The Greatest Sneaker Collaboration between Nike and World-Famous Stars

2010s

Undercover creator Jun Takahashi has led Gyakusou, a technical running label that has become one of Nike’s longest-standing collaborations, since 2010. Gyakusou, which translates as “reverse running” and refers to Takahashi’s morning practice of jogging counterclockwise through Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, combines the designer’s melancholy, experimental impulses with Nike’s performance skills. “Jun has an intuition with color that we would never have thought of,” says Nike global marketing director Fraser Cooke, who sold the project to Takahashi. “We wanted to intersect with a younger running community that is more design-led, rather than just the pure running culture on which Nike was founded.”

This luxed-up Air Max 1 was designed by Dutch artist Piet Parra and released to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Amsterdam sneaker boutique Patta. It demonstrates the power of basic colors and high-quality materials: The deep red suede uppers, chenille embellishments, and contrasting baby blue hits combine to create one of the most luxuriously appealing and highly wearing sneakers of all time.

Nathan VanHook experienced Kanye West’s entire creative potential while developing the Air Yeezy 2. VanHook recounts a two-day Paris excursion during Watch The Throne. While developing an album and a documentary, Kanye, Virgil, and I sorted through all the colorways. Taking time from making one of the decade’s most memorable albums to make his shoe? Surreal.”

Kanye’s meticulousness made that shoe as renowned as the record. Kanye told VanHook, “We don’t want something mall,” as they evaluated materials. “It couldn’t be basic or cheap,” VanHook explains. This shoe was sweated over. We wanted to make sure that if it got to the MoMA, everything is thought out.” That entailed molding the shoe to fit Kanye’s feet exactly, devising innovative processes to give the techy exterior a natural-looking anaconda reptilian finish, and endlessly revising the obelisk-shaped lace points to prevent them from sliding off.

It created one of the most sought-after and costly sneakers ever. “I had one pair of the Red October [colorway],” VanHook says. “My younger cousin paid for his first year of college with them.”

Nike hype bothers Tom Sachs. “I’m a 19th-century artisanal sculptor in my Soho atelier, doing things the way they did a hundred years ago, and they’re pricey and elitist,” the artist says. I wanted to produce a sculpture for everyone when I joined Nike. It was irritating when it became so coveted.”

It’s easy to see why Sachs’ shoes are popular. “The airbags that bounced rovers down to the surface of Mars,” Sachs writes, are among the uncommon technology in the original Mars Yard. “I offered a pair to a friend who inquired, ‘Oh, do I get the new ones too?’ No, because the Mars Yards are still in the box on your mantle, hence you failed the exam. Another friend of mine wore them to death, put a new sole on ‘em, patched ‘em—and that friend gets a lifelong supply.”

Kevin Durant’s sixth signature shoe featured a soccer boot-like, low-slung shape with asymmetrical lacing for a more snug fit and increased lateral speed. The KD 6 was one of the most unique and instantly recognizable basketball sneakers of its age, and the easily printable synthetic top lent itself perfectly to a plethora of iconic hues, from the rose-covered Aunt Pearl makeup to the paint-splattered Texas variant (a nod to his alma mater, UT).

“How can I work on something iconic?” Riccardo Tisci asked Fraser Cooke when the Givenchy designer would redesign the Air Force 1. “He called it the Hermès Kelly bag of footwear,” Cooke recalls. “He feared destroying this thing he revered.” Tisci added a knee-high boot-inspired leather collar on the shoe despite his fears.

Errolson Hugh had one question for Nike regarding partnering on the Lunar Force 1. “Yeah, we’ll do that, but you realize we don’t simply want to alter the color, right?”

Acronym’s Berlin workshop received a shoe box weeks later. “We brought out the scissors and masking tape, and basically went to town,” Hugh recalls. They inserted a black zipper and cut the shoe down one side. “We wanted to intervene with the shoe,” he says.

That approach made the Lunar Force 1 one of the most polarizing sneakers of the era. “People would ask my friends, ‘Yo, did you do that? Why were your Nikes destroyed? “Where did you get those?” That shoe’s reaction revealed someone’s philosophy.

Abloh worked quickly. His imaginative Nike debut, The Ten, a literal deconstruction of 10 legendary Swoosh sneakers, was produced in record time. Nike designer Shamees Aden estimates it takes 18–24 months to develop one model. Nike developed The Ten in 10 months, its fastest ever.

Abloh communicated with Nike over WhatsApp during the time. “We weren’t simply talking,” Aden says. He sketched on team images, wrote on sample photos to highlight modifications, and shared ideas, research, and references. Abloh maximized his Nike HQ visits. Five hours in a workroom produced The Ten’s first five models, including this Air Presto. Aden says it was very hands-on. “We knew we were on the right track, but I couldn’t have imagined the impact these sneakers would have on the world. Art.”

Nike requested 12 global creatives to create an Air Max model in 2017 and let fans vote on which shoe to make. Sean Wotherspoon, cofounder of Round Two antique business, was likely the least recognized contestant, but that gave him a chip on his shoulder that helped him win. “I read the regulations because the embarrassment of getting disqualified would’ve been crazy,” Wotherspoon says. Involving your community in design was crucial.”

Wotherspoon gathered his buddies, including A$AP Nast and jeweler Ben Baller, to design his shoe. The pastel corduroy-covered Air Max 1 sole and Air Max 97 upper were combined. Wotherspoon’s sneaker won the contest and became one of the year’s hottest sneakers, making him a sought-after designer. He calls it life-changing. “It altered my path.”

