10 of the Most Influential Sneaker Collaborations of All Time

From Supreme x Nike to Kanye West x adidas.

Writer: Chris Danforth

Collaborations in the sneaker world are not all created equal. Sometimes you love them, sometimes you hate them and sometimes you love to hate them. Regardless of where you fall, collaborations have inarguably dominated the landscape of sneaker culture for at least the last decade.

It all started years ago, when early streetwear brands approached footwear manufacturers, saying something to the effect of, “We can’t make shoes, but you can.” Supreme x Vans’ limited trio of Old-Skool colorways from 1996 did just that.

Noah’s Brendon Babenzien, then creative director of Supreme, worked with the California mainstay on a run of special-makeup (SMU) sneakers. Preceding collaborations as we know them today, these limited-run products were essentially bespoke Vans created for brand partners, such as Supreme, that could meet order minimums. The same idea applied to Nike’s CO.JP (Concept Japan) program in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Nike sales reps were able to fulfill custom orders for shops in Japan and the United States, unintentionally creating some of the most collectible sneakers from that era.

As Jeff Staple explained, “Say you’re a buyer and you’re like, ‘Hey, I want this shoe, but I want it in all red. If you do it in all red, I’ll order 10,000 pairs.’ Nike sales reps would be like, ‘Fuck, let me call up Beaverton and get these pairs made so I can get an order.’ That’s not a quote-unquote collaboration [the way we see it today], but it kind of is.”

Eventually these partnerships flourished as a concept, ushering in the era of sneaker collaborations as we now recognize them. And while it oversimplifies the matter to attribute the current zeitgeist to just one person, there’s little doubt Kanye West's partnerships with Louis Vuitton, followed by Nike and ultimately adidas helped expand the footwear subgenre upwards and outwards.

From one-off brand x brand SMUs to full-on sublines realized in partnership with creative visionaries, these are 10 of the most formative and important sneaker collaborations of all time.

Supreme x Vans (1996)

Arguably the collaboration that started it all in 1996. Creating a trio of Vans Old Skools, Supreme broughts its signature touch to the de facto footwear of early West Coast skating. Although Supreme was just two years into its existence, the collaboration signaled a taste of things to come.

The partnership between the two is as alive as ever today, an effort that spans more than two decades and includes highlights from 2008’s Supreme x Bad Brains x Vans to 2013’s legendary Power, Corruption & Lies pack. The partnership also traverses much of the Vans catalog, kicking things off with the Old Skool, and later touching on silhouettes like the Slip-On, Era, Sk8-Hi and the 2012 Half Cab, which featured duct-tape detailing applied by Steve Caballero himself.

Today, Supreme keeps up its cadence of seasonal Vans collaborations, alongside other close footwear partners including Nike and Timberland.

Jil Sander x PUMA (1998)

This all-German collaboration from 1998 brought together sportswear stalwart PUMA with minimalist maven Jil Sander. The partnership was the very first to join a luxury designer with a sports equipment brand, presenting lifestyle versions of the King football cleat and the Easy Rider jogging shoe re-worked by Sander, who applied her signature pared-down color palette of blacks, whites and creams.

At the time, many PUMA fans, and those in the wider football community were put off by Sander’s reimagining of Pelé’s iconic boot, but the trajectory of the culture proved this collaboration to be ahead of its time. Furthermore, the partnership opened the door for another industry-bending collaboration between PUMA and Alexander McQueen, and helped carve out a place for subsequent crossover collaborations between the worlds of fashion and sports.

Stussy x Air Huarache LE 'Desert Oak' 2021

Stüssy x Nike (2000)

Widely considered to be Nike’s first sneaker collaboration, Nike and Michael Kopelman teamed up for a limited Air Huarache in 2000, and released it at Stüssy’s London flagship store. Although this initial release was not explicitly billed as a “Stüssy x Nike” collaboration, it did set the groundwork for further collaborative drops, some as recent as 2021.

Afterwards—and predating Nike SB mania—Nike tapped Stüssy for its first-ever brand collaboration Dunk in 2001, a partnership yielding three colorways over two highs and one low. More recently the duo has worked on Blazers, Air Max 95s, Air Force 1s and more, demonstrating year after year what it means to work together to push sneaker collaborations forward.

