Here's Why Nike Are SB-ifying Their Shoes

The release is upon us, and while the and colourways look epic, it’s left some wondering: Why are Nike SB-ifying their iconic sneakers?

The short answer is: This ain’t a new thing for Nike SB – they’ve always done it!

The long answer is much more complex, dives deep into the annals of skateboarding history, and is the reason why Nike’s skateboarding arm is now the perennial tour de force it is today.

Nike Get the Cold Shoulder

During the 1990s, skateboarding was breaking out of the underground as its popularity began to boom. Brands were cashing in big, but not everyone was getting it correct. tried to enter the skate market throughout the mid-90s with models like the Snak, Schimp, and (LMAO). All these ended up failed attempts, ultimately shunned by the hardcore skate community. While this attempted entrance into the market missed the mark, many of Team Swoosh’s basketball and lifestyle models were already being used by skaters the world over. The movement was depicted on the cover of the first Issue of Thrasher Magazine in 1981, which featured a cartoon of a boarder rocking Nike while shredding.

The Air Jordan 1 Leads a Growing Pack

first signature was one among the more iconic sneakers adopted by skaters, and was famously donned by many of the Bones Brigade in 1987 skate film The Search for Animal Chin (except ). The reason was that back in the 80s, Nike created stacks of – and so it wasn’t uncommon to find pairs for deep discounts at the outlets. Thrifty prices mixed with durable materials meant that they were a favoured choice – but the AJ1 wasn’t the only non-skate shoe boarders were getting cosy with.

The and regular were also popular choices, but some skaters took it to a whole new level. Legend became an icon when he was snapped wearing the while skating during the late 90s – and went on to ultimately inspire the current Before brands were catering directly to skaters, the skate community had a long history of appropriating non-skate footwear – and this is how Nike finally cracked the code and infiltrated skate.

The SB Dunk Low Pro Is Born

Nike SB rose to prominence under the late back in 2001, powered by a stacked team of riders comprising , Richard Mulder, and . Kicking off Nike SB’s trajectory was the , a modified version of the Dunk. Each pair was kitted with Zoom technology, revamped sole and laces, and a puffy tongue. For the launch of the skate-specific Dunk Low in 2002, all Nike’s team riders received their own colourway, with the ‘Colors By’ series planting the seed for the arm’s ascension to the zenith of skateboarding and sneaker culture. The Dunk was already the perfect option all along, and bolstering its rep even further were limited-edition drops of the SB Dunk Low and Dunk High, with colabs alongside big names like and .

Reappropriation Rules

It turned out that Nike didn’t have to create a new skate shoe to woo skaters over to the Swoosh – the model that mattered was already entrenched in the community! No one could’ve predicted the way Nike Skateboarding would dominate and then transcend the skate scene to shape contemporary sneaker culture as we know it today – but they did it all by reappropriating their current roster of footwear.

Following the SB Dunk Low, the Beaverton boffins made a point to continue SB-ifying their current roster alongside their many skate-specific footwear options. There's been a plethora of , including the classic , and many became modern classics in the 2010s. Starting in the 2020s, SB started looking at their wider offerings like the and (Another Stevie Williams classic).

This year, Nike SB have tripled down on their SB-ification by dropping the (controversial) Air Max 95, and there are rumours of and – all three of which have left people asking ‘why?’.

Now you know that reappropriating footwear is how Nike infiltrated skate in the first place – so why would they stop now?

Look back at some of the dopest Nike SB mashups ever right , and travel back in time with the all time greatest Nike SB releases right .