Nike & Tom Sachs Announce Release Plans for the Upcoming Mars Yard 3.0

UPDATE - 16/07/2025:

Tom Sachs and the NikeCraft team have officially revealed the rollout plans for their highly-anticipated Mars Yard 3.0.

The latest entry in Tom Sachs’ Mars Yard series, where the New York-based artist strives to create the ultimate everyday staple shoe, is slated to release this September, although it isn’t your typical sneaker rollout…

Sachs has revealed an elaborate competition set to run between July 17 and August 29, in which contestants must compete in a series of undisclosed weekly challenges based on “creative and athletic output” to score points that contribute to a leaderboard, where at the end, those placed at the top will be eligible to purchase the Mars Yard 3.0.

In addition to the core challenges, ”Movie Nights” and associated quizzes are set to take place, with opportunities to score additional points through “Extreme Excellence Merits” and one-off “Bonus Opportunites”.

The competition will take place on the special ISRU app, which takes its name from a concept developed by NASA that stands for “In-Situ Resource Utilisation”.

In the context of the Mars Yard 3.0, the ISRU ethos factors into the rollout by encouraging participants to utilise resources available in their immediate surroundings to complete the given tasks.

Visit the NikeCraft website for more information.

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UPDATE - 15/02/2025:

Following earlier reports that Nike would be resuming its partnership with Tom Sachs, the duo have now officially unveiled their Mars Yard 3.0 shoe, which is slated to drop later this year.

The third iteration from the joint NikeCraft design studio founded by Tom Sachs and the titular label in 2012 builds on its predecessors with reinforced toecaps, a “blucher” style lacing system and “silkscreen-printed” sport red swooshes that are wedged between the shoe’s signature maple suede uppers.

Expect the Mars Yard 3.0 to arrive sometime in September.

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE - 04/10/2024:

Nike has announced it will be resuming its partnership with controversial artist Tom Sachs, expecting to reunite in 2025 to deliver the Mars Yard 3.0.

In 2023, Nike put its partnership with Tom Sachs on hold indefinitely, following numerous allegations from former employees and colleagues claiming that the artist was responsible for deliberately fostering a toxic work environment.

Publicised in reports that surfaced during March 2023, the allegations detailed various instances of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of Sachs, with even more shocking information coming to light that the artist displayed a swastika on the studio’s first aid kit, also labelling his basement storage section the “Rape Room” before renaming it to the “Consent Room” in 2016.

In an interview with GQ in 2019, Sachs even admitted verbatim that he runs his studio “like a cult”, also likening his team to the Manson crime family.

Nike has released various products in collaboration with Tom Sachs since 2012 and publicly announced that it had “no further releases planned” with the artist following the misconduct allegations levied in 2023.

Now, 18 months later, Nike announced it would be returning to relations with Sachs by revisiting the duo’s grail-worthy Mars Yard series, that last received an update in 2019 with the Mars Yard Overshoe. Nike spoke on the decision with the following statement:

“Tom has demonstrated and recommitted to fostering a culture of respect and inclusivity.”

“We can confirm that our work with Tom will continue and this next chapter of NikeCraft will uphold our shared passion for team, product, and storytelling excellence. More details to come in 2025.”

Sachs added to the news by saying:

“I’m honored that we will continue to build together as a NikeCraft team and community. The Mars Yard 3.0 is in its final stage of development and is currently being wear-tested. I’m excited to share more soon.”

Expect more news to arrive in the coming months