The story behind the Nike ‘Philly’ Dunks, featuring a color-changing swoosh and plenty of local Easter eggs

The Nike Dunk Low “Philly” shoes unveiled to the sneaker community on Wednesday is not the official shoe of the Phillies, nor the Phillie Phanatic. Though second baseman Bryson Stott and the Phanatic played a large role in the release video posted by the team on social media, the work to bring the shoe’s design alive truly involved the city.

When Nike approached Lapstone & Hammer, one of two local streetwear and shoe stores involved in advising what best represents an authentic Philly shoe, owner and founder Brian Nadav wanted to make sure the national brand properly told the story of native Philadelphians — one that doesn’t rely on the Liberty Bell and cheesesteaks. He also dissuaded the global brand from going with predictable red, white, and blue colors for the shoe, as it did for the Kobe 4 Protro “Philly” design that was released in April.

Instead, Nadav took Nike around the city — from Fishtown to West Philly to South Philly, and everywhere in between — to talk with native Philadelphians of various backgrounds.

Nike spent three days in the city to gather inspiration for the shoe design.

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“Really, this was about Nike wanting to learn about Philly, and at the end of their time in Philly, what they really learned was this is the city of neighborhoods; this is a city of murals,” Nadav told The Inquirer. “They learned that this was a city of tough love, that people are hardworking. There is grit; there is construction all over the city. What we talked about through the shoe is about storytelling and design, but told through the lens of sneaker design.”

Nadav, a Temple graduate who opened Lapstone & Hammer in 2015, says every detail ties back to the city, from the base color down to the multicolor interior of the shoe.

The gray cracked leather on the front of the shoe and on the Nike swoosh represents the concrete of the city. One of the swooshes on the shoe has a material that changes color as it wears down to represent “the hard outer shell that some Philadelphians might have. But when you get to know us when you get to see our true colors on the inside. We are bright; we are vibrant,” Nadav said.

The inside sock line of the shoe is a map of the city of Philadelphia, featuring “little Easter eggs” and iconic city symbols (like the Art Museum). The eye-catching color variety symbolizes the city murals and art scene that are embedded in the local culture. The green shoelaces with yellow tips represent the street signs and the roads that connect the surrounding neighborhoods, and the white lettering on the laces are the coordinates of City Hall.

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“These mixed materials represent the diversity of Philly, but they also represent something that we want to see textured. We are so layered and we are so textured here, you know, so we also wanted it to feel really premium,” Nadav said. “The leathers that were used are really elevated in premium soft tumbled leather; I mentioned the cracked leather on the swoosh, the rusty suede that wraps the toe box … we [at Lapstone] are rooted in footwear, but we wanted to take it from a different perspective. It starts with community and it ends with community, and, for us, sneakers [are] a vehicle.

“Our team gave them feedback from real Philadelphians on what they wanted to see in a Philly sneaker and what that was. It was about the City of Brotherly Love, the city of neighborhoods, the city of tough love … the mentality that we have here, this underdog story.”

Though Nike took the reins in designing the shoes, the influences of the city are apparent through Nadav and Lapstone & Hammer’s consultation, coupled with the exclusivity of shoe initially being sold only in Philly. The shoes will hit select stores, including Lapstone & Hammer and Creme, which also aided Nike in this venture, on Thursday, with a retail price of $135. Sizes 6-15 will be the first available, but Nadav says children’s sizes 3½-6 will be arriving as soon as June 10.

Nike and SNKRS, its platform for shoe releases, will not include the “Philly” Dunks in its app until June 17, giving local stores like Lapstone & Hammer, Creme, and the Phillies team store at Citizens Bank Park (which will sell the shoes beginning June 1) a few weeks of direct sales.

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“It’s a blessing,” Nadav said. “It’s an honor to work with a brand like Nike and to help create something that I think is going to turn out to be a true grail. A really sought-after grail because these are super limited, and they’re not going to be in the big box stores or Foot Locker.

“The fact that we were able to keep this under wraps up until [three] days ago, that’s an absolute achievement in modern sneakers.”