The Nike Blazer
As one of the oldest models in Nike sneaker history, the Blazer is a well-loved, mid-cut silhouette that is worn for anything from skateboarding to casual streetwear. Despite its simplicity, it’s been featured in some of the most exciting collaborations of all time.
The Nike Blazer was originally created as a basketball sneaker in 1973, but over the years has become an icon in multiple sectors including skateboarding and even luxury. Created by plastering a Swoosh logo on a plain white high-top sneaker, it was loved for its simplicity and that it was one of the most technologically advanced sneakers for basketball at the time. It featured a leather upper, mesh nylon tongue and a vulcanised textured rubber sole.
Nike named the Blazer after its regional NBA team, the ‘Portland Trail Blazers’.
Nike first popularised the Blazer by getting NBA basketball star George ‘The Ice Man’ Gervin to debut the model. The player, known for his cool attitude on the court, both brought the shoe into the public eye and forever solidified Nike’s historical relationship with basketball. Nike also produced their first ever ‘player exclusive’ sneakers for Gervin, the ‘Iceman’ Blazers, which were never released to the public but hyped up the market for future exclusive drops.
In the early 90s, basketball players were beginning to leave behind hard vulcanised rubber-soled sneakers such as the Blazer, but luckily another group picked up the model. It was a popular sneaker choice for skaters because the rubber sole helped them stick to their skateboards, and the suede and leather uppers were hard-wearing and durable.
By the mid-00s, Nike had introduced the Nike SB Blazer just for skaters. Nike teamed up with Pro skater Lance Mountain to release the first model in 2005. The design featured a padded collar and insoles and Zoom Air cushioning technology.
But it was its collaborations that saw the sneaker reach new heights. Urban artist Futura 2000 created a customised version of the Blazer in 2003, releasing just 1,000 pairs, which brought the model back into the spotlight. In 2006, Supreme and Nike released three quilted Blazers in black, white and red, each with a snakeskin Swoosh and golden D-rings on the back. This was considered one of the greatest sneaker collabs of all time, and in 2016, Supreme teamed up with Nike again to release pink, beige and blue suede colorways on the GT Low silhouette of the Blazer.
In 2013 Comme Des Garçons also released a collab on the Blazer, as did Virgil Abloh’s Off-White in 2017, which only furthered the model’s popularity.
Upon release, Nike Blazers retail for around €100.
Generally, Nike Blazers fit true to size, however if you have wide feet you may want to size up half a size as the shoe is quite narrow.
