As early as 2016, the International Olympic Committee announced that skateboarding would officially become an Olympic event at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. Before the sport’s debut, New Jordan had already developed a plan to release sneakers at the same time as the first competition.
The team's sports shoes include 2 "Gundam" SB Dunk high from Bandai x Nike and 3 SB Dunk low designed in cooperation with FTC, Parra and Quartersnacks. This is not the first time we have seen such a collaboration. In the months before the official unveiling today, early photos of each pair of partners have been posted online.
In addition to sports shoes, Nike SB also hired Dutch artists and often-collaborating Piet Parra to design federation kits for skating teams in the United States, Japan, France and Brazil. The design of each team uniform is inspired by Brazil’s most popular sports. The Brazilian team uniform is inspired by football, the French uniform is inspired by tennis, the Japanese uniform is inspired by baseball, and the American uniform is inspired by baseball. The design is inspired by basketball. A bird is embroidered on the side of each uniform, further representing the spirit of each country.
The release date for these upcoming Nike SB dunk collaborations has not yet been specified, but each pair is expected to be released on the SNKRS app soon and is selected for Nike SB inventory. Browse a comprehensive breakdown of the sources of inspiration behind each collaboration.
Bandai x Nike SB Dunk High ‘Gundam’
While the majority of the collabs featured here are SB Dunk Lows, Bandai will release two SB Dunk High collabs inspired by the popular Japanese figurines, Gundam. Specifically, the Unicorn Gundam is the source of inspiration for the duo as seen with the logo printed on the heel counter. The collab features interchangeable Swoosh branding as a nod to its toy counterpart while the panels throughout the upper mirror the look of the fictional Gundam suit. The collab is offered in white and blue-based colorways.
FTC x Nike SB Dunk Low
Japan, the host country of this summer’s Olympic Games, will serve as inspiration for San Francisco-based skate shop FTC’s latest SB Dunk collab. The look of the shoe is inspired by traditional Japanese bathhouses as the overlay panels feature a brick-like pattern combined with light blue suede underlays, silver Swoosh on the sides, and a translucent outsole.
Quartersnacks x Nike SB Dunk Low
Unlike the first two collabs, New York-based skate magazine and longtime collaborator Quartersnacks is using a hometown staple New York junk food for its SB Dunk collab. The shoe shown here is inspired by a popular zebra-striped cake snack as seen with the graphic covering the leather upper. Quartersnacks branding also appears on the tongue tag and embroidered on the heel counter.
Parra x Nike SB Dunk Low
Piet Parra is also releasing a new SB Dunk Low collab coinciding with the special Federation kits he designed for the athletes at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Wavy geometric patterns in red and blue hues cover the shoe’s overlay panels while offset by a sail-based upper while black Swoosh branding appears on the side.