Nike Is Taking the ‘Panda’ Dunk to Another Level in Celebration of the Shoe’s 40th Anniversary
“Panda” is the unofficial nickname given to white and black Dunks, the most ubiquitous of all the shoe’s colorways in its current run. In celebration of the model’s 40th anniversary, Nike will soon acknowledge the moniker in a way it never has before.
A new take on the Nike Dunk Low SE “Panda” renders its overlays in patent leather. It’s a new material treatment for the staple colorway, but the best detail of all is hidden away inside, as a panda’s head is debossed into the inner tongue tag. “Est. 1985” appears directly beneath on a hangtag, calling back to the debut of one of Nike’s most iconic silhouettes.
The new patent “Panda” was leaked through in-hand images from the Instagram user @fallinlovesnkr, a lesser-known leaker but one who’s nonetheless proven accurate a number of times. Their images suggest the patent leather has some degree of faux-aging, although that could be a consequence of amateur photography. What is clear, however, is that the laces go back and forth between black and white, and the usual color-blocking includes the standard leather base in white.
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Prior to the proliferation of white and black Dunk Lows and Dunk Highs in this decade, the “Panda” nickname was given to a hairy Dunk High premium in 2008 and the similarly fuzzy children’s-exclusive Dunk Low “Ueno” from 2015. The latter shoe was named for the Japanese zoo that was home to the famous giant panda Ling Ling and saw the addition of “Ueno” to the tongue tag and an insole depicting the map of the city.
Being hostile to the mass adoption of the “Panda Dunks,” sneakerheads now generally refer to the colorway as cooked. But the emergence of a new twist on the variant may prove there’s still some life left for white and black dunks.
The Nike Dunk Low SE “Panda” will release in August, likely through the Snkrs app and select third-party retailers. Pricing is set at $125.
