Pope Leo XIV was Seen Rocking Nike Franchise Low Plus in a New Documentary
PublishedQuick Facts
- As soon as the image was posted to social media, the Swoosh Pope picture took off like white smoke billowing out of the Vatican
- Matching his white and cream robes, the white and black Franchise Low is a clear pick to rep his favorite baseball fandom, too
- To keep up with all the wildest stories from around the sneaker world, download the Sole Retriever App
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The Pope knows kicks. The Chicago-area White Sox fan formerly known as Robert Francis Prevost is without a doubt the coolest Pope in recent memory. Whether he’s supporting social causes or the Sox, Leo is down. It should come as no surprise, then, that in a new trailer for Leone a Roma, a new documentary about the Pope’s early days in Rome, an archival photo shows Leo rocking a pair of crisp white Nikes under his robes.
As soon as the image was posted to social media, the Swoosh Pope picture took off like white smoke billowing out of the Vatican. The problem? No one could seem to nail down exactly what model the basic, white leather and black Swoosh shoe actually was. Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, we have - the Nike Franchise Low.
The Franchise Low that Leo is wearing is actually the Franchise Low Plus, a model that was released in the late 2000s. The original Franchise dropped in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s as a performance tennis sneaker, but the Plus version is a completely different sneaker. Considering how deep the Nike archive is, it’s no surprise that the OG and Plus look completely different. Still, both are in the court shoe family made for tennis, so they’ve got that connection at least.
Matching his white and cream robes, the white and black Franchise Low is a clear pick to rep his favorite baseball team, too. In all seriousness, though, Pope Leo has been pretty clear about his stance on obsessing over consumer goods like sneakers; take this Papal Tweet from last year, for example; ‘When we allow material possessions to rule over us, we can fall into spiritual sadness.”
The trailer for the documentary about the Pope’s young days in Rome is a fun watch, no matter who you pray to, with Pope Leo coming off like a superstar athlete in recounted stories from other religious leaders, complete with shots of Leo playing tennis. No wonder he needed the shoes.
Zach Harris is a writer based in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vice, Complex, High Times, and more. He is obsessed with skateboarding and bowling. He is still looking for his first 300. For tips, reviews, and anything in size 10.5 - zach.h@soleretriever.com
