With today’s official unveiling of the Supreme x Nike SB Air Darwin Low collaboration, I thought it would be fun to take a quick visual look at the history of the shoe in skateboarding, and basketball, too. 

Anybody who is already familiar with the Nike Air Darwin from 1994 likely knows two things about the shoe: 

1. It was worn by Dennis Rodman in the NBA.
2. It was the first Nike shoe with a “backwards” Swoosh.

What far less people know about the Air Darwin is that it also originally came in a low-top, and in addition to Rodman and other basketball players, some mid-90s skateboarders wore it.

We’ll get to the Darwin in skateboarding in a minute, but first let’s trace the model’s history in basketball. Of course, we have to start with The Worm.

The Air Darwin was not officially a Dennis Rodman signature shoe, but as he alludes to in this spot from the classic “Nike Barbershop” commercial series, it was “his” shoe and he complains that they didn’t put his name on it. I always loved his line, “Air Darwin? They should at least paint the bottom blonde or something.” Now there’s a good idea for a retro colorway, Nike.

The Darwin was a bulky, rugged, built-to-last hoops shoe that definitely seems like a descendant of the Air Raid and other Nike outdoors basketball models, more ideal for blacktop hoops than the hardwood. But Rodman and a few other pros made them work. Like Kendall Gill.

And I don’t know if he ever wore them on the court, but here’s a print ad for the Darwin with Harold Miner. I actually own a deadstock vintage pair of this awesome black-and-white colorway, although last time I checked them the foam was finally starting to turn to dust.

When I was a kid, I remember the Air Darwin Low being in Eastbay in the lifestyle sneakers section, in a few colorways constructed in canvas. (Which makes me question why in Supreme’s press release it says “Supreme and Nike SB have reinterpreted the Darwin with a canvas upper.” Can you reinterpret something if it already existed that way? Or perhaps they just meant that it’s been reinterpreted as a skate shoe.)

The Darwin Low also released in leather constructions, ostensibly as a performance basketball shoe as opposed to the lifestyle/casual canvas edition. That version was worn on the NBA court, as evidenced by these James Robinson and Chuck Person cards.

Fast forward to April 2024, and Supreme and Nike SB are dropping four new colorways of the Darwin Low. Why would they make a skateboarding version of an old basketball shoe? Because skaters already wore them in the ‘90s as a skate shoe, that’s why.

Now the Darwin Low wasn’t exactly the hottest skate shoe ever in the mid ‘90s, but its rugged build was appealing to some skaters, like Philadelphia legend Stevie Williams.

Image via @scienceversuslife on IG

And Billy Valdes from the iconic Menace team can also be seen be wearing a pair in this photo shoot. (Also shouts out to Fabian Alomar and Joey Suriel in the Air Jordan 10 and Air Jordan 9, respectively.)

All this to say that the Supreme x Nike SB Air Darwin Low collaboration isn’t just some random shit out of nowhere. The shoe has an actual history in skateboarding. Now the kids from the Rat Ratz crew in Milan, Italy (and Violet’s Troy Gipson and Seven Strong) are putting a new document in the Darwin’s skate history with Supreme’s promo video for the collaboration. Will you skate a pair, too?