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The footwear world is a pretty crazy place in this day and age, with new releases churned out on a weekly basis and fresh silhouettes launching seemingly every month. While we’re absolutely not opposed to the madness of the scene in 2021, we also believe it’s crucial to take a minute to breathe and look back at some of the excellent history in this game.

For that very reason, we’ve delved deep into the Internet to shine the light on six crucial sneaker designers that you must know about. Whether you’re a total newbie to the sneaker game or a seasoned veteran, why not have a read of our list as you may even find out something you never knew before!

Image by means of Jordan Brand
Tinker Hatfield

Notable Silhouettes
Air Jordan 3
Nike Air Max 1
Air Jordan 11
Nike MAG
Air Jordan 4
Nike Air Huarache
Nike Air Max 90

The man, the myth, the legend – Tinker Hatfield is pretty much as good as it gets when it pertains to sneaker designers. He’s highly-likely the man behind your much-loved silhouettes and he was also the sole person responsible for keeping Michael Jordan signed with Nike (Hatfield presented MJ with the AJ3 after the basketball star had expressed worries about his previous models). along with bringing the Air Max technology to life for the first time ever in 1987, Tinker also created the famous Nike MAG for Back to the Future 2.

Image by means of Kicks to the Pitch
Christian Tresser

Notable Silhouettes
Nike Air Max 97
Nike Air Zoom Spiridon
Reebok DMX Daytona
Reebok Aztrek 93
Nike Air Zoom Alpha

As he grew up Christian Tresser originally wanted to become a professional footballer, although he eventually settled to study design at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco. From then he went on to work for several design agencies and eventually Reebok, where he single-handedly created classic runners such as the Aztrek, the DMX Daytona and the 1992 Pyro. His success at Reebok led to him being headhunted by the Swoosh, where he later created the Air Max 97 and the Air Zoom Spiridon as lead footwear designer.

Image by means of Steven Smith
Steven Smith

Notable Silhouettes
Reebok InstaPump Fury
New balance 1500
Nike Air Zoom Spridon Caged 2
Yeezy improve 700
Yeezy Foam RNNR

Perhaps one of the most relevant sneaker designers even today, Steven Smith has tried his hand at design for pretty much every brand under the sun. He worked with Reebok back in the day to produce the legendary InstaPump Fury, took pleasure in a stint at new balance where he serviced projects such as the 1500 and has even tried his hand at Nike, creating the recently-revived Air Zoom Spiridon Caged 2. Of course we can’t mention Mr Smith without touching on his current role at adidas Yeezy, where he’s created models such as the Yeezy improve 700 and the Foam RUNNR. check out our interview with the man himself ideal here!

Image by means of Champs Sports
Sean McDowell

Notable Silhouettes
Nike Air Max Plus/TN
Nike Shox TL
Nike Lunar Racer
Nike Mayfly
Nike Presto Faze

While he may not be the most household name on this list, we’re pretty sure that you’ve probably owned a sneaker created by Sean McDowell at some point in your life. While on holiday in Florida the Nike designer was so inspired by enjoying the sunset on a beach that it led to him creating the now legendary Nike Air Max plus (also known as the Nike TN). considering that then he’s worked with the Swoosh on projects such as the Nike Lunar Racer and the OG VaporMax, while he now works as a freelance design consultant.

Image by means of nitrolicious
Bruce Kilgore

Notable Silhouettes
Nike Air force 1
Air Jordan 2
Nike Air Pressure
Nike Adversary

Early Nike employee Bruce Kilgore is the man behind one of the most popular sneakers on the planet, the Air force 1. before the AF1 he serviced sneakers intended for the tennis court, and even continued this after he created the legendary silhouette. Kilgore is a fine example of a humble genius, as sources state that he hand delivered original prototypes to college basketball players, and only discovered on a factory trip in 1987 (five years after original launch) that the AF1 was still in production!

Image by means of adidas
Peter Moore

Notable Silhouettes
Air Jordan 1
Nike Dunk

Last but not least, it’s only ideal that we touch on Peter Moore, the creative force behind two of the most-hyped silhouettes in the game ideal now. After creating the Nike dunk in 1984, Moore elevated the design additionally and morphed it into the Air Jordan 1, Michael Jordan’s first ever signature sneaker. Rumour has it he even sketched the wings logo onto a napkin during a flight for the first time ever! After his design work with Nike he went on to become global creative director at the Swoosh, although he eventually sailed ship to adidas in 1987 and even briefly acted as CEO for adidas America!

Image by means of Nike

If you can only police officer one take from Nike’s huge Black Friday sale, make sure it’s the Nike react aspect 55 “Enigma Stone”. one of the cleanest RE55 colourways that we’ve laid eyes upon in a extremely long time, it’s now just £47 with the code BRIGHT30 at checkout!

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A lesson in futuristic sneaker design, the “Enigma Stone” is crafted from a series of semi-translucent panels as well as is painted in a flexible “Vast Grey” colour scheme. “Celestine Blue” hues descend upon the path shoe-inspired lacing system, while you’ll likewise discover a dash of red around the ankles of the react aspect 55 for the perfect amount of contrast.

