John Kim 
We started with Air Foamposite One and continued to the Air Max 1. For the third week, we’re focusing on another sneaker model that deserves a lot of credit for bringing the ‘sneaker’ to the level of stardom it experiences today – the Nike Dunk High of 1986. The Dunk High, considered to be the a sibling of sorts to the Nike Terminator, is one of the earliest Nike Basketball sneakers to debut in a wide variety of colorful editions, kicking things off with the ‘Be True To Your School’ releases. Since then, the Dunk has been viewed as a cult model and the legend was reborn in ’98-’99 when the Dunk returned in larger droves in the ‘School’ Pack, the Japan-exclusive ‘City Attack’ Series, and a few other releases. Since then, the Dunk became an astounding hit and its prized status only strengthened thanks to the many iconic releases of the early 2000’s, the Dunk High’s inclusion of the budding Nike SB series, and a slew of other ‘general’ releases that are cherished today. To kick of Nike Dunk High Week, we’ll focus on a label that is recognized as one of the best to ever collaborate with Nike – West Coast-based Undefeated.
In 2005, Undefeated teamed up with Nike on the Dunk High in the slimmer ‘NL’ form; the Dunk NL stood for ‘No Liner’, which featured a interior stripped of its thick padding to achieve a sleeker profile (a precursor to the current ‘Deconstruct’ Dunk Highs). UNDFTD’s uninhibited use of bright colors was matched perfectly with the supreme materials on the shoe, which feature a high-quality brown leather on the toe, the wine-colored heel, and the calf-skin leather used on the toe-box and tongue. This 2005 masterpiece was a Tier 0 release and limited to just 5,000 units worldwide, and surely stands as a definitive ‘Dunk’ of our time – rife with colorways and materials and seamlessly adapting the ‘NL’ construction without shedding the Dunk’s original heritage of basketball sport. Peep this classic Nike Dunk High and below and brace yourself for another week of all-time greats here on Classics Revisited!
Undefeated x Nike Dunk High NL
Blue Reef/Cotton Candy-Black
312205-461
05/2005
Photos: Kixclusive