Jeff Staple x Dunk Low Pro SB 'Pigeon'

Dunk Low Pro SB 'Hunter Reese Forbes'

Nike SB (2002)

Collaboration was at the very core of SB when Sandy Bodecker breathed life into Nike’s skateboarding category in 2002. Bodecker’s simple yet revolutionary idea was to connect with local skate shops and create product with them.

The first collaborations under the SB Dunk umbrella came from signature riders Gino Ianucci, Reese Forbes, Danny Supa and Richard Mulder, four names who never could have guessed what the next decade would bring for the Dunk. Over the following years, this concept brought us some of the most collectible sneakers of all time, including Supreme’s elephant print-adorned Dunks from 2002, a creation that helped kickstart Dunk hysteria.

Collaborations with Diamond Supply Co. and Jeff Staple followed, reinforcing the idea that sneakers could be as collectible as anything else. Since those influential years, the SB Dunk has continued to be a canvas for creativity, reworked by everyone from Futura and Parra to Travis Scott and Virgil Abloh. Simply put, the SB Dunk would have never reached its current heights without the spirit of collaboration.

A Bathing Ape x Super Ape Skate 'Black Snake'

A Bathing Ape x Super Ape Skate 'Black White Grey'

BAPE x adidas (2003)

BAPE’s first foray into footwear started with homage sneakers like the BAPESTA and the SKULLSTA, models which were nods toward classic shoes beloved by Nigo: the Nike Air Force 1 and adidas Superstar, respectively.

In 2003, adidas and BAPE officially teamed up on the Super Ape Star, a modified rendition of the Superstar. The upper featured BAPE’s signature ape-head camouflage print, with text throughout, including the phrase “The Respect is Mutual,” a tagline still used by BAPE and adidas today. Although adidas already had a commercially successful collaboration with Jeremy Scott, the brand’s partnership with BAPE was also a major catalyst for adidas Originals, a platform that helped reposition performance shoes like the Stan Smith and Superstar as lifestyle icons.

BAPE’s ongoing collaboration with adidas continues today and while recent drops have delved into running, basketball and football, many consider the peak of the partnership to be synonymous with Nigo’s time at the brand, pre-2011.

Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 Retro 'Friends & Family' 2005

Undefeated x Nike Air Jordan 4 (2005)

Undefeated is one of Nike’s earliest collaborators, and it’s one of the most influential retailers still around today. The partnership between the two brands started with a crispy white friends-and-family Dunk High (a proper retro release was issued in 2013) in 2002, shortly after Undefeated was founded. Since that foundational handshake, Undefeated has had access to some of Nike’s most high-energy products, creating collaborative Air Forces, a handful of signature Kobe models, and a coveted Jordan 4 from 2005.

The Los Angeles-based retailer selected a militaristic color scheme inspired by the MA-1 Flight jacket. As such, the Jordan 4 is punctuated by olive nubuck, with hits of black and orange, and a special tongue patch to bring home the flight-jacket motif. Limited to 72 pairs, the Undefeated x Nike Air Jordan 4 was the first real Jordan collaboration, likely paving the way for Eminem’s 'Encore' Jordan 4 shortly after—not to mention the diverse landscape of Jordan collaborations visible today.

Air Yeezy 2 SP 'Red October'

Kanye West x Louis Vuitton (2009), Kanye West x Nike (2009 - 2013), Kanye West x adidas (2013 - ongoing)

In 2007, Kanye rhymed “The hood love to listen to Jeezy and Weezy / And, oh yeah, Yeezy.” The same year, West pitched the Air Yeezy collaboration while on a private flight with Nike CEO Mark Parker.

At the time, creating a signature model for a non-athlete was unthinkable for Nike. West changed that. In 2009, he performed at the annual Grammy Awards wearing a previously unseen Nike silhouette. The Air Yeezy 1 announced the Kanye West x Nike partnership to the public. West worked with Mark Parker and designer Nathan Van Hook on the design, which borrowed some elements of other Nike shoes, namely the Jordan range, a series West was hugely inspired by.

