Nike Introduces Phantom Luna, the Company’s Most Thoughtful Women’s Led Football Boot

Editor’s Note: This release was updated on March 29, 2024 to reflect additional insight from the Nike Sport Research Lab.

The women’s football game has never been more competitive or more celebrated. The matches are high scoring, the teams attack as one and each player covers a lot of ground. The evolution of the game calls for an evolution of the product that athletes are wearing on the pitch.  

Backed by Nike’s most meaningful investment in women yet, the company reimagined a boot with her at the center of the process every step of the way, taking more than two years for research, trialing, designing, and styling.

It’s in this same spirit that Nike announces the Phantom Luna, the company’s most innovative and researched women’s-led boot. 

Listening to the voice of the athlete, Nike Phantom Luna obsesses traction, fit, and feel for female footballers.

First, Nike reimaged traction for her. While an elite footballer may run up to seven miles during a 90-minute match, the split-second changes of direction — dictated by a boot’s rotational traction — are what often decide the outcome. Rotational traction allows players to dig in with force and accelerate in any direction. But too much rotational traction and the cleat can stick to the surface. This can slow the player down or worse, lead to injury. In fact, research shows that women are 3-5 times more likely than men to suffer a tear or sprain to the main stabilizer of her knee, the ACL. In working with athletes of all abilities, the NSRL aimed to quantify the traction needs for female athletes in a very specific manner, ultimately creating a “traction map” that informed cleat designs aimed to reduce rotational traction. The team focused on finding the optimal level of resistance needed for players to plant, pivot and push off, all in a clean, fluid motion.

After years of study from Nike’s team of scientists and engineers, Phantom Luna features a new, breakthrough circular stud pattern near the toes designed to help reduce the risk of knee injury caused by rotational traction. Named Nike Cyclone 360, this traction pattern allows players to move with agility, precision, and confidence on the pitch.

Phantom Luna’s fit is also tuned to the female footballer. Featuring a new upper design, Nike Asym Fit, the boot has a more snug fit around the ankle, based on feedback from female footballers.

As the women’s game intensifies and the style of play leans toward attacking as a team, female footballers need their boots to accommodate quick passes and accuracy as they move down the pitch. Because her foot, on average, is smaller than that of her male counterpart, she needs bigger touch zones for this control and accuracy. Nike applied its latest football innovation, Nike Gripknit, to the Phantom Luna upper, for optimal boot-to-ball connection. The coating gives a “tacky” feeling and is integrated into the material, so the boot stays soft and pliable. 

“Phantom Luna is a direct reflection of Nike’s focus on being her biggest champion,” says Dr. Elysia Davis, Principal Researcher in the Nike Sport Research Lab. “From research to testing to design, we put her at the center of the process. With Phantom Luna, we’re offering a boot that is thoughtfully designed for her with a new circular stud pattern and fit, helping athletes to move with precision and confidence on the pitch.”

Nike Phantom Luna Elite and Phantom Luna will be available starting late June 2023 at nike.com and select retailers.

To learn more about Phantom Luna and other Nike Women's innovations, check out "All Movement, All Moments."