How Nike SB Can Win Back Skaters

Whenever something begins to become popular or trendy, I like to go back and pinpoint when and what caused that hype. In the latest Dunk craze, I would point my finger to the Travis Scott Dunks released in February 2020. Before then, nobody in the general public really cared about Dunks. It was all about Yeezys and maybe Jordans. I still remember in middle school looking through the Tactics website and seeing Dunks readily available, wanting a pair because I thought they looked good for heelflips with how puffy the shoes were, compared to slimmer models of Janoskis, Lakai MJ and the like.

2015 Screenshot of Nike SB shoes offered by Tactics via Wayback Machine

The popularity of Dunks, however, has made skaters angry at hypebeasts, sneakerheads and resellers for buying their shoe without the intent of skating it. Dunks offer nice padding/cushion and decent boardfeel for a cupsole. Not to mention the many colorways and potential colorways available due to the number of panels the shoe has. Many has blamed Nike as well for taking advantage of the Dunk craze and having limited releases, making it even harder for skaters to grab a pair.

With a thirst for skating something similar, skaters have gone to look at other companies such as New Balance—specifically the 1010 for offering the same padding and relatively decent boardfeel. Even Lakai has made somewhat of a comeback by rereleasing their Telford model, albeit with a different outsole. There's also a two page Slap forum titled "Dunkalikes" where users can discuss other shoes that offer a similar feeling to Dunks.

What a great looking shoe

But does Nike really care what skaters think? Nike SB specifically might, but Nike (and pretty much every company) cares about one thing: profit. If limited Dunk releases keep raking in dollars, why stop? However, it does seem like the Dunk craze has reached its final leg; especially with the Panda colorway. It's even become sort of a meme to wear them.

"New air forces," says one comment. "Makes me wanna sell mine," says another.

As all trends, things come and go. The original hype for Dunks in the 00's came to an end as the new 2010's came around. Which shoe took over the spotlight? The Janoski's. I still remember seeing my classmate wearing the Digi-Floral colorway of the Janoski and being awestruck. The Janoski not only revolutionized skate shoes, but fashion as well. The slim profile and simpleness of the Janoski allowed people wearing skinny pants to enjoy them. In my opinion, a bulky shoe like Dunk looks terrible with skinny pants and should be illegal. Arrest this person.

For middle schoolers and high schoolers like me at the time, it was basically a Vans shoe but with a swoosh. The simplicity of it and the coolness of the swoosh was appealing to not only kids, but parents as well. In the world of skaters, it was a shoe that offered unbelievable boardfeel and flick, allowing skaters to feel more confident in the tricks they were doing. The shoe was seen worn by elite skaters such as Ishod Wair, Shane O'Neill, Wieger Van Wageningen, Brian Anderson, Luan Oliveira, and many more. Speaking of, I recently saw a clip of Trevor Colden wearing Cariumas... somebody give him another shoe sponsor please, he doesn't deserve those.

As any company would do, Nike capitalized the hell out of the Janoski and made many variations of it: the mid, lunar, hyperfeel, max, slip-on and even a chelsea boot.

But in recent times, the Janoski seems to have been discontinued. Perhaps the lack of support and comfort have became uncomfortable for the ordinary people who walked miles in them. Hence the popularity of the much more comfortable Yeezy 350, Ultraboosts and NMD's. These shoes offered the comfort of Boost while providing that same slim profile. As baggy clothing became popular again, the shoes became bulkier to match the figure, most notably the Yeezy 500, 700 and the recent foam runner. The resurgence of Y2K fashion brings us back to where we're at now: the Dunk craze.

As skaters, if there's one thing we do when something becomes mainstream, is go the other way. And what's a better shoe than the opposite of a Dunk? The Janoski! Sure the Shane is somewhat similar, but if I'm being honest, that shoe is dumb ugly. The tiny, outlined swoosh? Hideous. There's just something so simple about the Janoski that works so well. Vans Eras and Authentics are also similar, but it's just not the same.

For those who wan the Janoski back (me), there is some good news. In the comments of @nikesbornothing, the profile said Janoskis will be coming back in 2023.

Now this isn't exactly a reliable source. However, recent clips of Carlos Ribeiro's Instagram features him wearing what looks like a pair of Janoski's.

BREAKING NEWS: As I was looking through Carlos' Instagram page for clips, I found this in the comments:

Skaters rejoice!

Brian Anderson can also be seen in this post with a pair of Janoski slips by his side. Though it is possible these are an older pair. Nonetheless, Janoski's!

Will Janoski's make the full comeback? And will Nike limit its releases to create exclusivity and make profit? I'm not sure. If there is one thing I'm sure about, is that I will be grabbing a pair when they release. Until then, I will be skating my Dunk Highs ;)