Nike SB
New from Nike SB
|
The Nike SB Spring 2010 drop is here and it's right on the mark.
First Off, there's a new colour way in the Dunk Mid, Black/Sail/Varsity Red. This SB Dunk skate shoe is made from a super soft suede and in this colour way, it's a sure winner. Please note, this shoe is available in-store only.
Click here for the full Nike SB range.
|
Featured Products
Nike Skate Shoes
In the 1980s skateboard companies started to pop up around the globe. However, skateboarding still had a relatively small community and not enough to attract serious interests from major shoe companies such as Nike, who were battling it out for precious basketball trainer territory. This gave smaller companies a chance to gain ground in the skateboarding market. Airwalk trainers led the charge, developing an oversized shoe that combined an inflated tongue, a thick sole, and a suede exterior.
Although Nike never officially entered the skateboarding market in the 1980s, many of its shoes gained a following in the skateboarding community because skateboarding shoes and the Nike basketball shoes shared many similarities. Strong grips, durable ankle support, and relative comfort were some of the offerings that attracted skaters to Nike trainers.
The 1990s saw the rise of skateboarding into prominence and the vast improvement of skate shoe technology, with DC Shoes making major advances in shoe design. The company added stronger fabrics, multidensity rubber, gel pockets, plastic eyelets that encased exposed shoelaces, and soles with a gumlike grip that improved foot-to-face traction. Airforce One Shoes began to dominate the skate shoes market. In the mid-1990s, skate shoes went mainstream. Their evolution was influenced as strongly by popular culture as by the demands of skateboarding. The loud, blocky skate shoe fell from favor as the hip-hop culture of the 1990s eventually died out. The current trend reflects the punk-rock look of the 1970s. Nike started to experiment with the market by reissuing many of its older Nike trainer models in the late-1990s. Nike realised the potential that the skateboard and skate shoe market was showing in the late 1990s and created the Nike SB skate brand.
In 2007, after failing four times to enter the skateboard market, Nike SB had emerged as a successful skateboarding company by manipulating demand for the by keeping numbers down and signing many well-known skateboarders. By re-releasing a more skateboard orientated version of the classic Nike Dunk style shoe, which incorporated a more padded tongue, Zoom Air insole and premium leather/nubuck/suede uppers in limited colourways (often with themes behind the colour inspirations) Nike SB became a highly sought after collectable for sneaker-heads who would go to great lengths to obtain small number runs of particular styles. Nike executive Sandy Bodecker admitted that 80 percent of the shoes were initially bought by this demographic. Due to the high prices caused by the scarcity of the shoes, it is highly unlikely that a person would actually use the shoes for skateboarding, as such an activity would tear the shoes up rather quickly diminishing their collectible value.
With this in mind Nike SB released a number of styles of shoes aimed solely at skateboarders. Most notably the Zoom Tre trainer which was technically the most advanced skateshoe on the market at the time. It featured a number of ground breaking ideas to increase performance including a moulded rubber toecap which mimiced suede for control, lightweight construction and full sole air unit with a shank to minimise ankle roll. Building on this solid start they have gone on to produce future classics such as the Nike Dunk trainer range and Nike have also produced a full range of apparel including hoods, tee-shirts, caps and jackets released in line with the sb shoes on a monthly basis. This range of clothing adopted the same technical focus as the trainers and combined it with fashionable and unique designs to create a range of sb aparrell that looks great on street, at the club or on the skate park.
2007 also saw Nike SB release a brand new video entitled 'Nothing But The Truth' which featured the likes of team riders Brian Anderson, Paul Rodriguez Jr, Reese Forbes, Wieger Van Wageningen, Stefan Janoski, Omar Salazar, Lewis Marnell, Daniel Shimizu and Todd Jordan.
To View the full Nike range click here
Like Nike SB Footwear ? You might also like Adidas Skateboarding and Supra.
