Nike SB Dunk High Sneakers
When Nike SB was launched in 2001, it wasn't the brand's first attempt at entering the skateboard market. In fact, Nike had been in and around the skateboarding space for over 20 years.
Nike SB: The Swoosh Enters the Skateboard World
In the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, skateboarding was still a niche sport without mainstream sneaker attention. Nike's skateboarding debut was based purely on style. Remember the iconic image of Farrah Fawcett skateboarding in a pair of Nike Cortez sneakers in the '70s? In 2017, to celebrate its 45th anniversary, Nike recreated the image in a campaign featuring Bella Hadid. But Nike basketball sneakers also became a practical choice for skateboarding thanks to their flat outsoles.
Watch The Search for Animal Chin, a 1980s skateboarding film starring the Powell Peralta skate team, and you'll see the whole crew, other than Tony Hawk, wearing black/red Nike Air Jordan 1 High sneakers. And professional skateboarder and artist Mark Gonzales wore a pair of Chicago Air Jordan 1s in ads for Vision Skateboards. Skateboarding and streetwear culture are synonymous with repurposing and flipping brand logos and luxury items while eschewing norms. That's why it makes sense to see a skater with style like Gonzales wearing the same shoes as the legendary Michael Jordan.
As skateboarding grew, Nike looked to making their own skate-specific shoes in the '90s using silhouette names like "Schimp," "Choad" and "Air Snak," and using skateboarder and stuntman Bam Margera in their ad campaign. It all felt too corporate and inauthentic, and the sneakers lacked the basketball sneakers' bold styling, so the Swoosh decided to hang up their skate shoes.
2001: The Nike SB Odyssey Officially Takes Off
What differentiated Nike SB's 2001 debut from its previous attempt at skateboarding style was its fresh approach — like a skater planning a trick line. Nike legend Sandy Bodecker took the reins to ensure that authentic storytelling, product testing and local skate shop partnerships were the backbones of the SB category. Bodecker tapped into the skateboarding subculture and brought back the Nike Dunk as its first silhouette, originally a basketball sneaker. The Dunk was already picking up interest from skaters and was designed by Peter Moore (who also designed the Jordan 1), so both shoes share the same graphic design language, lines and flat outsole.
Updating the Nike SB Dunk from its original 1980s components while maintaining the design DNA was critical in making the Dunk SB a hit. Nike SB added more padding, especially in the tongue area, their trademark Nike Zoom Air technology in the sole, tongue straps and fat, oval Dunk SB laces — a true indicator of 2000s skateboarding style. The new Nike SB Dunk came in high and low silhouettes and was packaged in an eye-catching orange shoebox.
2002: Nike Dunk Low SB Pro Hits the Shelves
To ensure Nike SB resonated with skate culture devotees and onlookers, the first Nike SB Dunk launch incorporated their professional skate team — Richard Mulder, Reese Forbes, Danny Supa and Gino Iannucci. The Nike Dunk SB Pro Low arrived in four different colorways, all unique to the pro skaters' stories and personal histories, once again bringing genuine storytelling to a subculture that craves it.
The first-ever Nike SB Dunk High debuted the same year to much less fanfare. Nicknamed the "Paul Brown" (305050-431), the shoe features a suede upper in brown, green and navy with a white outsole. It's currently one of the most sought-after collector pairs, selling for much higher than its original $65 price.
Nike SB Collaborations, Colorways and Mainstream Mania
What makes the Nike SB category unique is its early adoption of collaborations with smaller brands to create signature releases. The Nike SB Dunk Pro High x Supreme in "Blue Stars" (307385-141) and "Red Stars" (307385-161) dropped in August 2003 and was a hit, especially after the success of Supreme's first Dunk SB Low release. But Supreme Dunk Pro High is famous for Paul Rodriguez wearing a pair in his first Nike SB ad. P-Rod, one of the biggest names in pro skating, made headlines when he joined Team Nike SB in 2004, legitimizing Nike in the skating world.
Nike Dunk High Pro SB 'Blue' (307385 141)
Nike Dunk High Pro SB 'Red' (307385 161)
Collaborations may seem mainstream now, but at the time, Nike SB led the way, which brings a unique energy to their product line. Nike SB Dunk High Top collaborators span across various backgrounds — from artists like FUTURA, who has multiple highly collectible SB Dunk Highs, to music icons De La Soul and reclusive rapper MF Doom.
Nike SB's 20th Anniversary and Beyond
For the 20th anniversary of the Nike Dunk in 2005, Nike SB remixed its own version of the iconic "Be True to Your School" college collection in an SB Dunk High, using suede instead of the original leather. It showcased seven school colorways: Kentucky, Michigan, UNLV, Villanova, St. John's, Iowa and Syracuse. Its nod to the shared history of skateboarding and basketball has made the style highly collectible.
The Nike SB Dunk High collection continues to grow every year. Drawing design inspiration from fresh spins on classic patterns like camo and tie-dye to the cannabis-inspired collaboration with skate artist Todd Bratrud on the Nike Dunk High Pro SB Skunk (313171-300), which comes with a fuzzy green suede upper, there are Dunk High SB colorways and collabs for every collector.
