- published: 24 May 2016
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Nike Skateboarding, also known as Nike SB, is the Nike brand for its line of shoes, clothing, and equipment for skateboarding.
In 1997, Nike produced their own line of skate shoes, but were unable to sell to many specialist skate shops as the market was already strongly in favour of companies such as DC, Globe and Vans and Nike wasn't associated as a skateboarding brand among a skateboarding community; heavily influenced by branding.
In 2002, Nike came out with the SB brand. Nike SB Dunk Lows were released, with padded tongues and collars with the "Zoom Air" insoles and were more similar to their competitor's styles than their previous attempts. After the SB Dunk's mediocre sales, they released four other models: The Nike SB Angus, Nike SB FC, Nike SB Delta Force and Nike SB URL.
In 2004, Nike SB signed Paul Rodriguez as a figurehead to the brand. In March of that year, Nike released the Nike Dunk SB collection, due to the increased popularity of skateboarding in California. Differing from the old SB Dunk range in that there were a variety of changes made, designed specifically for skateboarding. The collection included increased padding and Zoom Air insoles. Due to the function of skateboarding shoes the material quality was increased, including triple stitching which is the standard for shoes designed for skateboarding due to their intense wearing.