Three Air Yeezy 1 colorways eventually hit shelves: 'Zen Grey,' 'Black/Pink' and 'Net.' The Air Yeezy 2 followed in 2012, featuring a jagged spine running along the heel of the shoe, with a falcon depicting the Egyptian god Horus on the tongue. A public falling out with Nike occurred ahead of the 'Red October' release, all but dooming the tonal sneakers from seeing the light of day.

However, the all-red pair arrived as a surprise release in February 2014, becoming one of the most mythical sneakers of all time and the last shoe West would ever release with the Swoosh. Picking up where he left off with Nike, West announced his partnership with adidas near the end of 2013, before the release of the 'Red October.'

adidas gave West the freedom that Nike wouldn’t—the chance to create his own line of signature sneakers without restrictions or limitations. The resulting Yeezy sneaker range, designed in collaboration with footwear design legend Steven Smith, started to work towards an ambitious promise West made in 2015, “Eventually, everybody who wants to get Yeezys will get Yeezys!” Since the first silhouette, the Yeezy Boost 750, the line has fundamentally altered the wider culture and industry, driving colorway trends, increasing interest in new designs and broadening the use of unusual materials such as algae.

Raf Simons x Stan Smith 'Cream White'

Raf Simons x Ozweego 'Mirrored - Black'

Raf Simons x adidas (2013)

The importance of this collaboration can be attributed to the Ozweego, the first “chunky” fashion shoe that catalyzed one of the biggest trends of the decade. Reimagined by Raf Simons nearly 20 years after its debut, the collaborative Ozweego set the tone for the scene’s subsequent fascination with exaggerated and overstated kicks.

Raf Simons, among the most esteemed living designers, was also one of the first names from the world of haute couture to design his own products for a major sportswear brand, albeit 10 years after adidas debuted their first work with Yohji Yamamoto, and 15 years after Jil Sander and PUMA’s groundbreaking partnership. However, the resulting cultural shift proved unequivocally that strong creative energy could be established between high-fashion designers and global sportswear giants to the benefit of all.

Pharrell x Chanel x NMD Human Race Trail 'Chanel'

Pharrell Williams x adidas (2014)

Skateboard P has been a mainstay in the adidas roster for years now. A prolific producer, songwriter, musician, designer and cultural tastemaker, the collaboration started with court classics like the Stan Smith, before Pharrell introduced his technicolor Superstar pack, which included a staggering 50 colorways.

A few years later, Pharrell debuted his first original footwear design with adidas: the Hu NMD. The silhouette has since been produced in highly limited variations, including the highly limited Pharrell x Chanel x adidas Hu NMD. The collaboration has also folded in other entities from the world of Pharrell, including co-branded adidas drops with N.E.R.D., Billionaire Boys Club, and Pharrell’s longtime buddy Nigo.

Off-White x Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG 'Chicago'

Off-White x Air Force 1 Low 'The Ten'

Off-White x Nike (2017)

Off-White and Nike's 'The Ten' collaboration was 2017’s biggest sneaker story. Period.

The Virgil Abloh-led project included sneakers from Nike as well as Nike-owned brands Converse and Jordan. "These 10 shoes have broken barriers in performance and style. To me, they are on the same level as the sculpture of David or the Mona Lisa,” Abloh stated at the time. Leading up to the release, the collaboration was incrementally teased on the feet of A$AP Rocky, Drake, Kim Jones and Naomi Campbell, a highly effective rollout that created major cultural buzz.

Across iconic silhouettes like the Jordan 1, Air Max 90, Blazer High and Converse Chuck Taylor, Abloh’s motif for 'The Ten' included a number of defining features that ran through the collection, from the address of Nike’s Beaverton headquarters to “AIR” text on the midsole, a nod to one of Nike’s most famous proprietary innovations.

Shattering previous hype metrics, 'The Ten' was more impactful than any sneaker collaboration in recent memory, unlocking the full potential of designer x brand partnerships. Following the initial success of 'The Ten,' the partnership continued with new colorways, leading up to 2021 when Abloh and Nike reprised their roles to introduce 'Dear Summer,' an assortment of 50 unique Nike Dunks released exclusively to select members of the Nike SNKRS app—another landmark partnership in the history of sneaker collaborations.