To quote the words of Virgil Abloh, "The Dunk is a shoe that's not just your average inanimate object."
Few other sneakers have engaged sneaker fans worldwide for as long as the Nike Dunkwhich has been around for 35 years. To mark the occasion, we take a look at the history of a shoe that has fused sports with each other, but also sports with culture, music and fashion.
In 1985, the world danced to "We are the World" and millions of moviegoers were drawn to "Back to the Future." Much of what we now call "pop culture" originated during this time. Basketball was at an all-time high, with major teams in college basketball in particular drawing American fans en masse. Nike recognized the signs of the times: A young team around designer Peter Moore, who was already responsible for the Jordan 1, created the Nike Dunk in 1985, the latest stroke of the Nike basketball family. The look was based on its "big brother" from 1982, the Air Force 1, and elements of the AJ1 and Terminator were also found on the new silhouette. No wonder: the latter were launched by the same design team. That same year, Nike launched its "College Colors" program, releasing shoes and apparel to match the colors of the twelve "major colleges." This way, every fan should be able to dress in matching Nike shoes and teamwear to show color. By the way, before the Dunk got its name, it was going to be called College Color High in reference to that! Be True To Your School was the big marketing headline, which could be seen in many print ads with the Dunk in the center and started its triumphal procession.
The success of the dunk was impressive - on and off the court. As early as the late '80s, the Dunk made a brief appearance in Spike Lee's film "School Daze." But it wasn't until the late '90s that a new era began for the Dunk silhouette. The skateboarding boom of the '90s was at a peak and more and more skaters appreciated the features of the Dunk on the board: The midsole with low profile, the stability of the upper, good cushioning and especially the grippy sole made the Dunk not only perfect for the court, but also the ideal skate shoe. In 1998, Nike launched the OG colorways for the first time as a retro, followed in 1999 by the Wu-Tang colorway, the first collabo for which insane amounts of money are paid today. Japan exclusives and the first Stüssy x Nike Dunk collabo followed.
In 2002 Nike founded the SB aka skateboarding division and launched the first four Dunk SB Low colorways - one for each team rider - before the hyped Supreme Dunk hit the stores in the same year. Queues outside the stores had previously been common at most Jordan releases, but were now also part of Dunk releases. After that, things got wild - the peak of the SB Dunk hype is the release and the associated riots around the Pigeon Dunk release in 2005. Riots broke out in front of Reed Space in NYC, where the few pairs were released. The sneakerheads who were able to secure a pair had to be escorted to safety by police through the back door.
In the years that followed, the Dunk was one of the spearheads of international sneaker culture - dozens of collabos with Supreme, Stüssy, Slam City Skates, Diamond Supply and other notable partners followed, plus many more legendary colorways like the Viotech, the What The Dunk or the Heineken Dunk. In the 2010s it became a little quieter around Nike's former hobbyhorse. Running silhouettes like the Air Max 1 outstripped the Dunk. It wasn't until 2017 that the theme really picked up again with the release of another Jeff Staple SB Dunk, a collaboration with The Basement, a variant inspired by Berlin slab buildings, and many more limited editions. In 2020, just in time for the 35th anniversary, the Dunk is back at its peak. The collaboration with Virgil Abloh goes through the roof, the hype around the Ben & Jerry's Dunk is almost boundless, classic colorways like the "Brazil", the "Kentucky" and "Syracuse" also meet with much approval.
We are happy to announce that the classic Nike Dunk Low Samba is back again. Back in 2001, it was released as an exclusive release in Japan before now making its first worldwide comeback. The Samba stays true to its roots and returns unchanged. Nike has mixed color pigments into the Hyper Blue of the leather upper, giving it a shimmering effect. The upper is framed by overlays in silver and the Swoosh in carbon look - just like the original. The thin nylon tongue is also in Hyper Blue. The laces and midsole in white and the outsole in Samba Red make this retro perfect. The Nike Dunk Low Samba will be released on August 21 at Asphaltgold - check out our Instagram channel next week for more information on the release date!
Author: Asphaltgold |
