How can Nike be so bad at designing Philly City Connect jerseys, but so good at designing Philly-inspired Dunks? Probably because they had Lapstone & Hammer (owned by a Temple grad btw) and real Philly people consult them on the collab via L&H’s website:

The ball got rolling on this special release when Nike reached out and said they wanted to design a Dunk inspired by Philadelphia, a real “For Philly, By Philly” concept that would deliver something beyond just the Liberty Bell and cheesesteak iconography that is usually used to represent the city. Members of Nike’s creative team came down to the city and were treated to a guided tour led by the unofficial mayor of Philadelphia Brian Nadav, exploring all of the different neighborhoods and low key local landmarks.

The culmination of the tour was a focus group comprised of local Philadelphia artists, musicians, designers, business owners and other influential residents who expressed what the city means to them, what gets overlooked or is unknown about the city and its culture, how they would like to see Philly’s image projected to the outside world, what they like and don’t like about past Philly-centric design concepts and the way the city is currently perceived. The ultimate goal was to bring everyone together as visionaries to bring Philadelphia’s rich cultural tapestry to life using the sneakers as a canvas.

 

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They retail for $135.

The detail that went into these might be worth that alone. The coolest feature has to be when the Nike swoosh wears away there’s color underneath that reveals itself:

@stevenatto

Nike’s Philly Dunk has Secret Layers👀 Thank you to Lapstone & Hammer for sending these over!

♬ original sound – Steve Natto

Finally something made for Philly that doesn’t have a cheesesteak or the liberty bell on it and painted red, white, and blue. Don’t get me wrong, I love all that about Philly, but it’s played out. It would be like putting the Statue of Liberty on a shoe designed in New York. Everyone knows we have cheesesteaks and the Liberty Bell. Not everyone knows about the city’s amazing different neighborhoods and the ton of murals we have around the city.

“Where’s the teenager in a shiesty shooting someone?” the Suburban patriot scared to ride the R5 exclaims.


These released Thursday and the line at Lapstone & Hammer was wrapped around the block while people started queuing up at 8 p.m. the night before. Probably because this is the only time Nike has ever done a release for a Philly-inspired shoe exclusively sold in Philly:

All the biggest teams in this city turned out to get them: