The Rise and Fall of the Nike Roshe Run
Written by SOURCE on May 9, 2019
The Roshe remains available on Nike’s website, but Matt Powell, senior industry advisor for sports for the NPD Group, says sales of the line dropped “substantially” from 2017 to 2018. And the prices on StockX, for example, have slipped well below the sneaker’s original $70 price point, with many colorways going for as little as $35 in the most recent transactions.
“Once there ended up being millions of units in the marketplace and at every Finish Line and Foot Locker and Dick’s Sporting Goods,” Staley says, “it was just too late for it being cool anymore.”
Seeing the style on everyone—moms and dads were in the mix—“sullied the shoe,” says Schlossman, for discerning collectors and sneakerheads. “There is no denying that sneakerheads and those who care about fashion can be fickle and want to be ahead of the curve,” Schlossman says. “They want to stand out, and the idea of self-expression is hard when you are wearing a shoe everyone else has.”
Still, Schlossman says that, going back a decade, there wasn’t a lifestyle shoe that had the impact of the Roshe. “It truly felt like a shoe release able to capitalize on the mainstreaming of sneakerhead culture,” he says. “The Roshe is very special and specific in and of itself. Everyone loved that shoe during the early days: the style guys, sneakerheads, average guys, your dad. We haven’t seen since a shoe that truly everyone wanted that they could also get. That is a very rare, special thing Nike was able to tap into based on comfort, the cool, and availability.”
Not everything revolutionary is going to last forever. Sometimes a shoe comes, leaves an impact, and has to be retired to make room for new ideas or, in this case, new models.
Even though the Roshe has faded, Go has fond memories of the run and the first “grail colorway to drop,” the “Calypso.” He still owns two pairs.
