August 21st, 2012 by Brendan Dunne
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Nike SB has most famously pulled from the Basketball sector of Swoosh lineage when it comes to appropriating models into the world of skateboarding, with the Dunk enjoying a long tenure as the most buzzed-about silo in the lineup. This time around it’s a tennis model that’s doing the cross-over, more specifically the John McEnroe special the Nike Challenge Court that gets revamped with an SB designation for OG team rider Gino Iannucci. This quick promo spot links the two up, showing Gino rolling around NYC in the Nike SB Challenge Court only to eventually stumble across the initial pioneer of the silhouette (who manages to keep cool when he sees the similar sneaks). Click through to check out the Gino Iannucci x John McEnroe x Nike SB Challenge Court commercial as well as some background from Nike INC on how the project came to be.
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December 19th, 2011 by Aaron Hope
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Nike SB veteran Gino Iannucci’s Dunk Low Pro designs are fondly remembered relics from the orange box era and his ‘Band Aid’ was sufficiently popular as to spawn another very similar design years later. So why after a decade of sliding and grinding for the Swoosh hasn’t Gino gotten a signature shoe of his own? Riders like Omar Salazar, Eric Koston and Paul Rodriguez have all reaped the benefits of a LunarLon-cushioned signature over the last year, and soon Gino will join the bunch, but in his typically understated style. The Nike SB Challenge Court doesn’t bear Gino’s name and is more of an unofficial ‘pro model’ than a true signature, but his design touches are all over this Court Force-meets-Harbour Mid built in suede and mesh with a sole that looks like it could have been copied from the Air Jordan 1, OG Dunk traction pattern and all. SB brought back the Bruin, then Nike 6.0 answered wth the LeShot and now we have the Challenge Court SB; which of Nike’s classic basketball or court shoes might be the next to parlay into a skate shoe? Gino’s is the next up, and you can see more of what to expect from the Challenge Court in 2012 by clicking on the jump below. via N-SB
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June 8th, 2011 by John K.
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Last Fall, Nike SB collaborated with Gino Iannucci and Poets skateshop to release a Nike SB Blazer Mid ‘Lighthouse’, which featured a tonal navy blue perforated suede upper with a contrast canvas/faux-denim swoosh and a Lighthouse logo stitched on the heel panel. Apparently, before the project was finished, the three figureheads came up with this sample Nike SB Blazer Mid as a blueprint, as it features the same perforated suede upper and solid blue vulcanized midsole. Can you spot the differences? First off, the swoosh on the sample is made up of perforations, the heel-tab features ‘NIKE’ instead of the lighthouse, and the midsole is textured. There are a few more differences so check out the released version here and peep the auction for this sample from cheapskates9107 on eBay.
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