How the Dunk Went From Hardwood to Half-Pipe to Runway

Peter Moore Follows Up a Classic With Another Classic

In 1985, Nike introduced the Dunk as part of 'Be True to Your School,' a campaign that encouraged college teams to color-coordinate their shoes to match their uniforms. Designed by Peter Moore—the same Peter Moore responsible for the Air Jordan 1—the original schools featured in this program, including the University of Michigan and Syracuse University, received their own color-matched Dunks, all of which are now considered to be among the most celebrated Dunk colorways ever released.

On-court innovations were moving quickly, however, and shoes including the Converse Weapon, Reebok PUMP and Air Jordan II progressed past the Dunk in terms of technology. Only a few years after its launch, the Dunk was becoming obsolete as a basketball shoe.

Fortunately, another kind of athlete began to embrace the Dunk in the late '80s. Skateboarders had been adopting the high-top Air Jordan 1 for years due to its protection, durability and the simple fact that some pairs actually ended up on sale racks. Skaters embraced Dunks for similar reasons, and this trend continued into the early '90s with Mark Gonzales and the Z-Boys lacing up the basketball silhouette to skate in.

Skateboarding exploded over the course of the decade, along with the industry of skate footwear, dominated at the time by skater-owned brands such as DC Shoes, Etnies and Emerica. Nike, eager to make official inroads into the skate world, tried and failed twice, largely rejected by the skate community due to a perceived lack of authenticity. Nike’s pre-SB bails included skateboarding models like the Nike Choad, but that’s a story for another day.

Try, Try and Try Again

Nonetheless, ahead of Nike’s third and finally successful attempt to foray into skateboarding with SB, there were a few noteworthy moments for the Dunk. In 1999, Nike released 'Be True to Your School' retro models for the first time, including a repurposed version of the Iowa colorway for the Wu-Tang Clan, which featured a Wu-Tang insignia on the heel. 36 pairs were reportedly created by Nike, a nod to the hip-hop group’s debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). In 2024, Nike is set to release another retro of the the Wu-Tang x Dunk High on September 30.

CO.JP (short for Concept Japan) Dunks also started to trickle out in Japan, leading to the Dunk’s increased presence within the Japanese streetwear scene. At the time, Hiroshi Fujiwara was advising Nike on which silhouettes had the most street-level credibility and appeal for collectors in Japan; a precursor to Fujiwara, Mark Parker and Tinker Hatfield’s elusive HTM partnership.

Stateside, Nike tapped Stüssy for its first-ever brand collaboration Dunk in 2001, outfitting the silhouette in three colorways over two high-tops and one low. The collaboration trickled out of Stüssy chapter stores, where staff were allowed to sell only 12 pairs per day. Within two weeks, every pair had been sold.

During roughly the same period, Sandy Bodecker—so important is the man to Nike SB that some joke SB actually represents his initials—realized Nike’s success in skateboarding hinged on creating real connections with the skating community. His strategy focused largely around exclusivity, supporting local shops and skaters with their own special colorways. Better yet, Bodecker and co didn’t even need to create a fancy, new skate-specific product because they already had the Dunk.

Skaters Embrace Nike SB

The revamped Dunk Low Pro—the inaugural SB model—launched with a few key changes. Most notable was the SB Dunk’s signature puffy tongue, an update that accounted for the rigors of skating, alongside other thoughtful tweaks like Zoom padding for a softer ride. Armed with a sneaker that skaters already used and respected, plus a team of riders that included Gino Iannucci, Richard Mulder, Reese Forbes and Danny Supa, Bodeceker’s Nike SB made a huge splash.

Each of the aforementioned riders received their very own shoe and, shortly after, Nike SB issued collaborative Dunks with Zoo York and Chocolate, and then later with Supreme. As the first ever non-Jordan sneakers to feature elephant print, the Supreme x Nike Dunk Low Pro SB 'Black Cement' proved to be but one major catalyst for SB mania.

