Shox

A new type of cushioning

In the early 1980s, Nike’s Air cushioning technology was taking off. Having originally been introduced on the brand’s running shoes in the late 70s, it was then added to a wide range of models from basketball trainers to lifestyle sneakers. However, Nike is always innovating, and it wasn’t long before its designers began working on a new form of cushioning. While Air was based on soft, pillowy cushions filled with inert gas, this support system was more mechanical in nature. As such, it presented an entirely different set of challenges for its design team. Once these were solved, however, the ambitious project brought about a unique type of shoe the likes of which had never been seen before. Expanding into a collection of offbeat designs all under the umbrella of Nike Shox, it changed the sneaker scene and continues to make waves in the culture to this day.

Discovering a relic

Decades later, in 2023, a group of curators led by the renowned Glenn Adamson was given exclusive access to the Department of Nike Archives. This rare privilege was granted so that the team could find items to display in an exhibition due to open at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany in 2025. In the course of their search, alongside prototypes and unreleased designs, they discovered a weird-looking contraption. Composed of a large metal frame with a shoe at its centre, it had large springs set over the forefoot and behind the heel, and at first glance, it was hard to imagine what its purpose could have been. It had, in fact, been put together to investigate how using springs would affect the movement and cushioning of a shoe. This experimental device was a relic from the earliest moments of the Nike Shox project and perfectly summed up the out-of-the-box thinking that characterised it.

A complex challenge

The presence of such a specialised piece of equipment in the Nike archives shows just how difficult it was to design an effective mechanical cushioning system, which is perhaps why the development process took so long. Beginning in 1984, the Shox project was led by designer Bruce Kilgore, who had just created one of the brand’s most iconic silhouettes in the Air Force 1. Kilgore’s team observed sprinters running on the bouncy polyurethane track at Harvard University for inspiration and proceeded to undertake a number of biomechanical tests to see whether they could harness the material to produce the same sort of responsiveness in a shoe. At the time, Air Max had not yet been invented, and Shox cushioning was set to be the stunning follow-up to Nike Air, but the designers struggled to find a formula that worked.

The search for energy return

Over the next decade, the team’s experiments continued as they attempted to build a cushioning system that could give great energy return – something that no shoe brand had achieved at the time. In fact, in the late 1980s, the New York Times reported that the concept of energy return was “extraordinarily complex” and “poorly understood”, questioning the claims of the world’s shoe companies that it was even possible. Nevertheless, Nike’s designers continued their work and applied all sorts of techniques in their search for an energy-returning shoe. They even attempted to add steel leaf springs, which were traditionally used in vehicle suspension, to the midsole, but a usable product continued to evade them, and yet more years passed without a solution. In the meantime, Air Max became a global success and Nike developed the responsive, energy-returning Zoom Air cushioning system. Eventually, though, with contributions from top designers such as Sergio Lozano – the mind behind the Air Max 95 – and thanks to contemporary techniques for foam production, the team managed to create a workable prototype. It was now 1997.

The Shox Pillars

Having finally perfected the Shox sole unit, Nike’s designers took another three years to come up with the first silhouette to contain it. Released in 2000, this revolutionary model was called the Nike Shox R4; a name that gave an insight into the design of the shoe. The R stood for running, which was appropriate given that Nike had long been at the forefront of athletic footwear technology, while the 4 represented the construction of the new cushioning, which consisted of four columns known as Shox Pillars or ‘pucks’. Positioned below the heel, each Pillar was a hollow tube made from a special type of polyurethane foam whose elastic properties allowed it to absorb the impact of the foot hitting the floor by compressing under its weight before springing back and returning energy to the wearer as it lifted up again. The four columns were held in place between a pair of TPU plates located beneath the heel, one above them and the other below, with small indentations at the centre to ensure that each Pillar pressed inwards rather than outwards and would thus achieve the spring-like energy return they were designed to provide. This helped to stabilise the whole Shox structure, while traditional Phylon foam filled the rest of the midsole to deliver comfortable support all the way to the toe.

