Nike Skateboarding

Nike Skateboarding, also known as Nike SB, is the Nike brand for its line of shoes, clothing, and equipment for skateboarding.

History

In 1997, Nike commenced production of its own line of skate shoes, but was unable to sell to many specialist skate shops, as the market was already strongly in favour of companies such as DC, Globe, eS Footwear, Emerica, and Vans; Nike was not considered a core skateboarding brand among the skateboarding community and, therefore, did not receive the necessary level of support.

In 2002, Nike introduced the "SB" brand. The Nike SB Dunk Low model was released, and consisted of padded tongues and collars and the "Zoom Air" insoles; the shoe was more similar to other skate shoe styles than the corporation's previous attempts. After the SB Dunk's mediocre sales, Nike released four other models: The Nike SB Angus, Nike SB FC, Nike SB Delta Force, and Nike SB URL.

In 2004, Nike SB signed Paul Rodriguez as a figurehead for the brand and recruited Lewis Marnell as the sole Australian team rider during the same period. In March of that year, Nike released the Nike Dunk SB collection, aimed towards skateboarders in California. The associated shoe designs differed from the previous SB Dunk range in that they were designed specifically for skateboarding. The collection included increased padding, Zoom Air insoles, and enhanced material quality, including triple stitching, a standard for skate shoes.