Nike's Vintage inspired Shox return

The iconic, and at the same time very divisive, Nike silhouette of Shox has been slowly making its return to the market, so far with a bit of a  revamped edition of the Nike Gravity Shox, but now its going full retro with the coming release of the first silhouette from the lineage, the Shox R4, in the original Metallic Silver/Comet Red colorway.

The Nike Shox were interesting beyond just their bold and brave design, which as many disliked as they admired, in that they attracted various and quite particular types of subcultures to champion the shoe. In an age before Vapormax or more outlandish soles, the Shox was really quite crazy with the piston-like air extensions at the back of the shoe which made them look a bit like football boots for the streets. Taken on quite literally in the United Kingdom where many football lads started wearing the shoe with there tracksuit looks.

In the US they became popular as a Basketball shoe, thanks to the marketing campaign featuring Vince Carter, who rocked the Nike Shox BB4 on the court. During the 2000 Summer Olympics Shox saw a tremendous boost in popularity when Vince Carter of Team USA's dunked over a 7'2", that's almost 220cm, center from Team France in a pair of Shox. Carter's dunk would become a major influence on Shox' advertisement strategy.

In Italy, the shoes were a bit curiously first pushed in gyms. With their sturdy construction, they were ideally suited for heavyweight work and it was from there the popularity of the shoe blossomed in Italy. In a time where the Airmax 90’s ruled the Italian market, the Shox signified a quite radical counterpoint and were a symbol that you were one of the brave. 

In northern Europe, for reasons that are hard to pinpoint certain nefarious countercultures took them on and signified quite often that you were a bit of a bad boy. It will be curious to see who champions this new generation.

The new retro model of the 2000’s come in a white leather and silver upper, on red shoe pistons and 3M reflective detailing at the heel and vintage-style Nike Shox branding at the tongue.

An exact release date is still to be confirmed but stay locked to nss for the updates on Nike Shox.