The Shox BB4

Not long after the release of the R4, Nike launched its second mechanically cushioned shoe in the form of the Shox BB4. It was designed by Eric Avar, who had come up with some of Nike’s most successful basketball trainers of the 90s, from classic signature models like the Air Max Penny to the highly innovative Air Foamposite One. Avar aimed to give each of his designs “one bold, iconic expression”, stating that it was also possible to “get away with two”. On the Shox BB4, he only needed one as he sought to make Shox cushioning the focal point of the model by decorating the columns in vivid tones such as Lapis and University Red.

A technologically advanced design

Along with its brightly coloured Pillars, Avar packed the Shox BB4 with high-tech features to optimise it for the high-intensity sport of basketball. A detailed design sheet from the time revealed some of these, including its forefoot outriggers, which prevented rolling of the foot, its moulded synthetic leather upper, which had an “internalized medial side anti-inversion stability structure”, and its herringbone outsole, which was made of durable rubber and provided maximum traction. Interestingly, it described the new cushioning as an “Exposed Phase heel Air-Sole unit”, perhaps wanting to associate it with the Air technology that had made the brand so successful, after all, each of the tubes had air in its hollowed-out centre. To accompany this heel unit, the BB4 had an articulated Zoom Air unit in the forefoot, meaning that it contained two of the springiest midsole technologies around. This allowed Nike to state in the same piece that it was “the future of high-performance, cutting edge, innovatie basketball footwear” and was “engineered to propel the game’s best to the highest level of explosiveness, ride, and quickness.”

A futuristic aesthetic

The R4 and the BB4 garnered much attention when they first came out, not least because of their futuristic aesthetic, which appealed to the sentiments of the time. A new millennium had just begun, and there was a strong desire for products that seemed as if they were from the future. The Shox Pillars certainly had that look about them, but the sleek moulded upper of both the R4 and BB4 also fit into this trend. This was no accident as the designers behind each shoe had used space suits and other space-age equipment for inspiration. Alongside the specially designed Nike Shox logo, both the R4 and the BB4 also carried the subtle five-spot logo of Nike’s visionary Alpha Project, which had been launched at the very start of 1999 and aimed to help athletes improve their performance through expertly crafted apparel. In itself, this gave the shoe a science fiction feel, as did the glossy synthetic materials and metallic tones, the flowing lines and perforations, the reflective accents and the elements of gentle iridescence. On top of this, the heel columns had the appearance of space rocket engines, so the entire design seemed like a piece of technology that had been brought back from the future.

An incredible sporting moment

This combination of cutting-edge performance technology and distinctive looks saw the first Shox shoes develop a strong initial following. However, it was the BB4 that really took off thanks to a sporting moment that is as jaw-dropping to watch today as it was back then. It occurred at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney as the United States men’s basketball team went for their 12th gold medal in the history of the event. Having already beaten China, Italy, Lithuania and New Zealand, the USA turned up to The Dome in Sydney on 25th September to play their last group game against France. The match was into its second half, and the United States had already built up a strong lead of 15 points, when team captain Gary Payton pushed towards the hoop only to see his shot fall short. As the ball rebounded and the French team looked to come away with it, Vince Carter charged in from nowhere to pick up the play. Carter had risen to prominence in the two previous NBA seasons, first by winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1999 and then with one of the most legendary performances in the history of the Slam Dunk Contest in 2000, which he won in extraordinary style after a series of jaw-dropping dunks. What he did next, though, surpassed any of these previous achievements. He powered over the three-point line on his way towards the hoop only to encounter the tallest man on the court, the 7ft 2in Frenchman Frédéric Weis. Without stopping, he continued on, using his new Shox trainers to leap high over the head of the giant defender and slamming the ball down into the net.

Le dunk de la mort

A famous image that captured Carter’s unbelievable dunk depicts the player hanging in the air over a stunned Weis, a pair of slick white and dark navy Shox BB4s on his feet and the ball held in one hand as he swings it towards the net. In the background, his teammates Gary Payton and Kevin Garnett can be seen looking on in awe, the latter with his mouth open in amazement. The United States went on to win the game comfortably and beat France again a week later to take the gold medal, but Carter’s astounding dunk was perhaps the most memorable moment of the tournament, giving great exposure to the BB4. Amongst the French media, the shot came to be known as “le dunk de la mort” or “The Dunk of Death”, and back in the United States it went down in history as one of the most iconic examples of ‘posterization’ – the act of a player doing something so remarkable that it could appear on a poster.

