Creative “accidents” often bring the most pleasant surprises. Sometimes they become the most desirable sneakers. When designer Jeff Staple moved to a new address in early 2018, he showed off one of his first designs for the Nike SB Dunk “Black Pigeon” on Instagram. He used “test” colors for the shoe—black, white, and green—which he jokingly named “Panda.” But sneaker lovers around the world quickly began clamoring for him to see the idea through.
“I needed to unpack and organize everything, but instead I was scrolling through my Instagram memories and thinking about the culture because I had so many artifacts,” says Jeff Staple. “So I wrote a funny note saying I didn’t want a panda, I wanted a pigeon. That just set off another avalanche.” Staple didn’t think he’d even try to make a version of “Panda.” “We finished one shoe in November,” he explains. “I could easily make another one in ten years.”
But Staple changed his mind when he recalled the global premiere of the black SB Dunk “Pigeon.” At the time, he was very pleased with how quickly the sneaker community in China was growing, and he was quite excited about another tour sometime in the future, starting in his native China and ending in his hometown of New York. And since the panda is associated with China and the pigeon is associated with New York, the idea of the SB Dunk “Panda” suddenly made a lot of sense.
"The discarded sample was actually about 80 percent finished," Staple explains. "The SB Dunk 'Panda' is the first shoe in the 'Pigeon' line that doesn't have the dove pink. It's replaced with a bamboo green. We made a collage of newspaper clippings of the original and put them on the inside of the clear sole. The Swoosh logo is white on the outside and the original dove gray on the inside."
Other features include a green insole with a bamboo graphic, and the “SAMPLE” stamp inside, which is usually found on early releases, has been changed to “STAPLE / NOT FOR RESELL.” The shoes are sold in a classic pink box. The “Panda” Staple x Nike SB apparel will follow, available in unique colorways in select cities.
"I think this shoe is really popular with people," Staple says. "If the fans hadn't asked me to make it, I probably wouldn't have made it. I like that it was forced by the public vote."
The Panda Pigeon colorway, created in collaboration with Jeff Staple, is originally a discontinued sample. It’s the third official release of the Pigeon line and the fourth time the Pigeon style has appeared on an SB Dunk. The black and white silhouette is accented with a green bamboo graphic on the upper. Reflective elements and graphics on the outsole recall the headlines that accompanied the launch of the very first SB Pigeon. The “SAMPLE” stamp on the hem used on the early versions of the new shoes has been changed to “STAPLE.”
The Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Panda Pigeon shoes will be available in very limited quantities in our POPNAME store, and you will be kept informed about the conditions and method of sale here in the article.
9.1.2019 The official release is for skateshops on Saturday, January 12, 2019. Sales at our store will again be in the form of a RAFFLE, i.e. a drawing from registered registrations, which will be launched in this article and about which you will be informed in time on our Instagram. So follow it!
11.1.2019
1/ We are launching registration for the RAFFLE of Nike SB Dunk Low Pro Panda Pigeon shoes. Fill in the details required for the draw carefully on the link below. If you enter the wrong email or phone number, you risk non-delivery. Also check the other details and especially the size, which is in US numbering.
If you register multiple times with the same or very similar information, you risk being excluded from the draw.
One pair per person. NOT FOR RESELLERS! We check registrations and delete multiple entries to the same address or entries entered by a bot.
We have sizes US 7 to US 12 available. The price for the shoes is 2690 CZK or 105 EUR . Due to the very small quantity, we have allowed registration only for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Registration will close on January 11, 2019 at 6:00 PM.
Good Luck!
2/
Registration is closed, all registrations after 6:00 PM will be deleted.
We will contact the drawn winners by email and text message on Monday, January 14, 2019 to confirm receipt.
14.1.2019
The raffle is over. The pink boxes are starting to leave our store. We have been checking registrations all day today and have already sent all winners by email. So check all sections of the email address, because the email may end up in SPAM or BULLETIN. If the email has reached you, please reply and confirm receipt. Failure to confirm and subsequent failure to respond to phone contact = cancellation and draw of a substitute. No discussions... Please respect that the number of shoes was really small, and that it cannot reach everyone. Thank you all for participating, next time it will work out!
