Matt Varga It was the studio session heard around the world when some of Boston’s most famous residents, Tom Brady, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck joined as a supergroup for a doomed-from-the-start pitch to make it onto J.Lo’s upcoming album. That Super Bowl Sunday spot for Dunkin’ Donuts certainly hit its mark as one of the most talked about adverts, but going underwritten in its wake are the custom Nike Dunk Low minted for the occasion.
Produced as a collaborative effort between customs artists Andrew Chiou and Ant Kai, two pairs of the “Dunkin’ collection” surfaced in April of last year. Posted to both artists’ Instagrams, an Air Jordan 1 High and Nike Dunk Low were evidently created first for the press run of Affleck & Damon’s sneaker-centric biopic “Air.” A few pairs of the latter were even auctioned off shortly after, with proceeds going to the coffee company’s Joy Foundation.
Less than a year later, the Nike Dunk Low “What the Dunkin'” find themselves back in the spotlight, with Damon, Affleck and Tom Brady all donning the shoe during one of the campier & more memorable ads from the big game.
Understandably given the corporate push behind the sneakers, both of the sneakers originally formulated feature allusions to the Boston chain’s products and iconography. Their pink glazed donut pattern takes to the Swooshes on the 1 and Dunk, with hints of the orange from their logo playing reserved role in key spots. As to be expected, coffee is also a huge motif on the two mismatched pairs, with the “Air Dunkin'” Jordan 1 downright Travis Scott-like in its various shades of mocha, cream, chocolate and latte.
While some celebrity-worn sneakers are harbingers of a wider release later, we’re extremely comfortable saying that these will be remain a vault piece for the foreseeable future. Even as “admire from afar” art pieces, they’re plenty interesting- scroll down for a full look at both the Dunks from Sunday and the 1s that originally went with them.
In the other big piece of sneaker news from Sunday, check out a deep dive into the Usher Jordan 4 worn by the singer during his halftime performance.
