With the fifth and final season of Stranger Things finally landing next month, expect to see all manner of Hawkins-themed tie-in products rolling out. That includes a big new drop with Nike, whose last linkup with the cult Netflix series in 2019 generated plenty of legitimate hype. This time out, Stranger Things and the Swoosh are putting a retro-tinged spin on the beloved Dunk Low—a historically accurate choice, given that the model debuted in 1985, two years before this new season is set.
The Stranger Things Dunk is designed to look as though it was swiped straight from an ’80s-era archive. The creamy leather arrives cracked and aged. The navy blue Swoosh comes peeling at the edges. The cotton laces are already browned and worn-in. Even the rubber sole looks as though it’s lived a few decades, finished with faux mud splatters around the bottom. If you didn’t know any better, you could easily believe these were kicks from way back in the day, perhaps worn by someone running away from a Demogorgon.
Then you clock that Nike branding on the tongue tag and heel badge is flipped, ahem, upside down. The insoles, meanwhile, boast custom Stranger Things branding, and the special box suggests (slight spoiler alert?) that Vecna’s curse is no longer confined to small-town Indiana. That’s when it hits you: This isn’t just a great collab, it’s an extremely wearable one.
