Nike SB Change the Whole Game with the Orange Box Era
After a five-year hiatus that was partially induced by skate-community backlash, Mark Parker and were finally ready to step back into the ring and take on the loyal skateboarding community that had rejected them so harshly.
Returning with the legendary () at the helm, Nike re-evaluated their approach by listening to what the community was really saying, exploring what could bring. With this in mind, Nike's skateboarding resurgence resulted in history-making changes to both skateboarding and sneaker culture. We, the sneaker lovers, still bear the fruits of that success.
Having already touched on the , which left the big dogs in Oregon cutting their losses, we move onto the Orange Box Era and a few of the game-changing iconic collectibles that were available within.
Nike SB 'Colors by' Series
The four original horsemen of Nike’s return were Danny Supa, Gino Iannucci, Richard Mulder and Reese Forbes. Each original team member designed a colourway that was influenced by their lives, city and style.
Alphanumeric x Nike SB Dunk Low
An embroidered logo was exaggerated and raised on the side-wall ollie area, with the badged version being a friends-and-family only edition and an unbadged version gaining a wider release to the public.
Nike SB Dunk Mid 'Paul Brown'
Who is Paul Brown you ask? Even Sandy didn’t remember where the name came from.
Zoo York/Chocolate x Nike SB Dunk Low
The first-ever SB Dunk collaborations were with Chocolate and Zoo York. The cultural significance of these two releases was unbeknownst to everybody at the time, and sneaker collecting culture as we know it was on the brink of a revolution.
Nike SB Dunk Hi 'Wheat'
Like the Paul Brown mid before it, the Wheat-Hi was one of the last of the mids to rock the extra-padded fat tongue.
Nike SB Dunk Low 'Reese Denim'
For his second model, Reese Forbes enlisted the help of iconic skater and artist Natas Kaupas to bring us a distressed denim Dunk which came complete with frayed selvedge.
Needless to say, Nike SB's triumphant break into the market allowed the Orange Box Era to sculpt the sneaker collecting culture that we live in today. With hype around future SB releases of the time becoming as genuine as the intentions behind the movement, Nike SB was here to stay.
Tune in next week as we marvel at the magnificence of the Nike SB Silver Box Era.