Nike SB and Polaroid team up to design an iconic sneaker, and inspire the next generation of creative skaters.
When two brands built on self-expression and inclusivity come together.
There is a unique symbiosis between photography and skateboarding. Both see the world a little differently. Benches and rails become opportunities. Cityscapes and architecture become canvases. Both are forms of self-expression and creativity that refuse to remain in a solid state: one evolves the other.
Photography reveals to a skateboarder a skateboarding world that lies beyond their hometown—to athletes who inspire them to go outside and ride. Skateboarding gives photographers the chance to capture pure self-expression, to showcase defiance, to champion those pushing skateboarding to its outer limits–like the new generation of skaters who are kicking down doors for inclusivity and acceptance, one picture at a time.
It’s in this spirit that Nike SB and Polaroid come together: two brands built on creativity, inclusivity, and self-expression.
Creating the Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Polaroid.
Partnering for the first time, Nike SB and Polaroid have created the Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Polaroid: a special edition skate shoe that fuses Polaroid’s iconic colorway and rainbow spectrum with the Nike Swoosh and Dunk’s iconic heritage.
“Collaborating with the Nike SB design team has been a dream come true. We built on each other’s experience and creativity to develop this iconic product connecting both of our brands’ heritage. The core idea behind the design is really about light interaction. We created a shoe that combines light and shadow, black and white, divided by this beautiful spectrum of color created by intersecting 3 basic colors from the Polaroid spectrum—red, blue and yellow.”
Linking up with legends.
To launch the skate shoe, Nike SB and Polaroid linked up with two skateboarders who perfectly embody the creative, inclusive mindset of both brands: Sarah Muerle, female photographer and Nike SB skateboarder, and Brian Anderson, the legendary, first openly-gay skateboarder and fellow Nike SB teammate.
Translation missing: en.As the first to try out the Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Polaroids, Anderson and Muerle took to the streets of Barcelona. Shredding their way through the iconic city, they captured their journey with a Polaroid camera, and discussed the communal collaboration to push boundaries and champion underrepresented communities in the skate scene
“Female photographers like Sarah are just so important because she is going to inspire so many other young women. Creativity is important and now it’s being reinforced more than ever.”
Championing underrepresented communities.
Before leaving Barca, Sarah and Brian teamed up with female & LGBTQ+ skate platform, Dolores Magazine, and Asiplanchaba, an all-female Skate crew at the forefront of Barcelona’s skate scene. Together, they hosted a workshop centered around skateboarding, creativity, and photography.
Translation missing: en.Armed with Polaroid Cameras, 10 young, diverse skateboarders went after it amidst the mazy neighborhoods of Barca, documenting ‘what skateboarding meant to them.’ Under Sarah and Brian’s guidance, and with each other’s help, the ‘boarders snapped trick and action shots—and their stills and portraits tell a story of a close-knit community where skateboarding unites them
“What I aim to capture through photography is the skate community, [to] widen that perspective, and show it through my eyes.”
It’s an honor to undertake this adventure with Nike SB. Both the co-designing of the Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Polaroid, and the collaboration with Sarah and Brian are great opportunities to flex our shared values of pushing culture, self-expression, and iconic design. It’s a flourishing partnership that is still young. One that is bound to kick on. So stay tuned.
The Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Polaroid is available from April 5th, exclusive to the SNKRS app and at selected skate stores.