Supreme and Nike have been collaborating for 20 years. Among their greatest hits: camouflage takes on the streamlined Air Max 96 silhouette; a pair of SB Dunk Low Pros with the elephant print originally used across the Air Jordan III; star-spangled Dunk Highs; and an in-your-face baroque Foamposite. That’s not to mention plenty of apparel to match.
Now the duo are back with another updated sneaker silhouette. Taking to Instagram today to announce the drop, Supreme presented a reworking of Nike’s Shox design, first introduced in 2000.
The original sneakers were designed by the label’s footwear master Bruce Kilgore and came with a truly you-had-to-be-there early-aughts cushioning system, with those iconic Shox columns at the back. (Surely you remember the commercials?)
The Supreme design team has taken Nike’s Shox Ride 2, a slight update to that OG design, and reintroduced it in four colorways. The sneakers now come in scarlet to match Supreme’s own signature branding, ice-white, an all-black version, and a khaki take that features neon green Swooshes. Naturally, the Shox columns boosters have been hit with “Supreme” branding.
Nike has a habit of highlighting one particular silhouette at a time: over the past few years, we’ve seen the Dunk and Air Max 95 get plenty of air time through collaborations with everyone from Ben and Jerry to Skepta. It seems like 2022 will be the year of Shox: Aside from Supreme, British designer Martine Rose unveiled a collaborative pair of Shox during last week’s London Fashion Week. Those sneakers feature an open, mule-like back, as well as a sharper, more angular toe bed reminiscent of Rose’s signature, squared-off loafers.
The Supreme x Nike Shox Ride 2 is slated for a release this month—but as with their previous collaborative kicks, don’t expect them to stick around for long.
This story originally ran on British GQ with the title “Your first look at the electrifying new Supreme x Nike sneakers”