The beginning of a prosperous partnership

For Weis, The Dunk of Death was a chastening moment, but he took it well, and when he was interviewed by ESPN on the event’s 15th anniversary, he was magnanimous, saying that Carter “deserves to make history”. He also stated that September 25th, 2000, was the day he “learned people can fly”. Meanwhile, for Carter, it was a career-defining moment that marked the beginning of a long-term partnership with Nike and one which was incredibly important to him after he had reneged on his 10-year contract with Puma earlier that year. From then on, Shox models were often used as his signature shoes, and he appeared alongside teammate Gary Payton in a series of tongue-in-cheek commercials that showed off the springiness of the Shox support system. Taking advantage of Carter’s extraordinary Olympic dunk, which itself had been the perfect advert for the technology, Nike produced a marketing campaign based largely around a single noise: the ‘boing’ of the Shox Pillars. The sound could be heard throughout the TV ads, which showed Carter jumping over people to make a slam dunk, and the word appeared as the only text on posters promoting the Shox.

The Shox VC 1

In 2001, off the back of this catchy campaign, Carter’s first signature shoe, the Shox VC 1, was released. Created by then Design Director of Nike Basketball, Aaron Cooper, who had established himself as a strong creative voice within the division after joining as a Senior Designer in 1994, it was supposed to feature full-length Shox cushioning, but the engineers could not construct a workable product in time for the intended release. As a result, it had four Shox Pillars in the heel, just like the BB4, while its innovative upper comprised a tight-fitting mesh bootie enclosed in a layer of Foamposite. This combination of a durable, aerodynamic outer, a sock-like inner and a springy sole unit enabled Carter to move with more speed, flight and bounce than ever before. Meanwhile, its minimal outer was accented with both the Nike Shox logo and the five spots of the Alpha Project, and it was secured using a new barrel lace-lock system developed by Cooper and subsequently patented by Nike.

Expanding the Shox series

In the same year as the VC 1 was released, Nike also iterated on its Shox running line, firstly with the R4+, which had a mesh upper and a zippered fastening system, and then through a model called the Shox NZ. A dedicated Shox training shoe known as the XT was also created, adding a further three Shox Pillars in a row below the midfoot for a total of seven supportive columns. In 2002, Shox technology made its way onto a baseball shoe, being applied to the signature line of All-Star player Ken Griffey, whose previous footwear had always featured Air Max cushioning. However, the most innovative silhouettes were once again those created by Nike Basketball, whose designers finally managed to extend Shox cushioning along the full length of the sole on the Shox VC 2. The suave, elegant look of the VC 2 was based on a Bentley, and its avant-garde design influenced Andy Caine to join the brand. He would later remark that the shoe was “complex and simple all at once” and eventually went on to become Nike’s VP of Footwear Design.

A spring in his step

To show off the energy-returning bounce of Carter’s second signature shoe, Nike produced another light-hearted commercial starring the Toronto Raptors player. In it, he dances along a street with a spring in his step, energetically jumping into a tree to rescue a lady’s cat before apprehending a thief, dancing with a woman in the road and performing a series of acrobatic moves. At the end, he passes through a door marked “Raptors Basketball” before tearing off his purple suit to reveal that he is wearing his basketball kit underneath and running onto the court to play a match. Like the earlier adverts, this emphasised the performance abilities of Nike’s Shox basketball trainers, which were now being worn by several NBA players, including All-Star Jason Kidd, who had starred alongside Carter in the 2000 Olympics.

