Releasing as part of the buildup to the long-awaited, final fifth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, Nike has worked with the IP on a Dunk Low design that’s pulled straight from the “Upside Down”.
Nike returns as the fashion partner of choice for Stranger Things ahead of the series’ return, adding to a collaborative run that birthed three releases within the space of a month in 2019, when Nike made era-appropriate styles like the Blazer Mid, Cortez and Air Tailwind 79 canon to the Stranger Things universe.
The nostalgia-soaked backdrop of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana presents the perfect setting for Nike to have some fun by tapping into its retro-athletics sensibilities, underscored by wider cultural themes of fantasy and story-driven nuance.
The Nike x Stranger Things Dunk Low is a promotional sneaker done right. At face value, the shoe stays faithful to its ubiquitous 40 year-old shape, although upon closer inspection, is rife with meta nods to Stranger Things, while formal, co-branded hits are subtly tucked away on the insoles and underside of the tongue label.
Doubling up as a reference to what a Dunk from 1987 could look like today, and the decayed appearance of Stranger Things’ alternate dimension — the “Upside Down”, the Dunk Low features an intentionally cracked leather makeup, complemented by pre-patina midsoles and laces that are “stained from unexplainable exposure”.
The Nike x Stranger Things Dunk Low is complete with vertically-inverted logos at the heel tab and lateral quarter — the latter of which also includes “1987” branding as a hint towards the year in which the upcoming final season of Stranger Things is set. Fans will also enjoy custom packaging, alongside extra goodies from Nike, including “pins, a distressed newspaper and other ephemera”.
The shoe releases next Thursday, November 6 via Nike SNKRS at 15:00 EST.
