©Nike

The 'Swooshed-up' Rick Owens Sneakers

Rick Owens is known for his personal style and the overall aesthetic he carries with him. Like, wherever he goes. Anything he creates just fits into his world as ‘Rick Owens’ and his hardcore army of collectors. However, seeing what he does now didn’t make him special enough to kind of ‘use’ what Nike is known for, the ‘swoosh(y)’ logo.

You may not even recognize it as a swoosh at first glance, but Nike certainly did…

The whole controversy behind the Rick Owens ‘dunk’ sneakers

What Owens did was try to create a pair of sneakers which weren’t on the same wavelength as the usual sneakers from that period of time, though he did wanted to use elements of those. Nike, Adidas, Puma, so basically, the staple brands from then. Anyway, he did his magic and came with the first iteration of the ever so beloved ‘Geobaskets’. In contradiction to the usual Nike sneakers, these were amazingly big and huge on- and off feet.

The Geobaskets were first showcased in his Fall/Winter 2006 ‘Dustulator’ collection. Where they were being seen on multiple models. And of course, they caught a lot of attention, mostly due to the fact that they were humongous, but also ‘the swoosh’ on the medial side of the shoes.

©Rick Owens

Sneakerheads and die-hard fans were pretty quick to point out that the ‘swoosh thingy’ looked very similar to the Nike swoosh. So they started calling them ‘Dunks’ referring to the good ol’ Nike Dunks. Nike was very quick to get a wind of this and got to action right away, sending Owens a cease and desist letter. However, neither Nike or Owens has confirmed that this is true. Though, Owens did say that he was ‘flattered to death’ and ‘Swooned’ over a potential lawsuit. Not short after, the production of the sneakers got shot down and none were being produced after, only a few pairs which Owens did for friends and family.

Nowadays, these ‘dunks’ go for prices up to $2000 or higher, depending on the material used on the upper. But still, Owens does still sell shoes which are a spittin image of the Dunks. The geobaskets are still included in every season, but they don’t feature a swoosh (obviously), they’ve got an inverted triangle instead on the medial side.