The Shox Stunner

It wasn’t just the VC models that were popular, though: another Cooper-conceived design known as the Shox Stunner was considered to be one of the best Shox basketball shoes. This highly advanced trainer came about after Cooper and fellow designer Eric Avar chose to honour departing colleague David Bond with a special shoe dedicated to the creative influence he had had on Nike Basketball during over ten years working in the division. To make it, they compiled a collection of high-performance features from some of the brand’s most influential silhouettes of the late 90s and early 2000s, such as the Nike Air Penny IV, the Air Flightposite, the Air Kukini and the Air Presto. Instead of choosing to give the Stunner an Air sole unit, like all of those other designs, Cooper and Avar decided to distinguish it with Shox cushioning, thus demonstrating how revered the technology was at the time.

An influential shoe

On its release, the Stunner became incredibly popular, being worn by notable NBA All-Stars like Tim Hardaway and Baron Davis, WNBA All-Star Sue Bird and the entire lineup of the Maryland Terrapins, who provided another great advert for Shox technology as they won the team’s first ever NCAA tournament while wearing the shoe in 2002. Cooper’s intelligent design also came with a rubber wristband that became highly sought-after in its own right and ended up influencing the hugely successful Livestrong Foundation armband, which itself started a global craze for this type of accessory.

The rise and fall of Shox cushioning

Nike’s Shox trainers continued to be popular into the mid 2000s, when the series was expanded with yet more Vince Carter models. This culminated in the 2006 Shox VC 5, while other new designs included the Shox TL, whose name was based on the ‘total’ Shox coverage provided by the twelve columns along the length of its sole. The world of tennis also got a Shox design when Serena Williams wore the Shox Glamour at Flushing Meadows in 2004, while the chunky Shox Bomber was released in 2005 as yet another basketball model, this one sported by Indiana Pacers star Jermaine O’Neal. Meanwhile, Shox shoes appeared in popular culture as Hugh Laurie often wore them while playing cynical genius Dr. Gregory House in the character’s highly rated TV series. Then, in 2006, the technology was embroiled in controversy when Nike suggested that rival footwear company adidas had copied some components of the Shox sole to make its own a3 cushioning. A patent infringement lawsuit was filed against adidas, with the matter eventually being settled outside the courts in 2007. However, by this point, the argument was moot as Shox had somehow lost its appeal, and the technology fell out of the mainstream.

An underground following

After 2006, Shox shoes were nowhere near as popular as they had been before, and Nike’s designers stopped using the mechanical cushioning on new sneaker designs. Some suggested that this was due to its unconventional look, while others argued that the cushioning was not as springy or as comfortable as the brand suggested. Whatever the reason, Shox dropped off the radar for a long time, only retaining a following in various subcultures across Europe, where it was worn by certain groups of football fans. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom it became an important part of the underground grime scene, where the bold, distinctive look of the Shox Pillars made a strong fashion statement and allowed members of the subculture to build an identity that connected them to one another. As a result, a certain street-cred became attached to models like the Shox R4, which provided a rebellious alternative to mainstream fashion trends even as it was forgotten by the majority of sneaker fans.

A quiet period

Throughout the 2010s, small glimmers of the Shox could be seen with several NZ colourways coming out around 2014 and 2015 alongside a black and gold Shox TLX Mid, but these failed to gain much traction. The brand even experimented with more radical designs, including the unreleased Air Force 1 Shox, which ended up being bought by a former Nike employee in an online auction. In 2018, Nike made a more concerted effort to revamp the technology via a new model called the Shox Gravity. Its updated aesthetic featured smooth cylindrical columns in a frame below the heel, bringing a new Shox look that was reminiscent of a 1991 prototype from Kilgore’s development phase. This was then combined with cutting-edge Nike technologies such as Flyknit and Flywire to make the shoe more durable and comfortable.

Returning to the limelight

The Gravity achieved some success, but it was the stunning 2019 collaboration with Comme des Garçons that really thrust Shox back into the limelight. Taking advantage of the trend for bulky Y2K runners that occurred in the late 2010s, CdG teamed up with Nike to create two super-chunky versions of the 2003 Shox TL. These had an even more eccentric look than the original, with roughly cut mesh uppers, rebellious detailing and dazzling Comme des Garçons chains wrapping around the midfoot. This eye-catching design perfectly matched the out-there appearance of the full-length Shox cushioning underfoot and was a great way to reintroduce the heritage technology into sneaker culture.

