Dunk (footwear)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The neutrality of this article or section may be compromised by weasel words.
You can help Wikipedia by improving weasel-worded statements.

The Nike SB "Diamond" Dunk designed by Nick Tershay of Diamond Hardware (otherwise known as the "Tiffany" for its striking resemblance to the signature mint colored Tiffany & Co. jewelry box).

The Dunk was first introduced by Nike Inc. in 1985. As the Nike Terminator’s "fraternal twin", originally having numerous colors in most sizes (Hi-Top or Low-Top) for various Universities and Colleges, the Dunk has transformed from a basic basketball shoe into a subcultural icon and an inspiration for fashion and art.

1 Designed for Basketball
2 Rooting into Skate Culture
3 Popularity Within the Sneakerhead Subculture
4 Prices Rise with "Hype"
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Designed for Basketball

The Nike Dunk has a profile outer sole than its parent shoes. This was implemented for a lighter weight and a closer to the ground shoe. In addition to this, the paneling was made to improve basketball game performance during pivoting and blocking. The Dunk was used to spearhead what Nike called the ’College Colors’ program. They signed some of the average college basketball teams (and their coaches) to an exclusive Dunk sponsorship deal; in simple terms, the deal meant that each colored pair of Dunks matched their uniforms.

The following universities were elected by Nike to be part of the College Colors program:

[edit] Rooting into Skate Culture

Nike's basketball shoe line was fairly popular in the skateboarding scene, and the Dunk soon became a popular shoe for riders due to the stability and lower profile sole which improved grounding performance. After some time, Nike created a Dunk specifically for skateboarders, known as the Nike SB Dunk. It features an extra-padded "puffy tongue" (common among skateboarding sneakers) and Nike's patented Zoom Air insole. Since then, the SB Dunk has become a popular subcultural icon for so-called sneakerheads, or enthusiastic sneaker-collectors. Nike currently collaborates with many designers to create special edition and collectible dunks, from Diamond Hardware's Nick Tershay to the popular graffiti artist known as Futura.

As of now, the Dunk SB line is in its fifth series, sporting a new black and purple box. Amongst the first fifth series SB Dunks are the "Send Helps", designed by Todd Bratrud, "Eires", by Liam Sean Martin, and "Volcanoes"(also known as Pele's), which are designed after state of Hawaii.

[edit] Popularity Within the Sneakerhead Subculture

The Nike Dunk's attractive design and technological implementation have caused the shoe to quickly make its way into the sneakerhead subculture. This shoe rapidly became internationally popular, specifically in Japan, the United States, Europe, and Korea. However, fakes, often Chinese-made, are plaguing online auction sites as well as illegal retail websites and tricking less educated sneaker enthusiasts into buying them for lower, and sometimes even high, prices. These factory variants are also confusing true sneaker enthusiasts into which are real or fake because in most cases it would appear to be no difference.

[edit] Prices Rise with "Hype"

The SB Dunk is sold to stores for fairly low prices, frequently retailing anywhere between $65.00-$99.00. However, since they are popular among collectors and skateboarders alike, stores tend to raise the prices on the shoes based on how high the demand is. This happens when a shoe is "hyped" up, or overly talked about and anticipated, therefore bought at much higher prices by the masses than suggested retail. Hype is considered "dangerous" by many sneaker enthusiasts, due to the fact that Nike has lowered the quality of materials and manufacturing for the Nike SB Dunk since the first generation of shoes were released, whereas the prices of the shoes sold by stores hike higher and higher; some of the more rare, "limited", or hyped shoes sell for over a thousand dollars a pair. During many releases of limited dunks, long lines have been known to form. At one specific store in New York during the release of the infamous "Pigeon" dunk, a riot formed. The New York City Police Department contacted taxi cab services to escort those lucky few who actually were able to receive the sneaker, and after the rowdy crowds dispersed, knives and baseball bats were among the utensils found laying in the streets.