The sneaker world moves fast. Sneakerheads’ attention spans are short and longevity is sparse. For any collaborator with brands like Nike, adidas, or New Balance–be them a streetwear brand, sneaker boutique, or fashion designer–staying relevant can be an uphill battle. One or two dud colorways and the Swoosh or Stripes may be looking for the next big thing instead of their current partners. Five years in the spotlight puts a brand in the upper percentile of success. Ten makes them elite. Anything longer than that? Well, it’s simply Supreme.
The New York-based brand first collaborated with Nike way back in 2002, with their first SB Dunk Low ushering in an era of streetwear brands teaming up with sportswear giants. Ever since then it’s been one of the most reliable names in the game, remaining the gold standard of streetwear and consistently dropping a shoe or two a year with the Swoosh. Nike has given Supreme a long leash, with the two brands collaborating on dozens of different silhouettes over the years. Supreme has offered their takes on classics like Air Jordans and Dunks as well as helping Nike revive archival silhouettes you probably forgot existed until Supreme put their logo on them. Not every shoe is a hit–there have been some outright stinkers over the years (the less said about those Air Jordan 14s the better)–but when you command the well-earned respect Supreme does, a flop now and then isn’t the end of the world (and to their credit, most of Supreme’s less-stellar Nike joints are at least interesting failures). These days the brand can safely say they aren’t going anywhere–a rarity in this industry.
Just last week Supreme announced a new apparel collection with Jordan Brand, which means there’s almost certainly new shoes on the way as well. With the red bar logo on the mind, we ran through the entire Supreme x Nike catalog and took stock of their full oeuvre–over 40 sneakers, as it turns out–and singled out the best, the boldest, the slept-on, and the most influential of their kicks.
SUPREME X NIKE SB DUNK LOW (2002)
And on the first day, He said, “Let there be light.” If there’s any slight on Supreme’s Nike output it’s that they’ve never reached the heights of their original SB Dunk Lows, their debut with the Swoosh and one of the greatest sneakers of the 21st century.
SUPREME X NIKE SB DUNK HIGH
Second verse, same as the first. For Supreme’s sophomore effort they went from low to high with a star-studded sneaker classic.
SB Supreme 94
The Supreme 94 marked the brand’s first totally original silhouette. It may not have set the sneaker world on fire but this Timberland-inspired colorway was a high point of the experiment, a good-looking shoe and a great tribute to a New York wardrobe staple.
SB DUNK LOW (2012)
It’s hard to improve on perfection but with Supreme’s second SB Dunk Low, they found a way. The classic Jordan-era cement with red and black proved a match made in heaven, and to this day you’ll find veteran heads calling these one of their all-time grails.
SUPREME X NIKE FOAMPOSITE 1
A legitimate contender for the best Foamposites of all time. These were so hotly anticipated that the NYPD stopped the brand from launching the shoes at their NYC location, pushing Supreme to release online only.
SUPREME X AIR JORDAN 5
Not every Nike collaborator gets to cross the border and work with Jordan Brand. That honor is saved for the most trusted of partners–which Supreme is. They’ve mixed it up with the Jumpman a few times over the years and it’s usually reason to take notice when they do. Case in point: their three-colorway lineup of Air Jordan 5s, each of which is a can’t-miss banger.
SUPREME X NIKE AIR MAX 98
Snakeskin is hard to argue with, especially when it’s on one of the better Air Max models of all time.
SUPREME X NIKE AIR MORE UPTEMPO
One of the bolder joints in their lineup, Supreme’s take on the Uptempo replaced the shoe’s iconic ‘AIR’ branding across the upper with ‘SUPREME’. Pair a move as audacious as that with bright colorways like red and metallic gold and you’ve got a winner.
SUPREME X NIKE AIR HUMARA 17
Humaras are a lowkey silhouette that Supreme made anything but thanks to a slew of bright Powerpuff Girls-esque colorways.
SUPREME X NIKE SB GATO
At its core, Supreme is and will always be a skate brand. They’re often at their best when leaning into that identity, with their take on the slept-on SB Gato model serving as a testament to this.
SUPREME X NIKE DUNK HIGH
It’ll always come back to Dunks, SB or no, with Supreme. They got in on the Dunk craze of the 2020s with the memorable ‘By Any Means’ colorways in 2022, remixing (so to speak) some classic collegiate Dunk colorways with the aforementioned slogan (a signature piece of Supreme branding that’s showed up across a wide array of product) in a lovely typeface.
