Never Done Skateboarding
Department of Nike Archives
Rewind to 2002 and get a glimpse of Nike SB's journey from skateboarding outsider to cultural staple.
Ah, twenty years of Nike SB. What started off as a big brand on the outskirts of an insular movement turned into a welcome champion of the sport, pushing the culture and footwear innovation forwards like only Nike can. But the SB story is full of twists, turns, sends and bails—all leading to where we, and skateboarding, are today. Let's take a stroll down memory lane ...
The year was 2002. After many unsuccessful forays into skateboarding, Nike tapped a young visionary by the name of Sandy Bodecker to lead a new charge. Fresh off his success integrating Nike into the equally challenging world of global football, it wasn't long before he had Nike (finally) heading in the right direction with skateboarding too. And then came the SB Dunk ...
The SB Dunk craze took things to a new level, but that was just the start. Always leading through innovation, we constantly asked ourselves: how can we make it lighter? Less clunky? More dynamic? Fresher looking? The answers led to re-imagined models, iconic artist collaborations and signature athlete lines.
Speaking of signature athlete lines, this story would be incomplete without the skateboarders who put us on, wore us out and greatly shaped skateboarding into what it is today.
The team started with four style icons, and soon after saw seismic additions with athletes like Paul Rodriguez (one of only four people to ever have 10 signature shoes with Nike), Eric Koston, Stefan Janoski, Omar Salazar, Lewis Marnell and Lance Mountain alongside up-and-comers Grant Taylor, Ishod Wair and Shane O'Neill. SB skate videos like Debacle, Chronicles, Gizmo, Trust Fall, Constant and, of course, Today Was A Good Day defined eras, immortalising our athletes in the uber-important pantheon of skate content. Today, that 4 is now 46 strong, with a healthy range of SOTYs, road-dogs, Olympians and underground legends across the globe.
The new generation, led by the likes of Leo Baker, Nyjah Huston, Yuto Horigome, Rayssa Leal and Sky Brown are redefining the sport on their own terms, opening the door to anyone who's brave enough to get on a board. The last 20 years have been nothing less than legendary. And the next 20 will leave even bigger shoes to fill.
The SB Dunk craze took things to a new level, but that was just the start. Always leading through innovation, we constantly asked ourselves: how can we make it lighter? Less clunky? More dynamic? Fresher looking? The answers led to re-imagined models, iconic artist collaborations and signature athlete lines.
Speaking of signature athlete lines, this story would be incomplete without the skateboarders who put us on, wore us out and greatly shaped skateboarding into what it is today.
The team started with four style icons, and soon after saw seismic additions with athletes like Paul Rodriguez (one of only four people to ever have 10 signature shoes with Nike), Eric Koston, Stefan Janoski, Omar Salazar, Lewis Marnell and Lance Mountain alongside up-and-comers Grant Taylor, Ishod Wair and Shane O'Neill. SB skate videos like Debacle, Chronicles, Gizmo, Trust Fall, Constant and, of course, Today Was A Good Day defined eras, immortalising our athletes in the uber-important pantheon of skate content. Today, that 4 is now 46 strong, with a healthy range of SOTYs, road-dogs, Olympians and underground legends across the globe.
The new generation, led by the likes of Leo Baker, Nyjah Huston, Yuto Horigome, Rayssa Leal and Sky Brown are redefining the sport on their own terms, opening the door to anyone who's brave enough to get on a board. The last 20 years have been nothing less than legendary. And the next 20 will leave even bigger shoes to fill.