Nike approached Undefeated, one of the Swoosh’s longest-running collaborators, to put its touch on the silhouette to help introduce the Zoom Kobe 1 Protro—a remastered version of Kobe’s 2006 footwear for the modern game. The company customized the shoe in a variety of camouflage patterns, including a gold-and-purple variant worn by LeBron on his debut appearance as a Laker. “It speaks to Kobe’s mentality,” says Undefeated’s chief operating officer, Fred Lozano. “You’re at war while you’re on the court.”

Air Monarch IVs are your dad’s Nikes—clunky, sterile, and uncool. However, legendary London designer Martine Rose converted them into postmodernist funk. Nike’s Andy Caine says Rose was looking at how athletes’ feet can get warped out of shape due to game impact. Rose enlarged the Monarch and painted it Pepto Bismol pink to simulate that phenomena.

Cactus Plant Flea Market designer Cynthia Lu brought her Air VaporMax 2019 prototype to her first Nike meeting, which is rare. Andy Caine adds, “It was one of those times where you come in and see that for the first time and just go, Wow. I wasn’t mentally ready.” Lu’s handcrafted mock-up with its tubular swoosh and bubble text went to production with few alterations. “Cynthia introduced practically the antithesis of what had been effective in VaporMax”—imposing her whimsical aesthetic on a sleek silhouette—“and it connected in such a humane way. Because of that new perspective, cooperation are powerful. It’s magical.”

Yoon Ahn embarrassedly told Nike she wasn’t athletic. “I thought you have to play sports to cooperate with Nike,” says Ambush founder and Dior Men jewelry designer Ahn. “That’s okay, that’s not why we want to work with you.” Nike sought Ahn’s quirky style and Y2K vibe, which she incorporated into her debut sneaker, a mix of the Air Max 180 and Gary Payton’s Air Zoom Flight The Glove.

Do you ever carry an extra pair of indoor shoes around all day because you’re going to the gym after work? Alyx creator and Givenchy creative director Matthew M. Williams had a solution. Williams worked with Vibram to build a detachable rubber crampon for his debut Nike sneaker. Un-Velcro it to reveal a futuristic high-performance trainer with tracklike speed laces and sci-fi molded overlays.

Sacai creator Chitose Abe was known for her mash-ups—military flying coats with cotton button-downs and chinos with nylon track pants. The Japanese designer’s Frankensteined Nike sneakers made sense. The double-swooshed LDV Waffle is a futuristic mix of the Long Distance Vector and Waffle Racer. “The silhouette and design work represent Sacai’s ideals and identity,” Abe says.

2020s

“I had a friend over at Nike SB, and he dropped me a text: ‘What do you think about a collab?’” says Jay Curley, Ben & Jerry’s global head of integrated marketing. I’d like to claim it was a deeper thinking, but I don’t think it was. That created 2020’s wackiest sneaker. The low-top SB Dunk, affectionately called the Chunky Dunky, included Ben & Jerry’s logos, hairy cow print, stitched clouds, and tie-dye. The shoe sold for thousands online and was worn by Quavo and Killer Mike, despite its goofiness. How do the ice cream tycoons like the kicks? Curley says Ben and Jerry each got two. “I’ve never seen them wear them, but I assume they thought it was cool.”

In October 2019, Eliud Kipchoge ran the first sub-two-hour marathon. For years, hundreds of Nike scientists, designers, and engineers collaborated with him to create a groundbreaking new running shoe prototype. Kipchoge thinks they needed speedier shoes. Ultimately, we required rapid recuperation. A shoe to run for three hours and recover quickly.”

For months, Kipchoge provided Nike HQ daily data and monthly notes from his Kenyan training camp to develop the Alphafly’s propulsive carbon plate and foam cushioning. “Eliud sets incredibly high standards, and he has big, daring ambitions, and he just keeps ticking away at them,” says Nike’s Tony Bignell, who led the shoe’s development. “That’s teamwide.” Kipchoge ran almost 800 km in a single pair before the marathon to get confidence in the shoe. Kipchoge says the sneaker worked. “Ready.”

Travis Scott’s mossy Air Jordan 1 and desert-toned Air Max 270 are among Nike’s most sought-after footwear. This Nike-Playstation collaboration is the rapper’s rarest Nike shoe. Only a few were produced and raffled off to celebrate the PS5’s release, including Scott’s backwards swoosh and the gaming system’s logo. Getting them currently requires deep pockets: StockX’s cheapest pair cost $65,000.

The Air Foamposite One’s bizarre molded top has been interpreted in many ways. It has a mirror-like chrome finish, a Supreme rococo print, and a starry space motif. No one had altered the shoe’s structure until Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo did. CdG’s Foamposites replace the wavy molding with a fingerprint-like series of concentric circles, making them the trippiest version of a psychedelic shoe.

“Drake wanted to do something new,” says DreamCrew chief brand officer Matte Babel. Nike makes new shoes for large athletes. Entertainers usually only repaint an existing model. Drake remarked, ‘I don’t want to just take an existing shoe, make it some tiny modifications, and say it’s my sneaker.’ God got his wish: Drake’s NOCTA line with Nike included the Hot Step Air Terra, a padded ‘90s-inspired runner. Why? Drake replied, “The Hot Step.” “Babel” “It’s direct and doesn’t sound like a Nike shoe name.”

Simon Porte Jacquemus, who grew up in the South of France, was enamored with Nike’s All Conditions Gear sub-label. He chose the Air Humara, a 1990s ACG hiker, to design his own Nike sneaker. Jacquemus says he loves the Humara. I adore its technical design and trekking elements. I wanted to appreciate its practical function while upgrading the hues to blend effortlessly into other situations, like the city.” He used earthy suedes and leathers and a little gold swoosh to “represent the attention to detail and sensuality of Jacquemus.”