo Andrade, Global VP & GM Football.
“The hardest moments are where performance demands collide — solving foot entry while still delivering fit and lockdown, or engineering the upper’s structure and surface so bonding works cleanly around the plate bite line. We test, refine and solve relentlessly until the boot is light, is game-ready, and feels fast.”
Michele Tosello, Sr. Manager, Product Development Engineer
A first for the Mercurial Superfly 11: an exposed Air Zoom unit. “It feels like you’re propelling forward — something only Zoom Air can do,” says Marian Dougherty, VP, Nike Global Football Footwear.
“When I hold a finished Mercurial, I realize that, despite all the technology involved, it still takes a human touch to turn a prototype into a masterpiece. It’s like holding the future of football shaped by the hands of tradition.”
Sergio Cavaliere, Innovator
Each boot built at Montebelluna gets custom “MB Athlete Service”–printed insoles
Final touches are added to the Mercurial before each boot is hand-packed and delivered to the athlete.
