It’s been 13 years since Nike SB was officially created as a sub-brand of Nike, with the Dunk Low Pro being the main sneaker to kick it off. To begin with the brand released colorways designed by their professional riders, namely Gino Iannucci, Danny Supa, Reese Forbes, Richard Mulder. The next wave of colorways were created and inspired by skate brands that supported them along with being friendly with the team.
Along with being part of Nike SB’s original crew, Richard Mulder was also part of the initial Chocolate team (a sub-brand of Girl ironically) so the collaborative Dunk made perfect sense. Made as a companion to the Zoo York’s, the colors used on the sneaker were (obviously) very different from the L.A. Dodger’s inspired-Dunk Mulder had previously designed. He decided to go all dark with a black and Anthracite suede combination on the upper. The black midsole matched the upper paired with a classic gum outsole. But the most important detail was the addition of the cross-graphic stitched onto the heel. It was made in honor of highly regarded Chocolate skateboarder, and Mulder’s good friend, Keenan Milton who had passed away in 2001.
With numbers of these initial run of SB’s in the low hundreds finding a pair is difficult today (eBay). The all-suede look with gum sole is a classic look and a great way for SB to kick off, even if initially they didn’t exactly fly off the shelves. 13 years old but with a look that is timeless.
Aaron Nojima
Robbie Falchi