Sample Sunday: Rare Doernbechers

Last night in Portland, OR the 2018 Doernbecher Children’s Hospital x Nike collection was released to the public and per-usual, there’s a lot of heat in the lineup. The collection is about much more than nice sneakers though, we need to remember that the kids designing the collection have endured hardships most of us will never know. Think of the shoes as trophies designed to champion the Doernbecher collaborators for their bravery, perseverance and strength. Their meaning goes far beyond resell value and/or popularity so keep that in mind when critiquing the kicks – these are kids telling their personal stories, not professional designers with agendas, be nice to them online.

Now, to the fun stuff. Lets take a look at some unreleased Doernbecher (DB) samples!

2017: KD X

Amyiah Robinson from the 2017 DB Freestyle Collection originally designed (and released) her version of the Air Max Thea Ultra Flyknit, but since she’s an Oklahoma native a KD X was created too. Only three pairs were created: one for Amyiah, one for Kevin Durant and the third was auctioned off. This KD X’s theme directly mirrors the Thea release – no doubt these would look great on the court.

2017: Air More Uptempo

Brody Miller’s 2017 addition to the his year’s Freestyle Collection featured a super hero theme with a Superman-like pair releasing to the public; but three other variations were created too. A red Wonder Woman-ish creation, a navy blue based pair and a black/ tan colorway (that went too hard) can be seen above. Should Nike have released one of these other variants? Let us know in the comments section below!

2011: Air Max 95

This 1-1 Air Max 95 has some serious Skittles vibes to it. Be Brave finds itself across the sidewall of this pair much like the 2011 Air Max 95 that did released (the white/ red/ gold pair). The AM 95 has been used three times in official DB releases and this pair would have been the fourth – we’d happily accept this pair into our closets.