Nike SB is bringing back the shoe that started its whole signature program. The Paul Rodriguez Zoom Air Low "Ale Brown" (style IQ6827-200) lands on SNKRS today, Tuesday, October 13, at 10:00 AM ET for $125 in men's sizing, with select skate shops carrying it too.
Some context for anyone who got into skating after the iPad: the P-Rod 1 arrived in 2005 as Nike SB's first signature skate shoe, and it helped prove the Swoosh could actually belong in a skate shop. Twenty-one years later, it's back in one color from top to bottom. Brown suede covers the upper and keeps going onto the midsole, mesh hits the Swoosh and tongue, and a quilted heel adds the only real texture. The one break from the brown is inside: a red-and-black chainlink insole, like the shoe has a loud lining it only shows to friends.
The color isn't random. As Sneaker Bar Detroit and Gear Patrol both point out, it's a nod to Tom Penny's all-wheat éS Accel. P-Rod rode for éS before Nike and has never hidden how much Penny shaped him. So this is a skater tipping his cap to his hero on his own shoe, which is about as wholesome as skate culture gets.
Our take: wheat sneakers usually get handed to the Timberland crowd every fall, and this is the skate world's polite way of taking some back. A tonal suede low with a visible Zoom Air heel and a sole built for actual skating will wear well with baggy denim and look even better once it's scuffed up. If you're trying, have the SNKRS app open before 10.
The exact pair isn't in the ONENESS catalog. Shop the brand at ONENESS / Nike.
Photos: Nike, via Sneaker Bar Detroit and Nike SNKRS
Source: Nike SNKRS; Sneaker Bar Detroit; Gear Patrol.
