Summary
- The first images of some new Donkey Kong-inspired sneakers have been revealed.
- Nike has created the DK Air Max 1s that will be a part of its Low Poly range.
- Despite the DK inspiration, there’s no indication that Nintendo had a hand in creating them.
Video game sneakers are all the rage right now with everyone from Sonic to Pokemon getting in on it. It would appear that Donkey Kong is up next with images of some new Air Max 1s having found their way online. However, even though the trainers look like they’ve been ripped right out of a next-gen Donkey Kong Country game, there’s no suggestion yet that Nike officially teamed up with Nintendo to create them.
Sneaker News appears to have been the first to spot and report on the Donkey Kong-inspired footwear, sharing images and hypothesizing that they’ll be available to buy sometime during the spring or summer – likely for around $150 according to Hypebeast. The Air Max 1s have reportedly been called Big Head Origins by Nike, so no mention of DK at all despite the clear inspiration for their design.
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The design is effectively a reskin of the Low Poly Air Max 1s Nike designed alongside Kai Cenat last year. Pre-orders for that original design have long since closed with shipments commencing on Air Max Day on March 26. The proximity of their DK-inspired follow-ups being revealed to that date makes it feel a lot like that might be the day they go up for pre-order, or at the very least the day they’re officially revealed.
Nike Has Created Air Max 1s Inspired By Donkey Kong Country
They’re A Follow-Up To Kai Cenat’s Low Poly Sneakers Released In 2024
The DK sneakers are mostly brown and cream, as you’d expect, with the brown parts given a rough texture to replicate the iconic gaming mascot’s fur. The low poly Nike swooshes are red and yellow as an homage to the color scheme in the titles for Donkey Kong Country games, and the tributes to the Nintendo ape just keep on coming.
The soles of the upcoming Air Max 1s are banana-yellow, and the in soles have two coin motifs embroidered into them, designed to look like the coins from Donkey Kong games but with DS on them instead of DK. No, that’s not a reference to Nintendo’s handheld consoles. It probably stands for Dot Swoosh.
All of these clear hat tips to Donkey Kong, yet there’s nothing on these sneakers that suggests Nintendo has had anything to do with this. No mention of Donkey Kong by name and no Nintendo logo on them anywhere. That strongly implies this is an unofficial crossover that Nintendo has nothing to do with, but also, Nintendo being okay with something this close to an IP it owns doesn’t feel like something that could have happened without Nike being given the okay.
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