20 Years of Nike SB - Skate Shops

Supreme

Prior to their first collaboration, Supreme and Nike had a tenuous relationship due to a few false starts but as soon as White Cement Dunk SB Low dropped in 2002 the hype train roared. From silhouettes to materials, Supreme’s work with Nike has always been about drawing from Nike heritage and getting access to the normally off-limits. Take the Nike Zoom Air 94 Hi, an entirely new silhouette created in a retro-modern style and homage to the year the infamous shop was founded in NYC.

Civilist Dunk Low

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991, the city’s Mitte District went full renaissance mode, fueling not only skateboarding but the adjacent rave culture. For their third collaboration with Nike SB, Berlin shop Civilist chose to make night moves in a black leather colorway that revealed a techno-delic landscape when skated.

Color Kebab Dunk High

Along with a few cold ones, street food is a post-session ritual. Where do you post up? For skaters in Athens, Greece, Color Skate Shop’s location and involvement in pushing the community made it the city’s skateboarding hub. The rest was a wrap with Color and SB working on a spicy, Kebab Dunk SB High, slung from a cart with extra sauce.

FTC

Founded in 1986, San Francisco’s “For The City” skate shop has virtual landmark status and spread globally with shops in Barcelona, Spain, and Tokyo. In the ‘90s, as SF became street skating’s mecca, Kent Uyehara’s shop not only had the city’s best riding for the shop, but FTC was one of the first to pioneer the shop video—it didn’t hurt having East Coast connects adding top-shelf footage to the already deep roster. Released in 2021, the FTC Dunk Low soaked up the shop’s history and Kent’s connection to Tokyo for an ambitious and refreshing take on a classic. Inspired by Japan’s communal “sentō” bathhouses, the FTC Dunk Low dropped in a splashy lagoon pulse/MTLC sliver-speed yellow colorway, complete with enamel detailing, clear sole, and a bright rubber duck-inspired insole.

Humidity

As New Orleans’ oldest local, Humidity and owner Philly Santosuosso have held down the city’s skate scene through hard times for over two decades. Along with supplying the city with the best product, it’s Humidity’s mission to be a part of the community by supporting causes larger than skating through fundraising, activism, and engagement. It also helps check the authenticity box when your owner rips. For a shop with a rich history, in a city as colorful as the Big Easy, the shop collab with SB had to pop. Rhythm and shine, velvet sheen, and classed up with removable bow tie lace toppers, the Humidity Dunk High got down to brass tacks NOLA style. Using a premium gold finish to emulate the horns of New Orleans jazz, the entire Dunk, including the translucent sole, tells the loudest, richest story possible.

Black Sheep

Nike SB and Charlotte, North Carolina shop Black Sheep have worked on several collaborations but in 2014 they released their most elusive–almost. Throwing it back to an era in hip-hop where flamboyance reigned and big, bold flexes were as important as on-mic skills, The Black Sheep Nike Dunk High SB “Paid in Full,” gave the Dunk high-end makeover that proved to be its undoing. With its metallic gold swooshes, gold dookie chain dubraes, luxury brand-inspired SB repeat, and special boombox packaging, the Black Sheep Dunk was no joke but the punchline was that the release was scrapped at the last minute, resulting in another coveted SB deep cut.