Through the 2000s, Dunks remained in the limelight of sneaker culture, and limited drops successfully kept the conversation around Nike SB. Now considered some of the most influential sneakers of all time, collectible Dunks seemingly dropped back to back, including the friends-and-family Iron Maiden Dunks, the eBay Dunks, the City Pack, FLOMs, and DUNKLEs, the list goes on.

2005 proved a particularly transformative year, hosting the release of both Nicky Diamonds’ Tiffany-inspired Dunks and Jeff Staple’s pigeon-inspired Dunks. Part of the city series mentioned above, both hit shelves that year, the latter creating a veritable frenzy in the streets of New York City.

The day after the Pigeon release, the frontpage of the New York Post showed an image of the sneaker in profile above a mass of people outside Reed Space in New York City. The words “SNEAKER RIOT” appeared in between. Suddenly, sneakers were seen by mainstream audiences as highly collectible items akin to baseball cards. The demand for Dunks skyrocketed, cultivating a secondary market for reselling where the most limited releases were selling far above retail price. In the years to come, sneaker collecting and reselling would become a more widespread practice, catalyzed by influential releases like these.

The Calm Before the Storm

Like the silhouette’s debut on the hardwood, interest in the Dunk faded as new technologies emerged and tastes changed. Even “grail” Dunks diminished in price. It looked as if Bodecker’s visionary line had an expiration date after all. 

But like anything iconic, the Dunk was just biding its time, waiting to be rediscovered by a new generation that could appreciate its past importance as well as foresee its impact on the future of sneaker culture.

While it’s difficult to attribute the Dunk’s resurgence to any one particular reason, the heyday of SB Dunk popularity, 2002 to 2009, is often considered the Golden Age of sneaker collecting. These were the years before the internet and social media, an era defined by hunting and collecting. For a new generation of sneakerheads, Dunks represented something more than just a throwback style.

And one year that stands out in the silhouette’s resurgence is 2017, when Nicky Diamonds and Project Blitz filled a transparent half-pipe with the crème de la crème of Dunks, sparking a viral reaction that helped spur a wider conversation. At the same time, Nike began releasing updated colorways of influential SB favorites, including the 'Black Pigeon' and 'Canary Diamond.' Across fashion as a whole, trends began moving towards vintage, fueled by the rise of curated marketplaces. 

Perhaps most important of all, cultural leaders including Virgil Abloh and Travis Scott were spotted wearing Dunks, placing the sneaker back in the public eye. Both pulled out highlight-reel dunks; Abloh wearing 'Viotech' Lows and 'Michigan' Highs; Scott opting for Stüssys, Homers and Freddy Kreugers. Aftermarket Dunk prices started to rise again. Abloh and Scott received their own Dunk collaborations; the former’s particularly anticipated after being teased on the Parisian runway adorned with handstyle from graffiti legend Futura. The upcoming 35th anniversary of the storied silhouette looked bright.

35 Years and Many, Many More to Come

Nike didn’t disappoint, celebrating three and a half decades of sneaker history with the same energy that helped Dunks pop off in the first place. In 2020, the Swoosh tapped independent shops, including Civilist and StrangeLove, and paired those kinds of skate-intended releases with whimsical and unexpected drops alongside collaborators like Ben & Jerry’s, and the Grateful Dead.

OG college colorways were reintroduced as well, including the highly coveted 'Syracuse' and 'Michigan' builds. Even CO.JP editions returned, like the Abloh-approved 'Viotech' and the 2001 'Ugly Duckling' pack. New, fashion-oriented collaborations emerged as well, done in tandem with Yoon Ahn’s AMBUSH and Cynthia Lu’s Cactus Plant Flea Market, among others. The Dunk was well and truly back. And this time it wasn’t going anywhere.

Today, the sneaker release schedule remains packed with Dunk releases. Underscoring the silhouette’s importance is one of Nike’s most ambitious projects to date: a 50-pair collection of Dunks designed by Virgil Abloh and his Off-White imprint.

No matter where the Dunk goes from here, it’s without doubt among the most accomplished and recognized silhouettes the world over. From basketball sneaker to skate shoe, fashion statement to exhibited collectible, the Dunk will forever be synonymous with sneaker culture’s most formative era when Dunks became more than just athletic shoes: They became cultural icons.

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