Down below, an insanely comfortable react foam system is present for cushioning that’s truly off the charts, as well as completing everything off is a black, low-slung Nike Swoosh that shoots across the lateral side, finalising the iconic design.

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Use the code BRIGHT30 at checkout right now to police officer the Nike react aspect 55 “Enigma Stone” for £47! let us understand if you handled to secure a pair, as well as while you’re here, right here are 30 insane sneaker as well as clothing steals you can’t miss at Nike’s 30% off Black Friday sale!

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A master of downplayed collaborations, Justin Saunders has just taken to Instagram to tease an upcoming partnership with Reebok, as well as it looks as clean as it gets!

Taking on the renowned Club C 85, this partnership comes just weeks after his new balance 990 collab. painted in an ultra clean white colour scheme, the shoe is crafted from premium tumbled leather that is developed to last. “JJJJound”; branding replaces Reebok’s logo on the medial-side window, as well as extra modifications are expected on the tongue as well as heel portions.

Set to release sometime in spring summertime 2019, the JJJJound x Reebok Club C 85 is a should police officer for any type of sneaker collection! let us understand if you’ll be grabbing a pair for yourself, and be sure to download the official The Sole Supplier app for totally free best now! In associated news, Reebok as well as Packer just recently provided the Aztrek a overall rework!

If you’re believing of copping some brand new Reebok heat, be sure to inspect out the latest here!

picture this: It’s Christmas day and you’ve just opened a present from your mum. It’s a pair of fresh sneakers and… you hate them. Now, usually, you’d put on an Oscar-worthy performance, say you love them then chuck them at the back of your wardrobe to gather dust for eight months before taking them down to the charity shop. While there’s not too much wrong with that, I’m here to put an argument forward for – drum roll please – RE-GIFTING! Scroll to see five reasons why you ought to re-gift those sneakers you don’t want anymore…

Image through Joshua Hoehne/Unsplash
1. It’s good For The Environment
The fashion industry is massively detrimental to the environment and much more and much more brands are promising to do much more to decrease their plastic consumption and improve on their sustainability practices. If you give those adidas Ultra increase you’re not too keen on to your mate, they’re happy, landfill has one less pair of unused sneaks and you’ve made some space in your wardrobe. Win win!

Image through Nike
2. They could Make Some Money
If you’ve somehow managed to acquire two pairs of original Yeezys and you typically give your father a voucher for Christmas, give him the Yeezys and he can sell them for a significant price! It’s a low-maintenance gift with maximum reward.

Image through Reinhart Julian/Unsplash
3. It requires no effort
Christmas shopping is exhausting, we all know it. If you know your buddy has had their eye on those Nike Air force 1’s you literally never wear, make their day and hand them over. It’s an easy peasy present and you don’t need to set foot in a shopping centre.

Image through whereslugo/Unsplash
4. sneakers are worthy of love too
If you’ve purchased one too numerous pairs of sneaks this year and one of them is lying unforgotten at the back of your collection, hand them over to your brother. He’ll wear them much more than you and you can borrow them whenever you want. sneakers are for life, not just for Christmas folks.

Image through Andrew Neel/Unsplash
5. everyone loves a hand-me-down
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved a little hand-me-down. As long as it’s not y’know, like, dirty. If you’ve got a fresh pair of sneaks that you’ve fallen out of love with, give them to someone in your life who you know loves a little hand out. They’ll love you for it and maybe you’ll get a little gift back in return (even though you don’t give to receive and all that).

Image through Nike

As more and more people get into the sneaker game, one question that we always get asked is, “Are Dunks and Jordans 1s the same?” While this may be obvious to sneakerheads, when you really think about it, there are loads of reasons why the untrained eye might think this way. instead of just answering “No” and brushing them off, we’re going to be taking an in-depth look into both silhouettes, the main differences between Dunks vs Jordan 1s, and a little bit of history behind the models too.

The Air Jordan 1 and dunk are two of the most popular sneakers in history. If you ask any sneakerhead to name the most iconic models ever made, we can guarantee that almost everyone will have these Nike silhouettes in mind. since The Sole supplier began, we’ve always been here to educate everyone about everything sneaker-related, so if you want to find out more about these trainers then make sure you read on!

Image via yankeekicks
History

Unbeknownst to many, the Jordan 1 was actually introduced in 1984 but was made exclusively for Michael Jordan for a few months. After being tried and tested by his Airness himself, it was eventually released to the public in April 1985. If you’re new to trainers you’d probably assume that the dunk is a pretty new shoe since it’s so hyped at the moment, but the dunk actually launched just four months after the AJ1 in August 1985.

You might be wondering to yourself, “Why would Nike introduce the dunk just moments after the Jordan?” While we may never know the exact reasoning behind this, it became clear early on that the Beaverton brand knew exactly what they were doing, as both lines became extremely popular in their own right. While MJ was showing off his new signature shoe in every colourway under the sun as long as it was black, red, and white, the legendary “Be true To Your School” dunk collection was also announced.

