Everything About Nike Moon Shoes 

The Moon Shoes – which can be truly called a sneaker antique or relic – is Nike‘s first kickstart to where it is standing right now. It is one of Nike’s rarest sneakers – only a dozen (12 pairs) was produced, out of which there is only one pair remaining and it was bought at an auction for a profuse amount of $437,500, bagging a world record.

Bill Bowerman, one of the co-founders of Nike, created the Waffle sole, which has turned out to be Nike’s first innovation to greatness. The Waffle soles were made out of Bowerman’s wife’s waffle iron and the first shoe to use waffle soles were the ‘Moon Shoes’.

The Olympics of 1972 saw the debut of the ‘Moon Shoes’. The Waffle Soles’ marks on the track resembled the footsteps that astronauts made on the Moon, and that’s how ‘The Waffle shoe’ became ‘The Moon Shoe’.

‘Irreverence Justified’ – also known as the Nike Bible, features ‘The Moon shoe’ in page number 1 – that’s how much the Nike universe values the shoe. It can be referred to as ‘ Innovation Zero ‘ as this was the start of something huge. The shoes were hand cobbled for perfection. It is truly a masterpiece.

Nike describes the ‘Moon Shoes’ as, “Buoyed by the successful reaction to Nike shoes at the NSGA trade show, BRS seized the upcoming US Track & Field Olympic Trials in Eugene as a platform to spread the word about Nike. Nylon footwear uppers were air-freighted from Japan. Bowerman’s waffle outsoles were hand-cut from rolls of rubber sheets made in Eugene. Geoff Hollister glued them together and then gave them to a dozen or so competitors to wear for training or on the infield at Hayward Field. The hand-cobbled footwear quickly picked up the nickname “Moon Shoe” because the waffle-marked footprints they left in the dirt were reminiscent of those being left on the moon around the same time by the Apollo astronauts. Those early prototypes were crude, but runners liked the feel and traction of the waffle sole, which would lead to the development of the iconic Nike Waffle Trainer in 1974.”

The “Moon Shoe” is a vintage pair that has earned its place in history as a result. Despite its outward look, the tale behind it demonstrates how priceless it is and makes it all the more fascinating.

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