Honouring the grime scene

Alongside the CdG x Shox sneakers, Nike chose to honour the historical connection between Shox and the United Kingdom’s grime scene by working with British-Nigerian rapper and record producer Skepta. A prominent grime MC throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Skepta chose the TL model because he “used to see all the kids rocking Shox” when he would travel to northwest England and wanted to celebrate what to him was “a real street shoe”. His design featured elements that paid homage to his Nigerian heritage, including a powerful lion print on the insole. This striking motif was inspired by the Isiagu clothing of the Igbo people of Nigeria, which symbolises power, authority and pride. Skepta was made a Nigerian chief in April 2018, so his Shox TL was made to honour this fact as well as his family’s roots while also connecting the country to the rest of the world using the power of culture.

The comeback begins

These two memorable collaborations provided a new foundation upon which Nike could build a collection of Shox sneakers for the next generation. The R4, the BB4 and the TL were all reintroduced, along with women’s exclusives such as the Enigma and the Nova. This encouraged Vince Carter, who was now playing out the final two seasons of his magnificent NBA career with the Atlanta Hawks, to take to the court in Shox trainers once more. In 2019, Nike even produced three editions of the TL with Brazilian footballer Neymar, while Canadian rapper Drake was also spotted wearing a pair of R4s during his 2019 Assassination Vacation Tour as the Shox comeback began to pick up speed.

Fashionable collaborations

In 2020, there was a proliferation of Shox colourways, and after a quiet 2021, another collaborative surge in 2022 saw long-time Nike partner Supreme design two versions of an early Shox silhouette known as the Ride 2. These white and red sneakers embodied the retro look of the Y2K runner with their mix of mesh and flowing leather overlays atop a chunky midsole, and, like most Supreme x Nike collaborations, they proved to be very popular. Around the same time, British designer Martine Rose showed off her unique take on the line as part of her Spring 2023 collection during London Fashion Week in June 2022. Playing on her favoured mule shoe style, Rose opened up the heel of her design, known as the Shox Mule MR4, and raised the height of the Shox columns to give it more of a platform feel. Meanwhile, elegant embroidery and subtle branding decorated the upper for a sophisticated look that brought the design widespread acclaim in the fashion world and led to the release of another three vibrant colourways in 2023.

A new era for Shox technology

Having failed to grab the attention of sneaker fans or casual wearers throughout most of the 2010s, Shox shoes finally returned to prominence in the early 2020s, beginning a new era of prosperity for the decades-old cushioning technology. Building on the popular collaborations of 2022 and 2023, Nike refocused its efforts on the classic Shox designs, with a retro version of the OG R4 released in 2024 alongside a host of new colourways and yet more Shox TLs, which had been a staple part of the revamped Shox line since 2019. On top of this, the Shox Ride 2 was brought back for the first time as a general release following its success as a collaborative sneaker two years before. With all the hype of the previous few years, these releases were a big success, and the radical sneakers permeated the culture, appearing on the feet of celebrities like hip hop star Kendrick Lamar, who surprised everyone when he showed up to The Pop Out: Ken and Friends concert in the original White and Comet Red colourway of the R4. A frenzy of social media activity ensued as his fans went online to debate the influential musician’s unconventional choice of sneakers, and suddenly everyone was talking about the Shox again.

A technology ahead of its time

Events like this demonstrate just how enigmatic Nike’s Shox cushioning system is and has always been, as more than twenty years after it first came out, it continues to captivate sneaker enthusiasts around the world. Although the technology was initially conceived as an alternative and perhaps a successor to Nike Air, it is the unique aesthetic of the distinctive Shox Pillars that has drawn it the most fans. This is also what keeps Shox relevant, even in the presence of more lightweight energy-returning foams like Nike React. Despite the existence of such advanced cushioning systems, Shox silhouettes have found a place for themselves in modern sneaker culture, both amongst those who remember them fondly from the Vince Carter years and within the new community of fans who adore their bold designs. Even at the beginning of the millennium these shoes were way ahead of their time, but they still manage to evoke the same feeling today with their futuristic style and their springy soles.