This was an absolutely genius marketing strategy from the Swoosh. They offered division I college basketball teams and their fans to get a shoe that was painted in their team’s colours. Striking deals with the university of Iowa, university of Kentucky, university of Michigan, Georgetown, St. John’s, UNLV and Syracuse, the dunk High became the official shoe of these teams. Doing this meant that Nike didn’t have to spend too much money in advertising their new silhouette as news of the collection spread around organically. soon after, fans were rocking their teams’ pair, and those who didn’t even like basketball had a bunch of cool colourways to purchase.

For b-ballers who wanted something a little more versatile, the Air Jordan 1 low and dunk low were introduced. rather than just cut the ankle off and call it a day, both silhouettes were fully redesigned from the ground up. This is also a huge reason why so many people ask are Nike Dunks Jordans. An easy way that you can easily tell the difference between the dunk High vs Jordan 1 is there’s a winged basketball logo stamped onto the lateral ankle of the latter. as for dunk low vs Jordan 1 Low, that same insignia is finely stitched around the heel. If you can’t find this then chances are you’re looking at a Dunk.

Image via hanzuying
Are Dunks part of Jordan Brand?

We already touched on this a little in the last section, but a question that we get asked a lot is “Are Dunks part of Jordan Brand?” The short answer is no, but we’ll dive deep into this very soon. just like the Air force 1, Air Max 90, blazer and so on and so on, the dunk falls in Nike’s core line of products. It doesn’t belong to any sub-category, unless we’re talking about the SB Dunk, of course.

In 2002, the Oregon footwear company’s skateboarding division made history with the Nike SB Dunk. After a period of trailing and testing, Nike SB general manager Sandy Bodecker gave the basketball shoe a half-pip ready makeover. There wasn’t any need for him to create a brand new silhouette from the ground up, since the community were already in love with the classic Dunk: “skaters wanted it so it would have been very difficult for Nike Skateboarding to launch with a different shoe in 2002.”

Unlike conventional Dunks, SB pairs featured ultra comfortable fat tongues, elastics straps, a new sockliner, a Poron foam bed, and a Zoom Air unit in the heel. The result was a sneaker that you could skate all day, everyday.

While Air Jordan 1s are part of Nike’s ever-growing product portfolio, they’re actually listed as a Jordan brand sneaker. designed for Nike by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore. the AJ1 would be followed by the Air Jordan 2 the following year, and then the Air Jordan 3 two years later. even today, Air Jordan are still launching brand new models on a pretty much annual basis, with the Air Jordan 36 making its grand debut in 2021.

Image via bored of Southsea
Nike dunk vs Air Jordan 1: What Are the key Differences?

So let’s get down to it. What are the key differences between the Jordan 1 and Dunk? one of the first things you need to keep an eye on are the eyelets. While both silhouettes have a total of nine, the latter’s ninth eyelets is placed above the ankle strap, while the former has the eighth and ninth eyelet both on the strap.

Speaking of which, the winged basketball brand is a massive give away here. As we mentioned before, whether it’s the Jordan 1 High, Mid, or Low, they all have this insignia somewhere around the collar and heel. If you’ve just bought a pair and they don’t have this, congratulations, you’ve just secured your first Dunk.

Generally speaking, Dunks and Jordans are both made predominantly from leather, but there are some very subtle differences with the panel design. first of all, the dunk has a roomier toebox, while the J1 boasts a more taped one. around the back, both Swooshes meet around the back, but the dunk High features its world-famous heel tab that measures about 1cm by 2cm. This is absent on the Js.

Flipping the shoes around, the dunk actually takes its outsole tread pattern from the Air Jordan 1, but it’s been tweaked ever so slightly to be a little narrower. It’s also worth noting that unlike the Jordan, the dunk doesn’t feature Air technology underfoot, that’s why they aren’t called the Air Dunk. with that said, they’re still crazy comfortable for all-day wear and you won’t hear any complaints from us.

Image via stean.ro
Conclusion

So are Dunks and Jordan 1s the same? absolutely not, but they certainly are pretty similar. While they are both high-top basketball shoes, there are some subtle differences between both models, including the slightly reworked panel situation and the lack of Air technology in Dunks. The differences can be particularly hard to spot when it comes to the low variant as you can’t see the whole shoe, but Mid Dunks are the only one to feature a midfoot strap around the ankle.

With all that said, both Air Jordan 1s and Dunks have crossed paths many times in the past. Colourways like the Nike SB x Air Jordan 1 low “Midnight Navy” and the Nike SB x Air Jordan 1 High Defiant “NYC To Paris” from 2019 both takes inspiration from the SB Dunk, while Virgil Abloh’s Off-White x Nike Air Rubber dunk collection from 2020 is equipped with Air tech, even though it’s not part of the SB or Air Jordan line.

So whether you’re searching for your first Nike Air Jordan 1 or you’re planning to add another Nike dunk to your collection, make sure you check out these telltale signs so you know exactly what you’re copping! For more articles relating to these two silhouettes, check them out below:

Air Jordan 1 size Guide
Nike dunk size Guide
The 25 best Air Jordan 1 Colourways of All Time
The 25 best Nike SB dunk Colourways of All Time
Why Are So many High heat Jordans just sitting on shelves in China?