Nike Club Dunk – Born in the 80s

The Nike Club Dunk first appeared on the shelves in 1985. Designed as a college-oriented basketball shoe, it was placed behind the Jordan 1 for a long time. But despite its troublesome beginning, the shoe developed a life of its own, quickly moving away from its intended target audience and finding a new life in a variety of subcultures. Originally, the Club Dunk was the evolution of the Air Force 1 and carried the name "College Color High." He accidentally owed the name "Dunk" to the 40th anniversary of the first slam Club Dunk.

In the mid to late 80s, the Club Dunk was a favorite on the basketball court. However, with the explosion of basketball's popularity and technological innovation throughout the sneaker industry, the Club Dunk quickly became obsolete. On the streets, it still remained a reliable casual sneaker and was updated with some new features. Among them were a nylon tongue to reduce weight, a shorter upper, and an enlarged Swoosh. These Blue made the shoe more appealing to a different audience - the skate community. Club Dunks were first spotted in skate videos as early as 1986. Many well-known figures in the skate community, from the Z-Boys to Mike Gonzales, skated in Club Dunks throughout the '90s. But, although Club Dunks conquered the skate parks in their early stages, it took more than a decade for Nike to successfully infiltrate the industry.

From the basketball court to the skate park - The Nike SB Club Dunk

LeBron James looking for a teammate in the Nike Zoom LeBron 6 Hardwood Classic SB brand in the early 2000s, Nike wanted to build a successful skateboarding division. The solution was simple: instead of creating an entirely new silhouette, Nike would make a few Blue to a sneaker that skaters were already wearing. The Nike SB Club Dunk was born.

To make the SB Club Dunk skate-worthy, the insole was padded, a Zoom Air unit was added in the heel, and the sole material was swapped out for a thicker rubber. The most noticeable change, however, was the thicker tongue of the SB instead of the nylon tongue. With the introduction of the Nike SB Club Dunk, the hype was born. Small skate stores were selling limited edition models of the Club Dunk. During this time Nike started its first collabos with skate brands like Zoo York, Chocolate and last but not least Supreme. In 2002, the Supreme SB Club Dunk was one of the most sought-after models. The release is seen in retrospect as a defining moment in streetwear history..

THE collaboration king

In its already over 30 years old history, the Club Dunk has many unique models and collabs. One of the first hypes is probably the infamous "Wu-Tang" Club Dunk from 1999. Actually, this shoe was just a special edition of the "Iowa" Club Dunk with an embroidered "Wu W" on the heel. Manufactured by Nike, only 36 pairs were made (an ode to the Wu-Tang album "36 Chambers") and given away to members of the Wu-Tang Clan. A legend was born which is now one of the most coveted Club Dunks on the market. In some cases, they are sold for thousands of dollars.

In the years that followed, other models such as the »Brazil« ,the "Lemon Wash" and the "Chicago" caused a stir. Collabos ranged from brands like Atmos or Heineken to graffiti artists like Futura or music acts like Dinosaur Jr. and MF Doom. The list is so long that it's impossible to keep up.

For those of you who want to delve deeper into the topic, we can recommend Highsnobiety's article about »The 50 most influential Nike Club Dunks in history«.

The Nike Club Dunk today

The hype has remained. The Club Dunk still has a high reputation in the sneaker community and collabos with Travis Scott (nike nsw all over print short sleeve) or Virgil Abloh's Off-White show that the Club Dunk is and remains a real sneaker icon. As rapidly as they are on the market, they are also sold out. The Club Dunk landed its latest strike in May 2020 in collaboration with Ben & Jerry's. Ben & Jerry‘s x Nike SB Club Dunk »Chunky Monkey« was one of the hottest drops of the year. No wonder with this model: inspired by Ben Jerry's "Chunkey Monkey" ice cream, the Nike SB Club Dunk Low Pro convinces with custom logos, cloud embroidery, batik pattern, cowhide imitation uppers and a Swoosh that reminds of melting ice cream.

How does the Nike Club Dunk fit?

The Club Dunk is true-to-size. You can't go wrong with your normal size.