Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Fashion & Style

Homegrown Dunk Highs for the discerning sneakerhead

Brad Bourque
By

Comfort, style, durability – of all the elements the classic Nike Dunk is known for, high-quality materials isn’t one of them. But the newest offering isn’t a straight-down-the-middle Dunk, and it’s worth exploring Nike’s complicated code system to find out exactly what makes these kicks so special.

Technically speaking, these sneakers are called the “Nike SB Dunk High Premium HG QS,” a long-winded name with a couple of important aspects hidden inside.

These are SB Dunks instead of basketball Dunks, and they’re Premium SB Dunks, which means skate-centric touches like a shock-reducing separate core, extra padded tongue, plus reinforced lace-holes and stitching.

The HG in their name refers to Nike’s collaborative partner for the makeup, Homegrown Skateshop in Ithaca, New York. The shop opened in 2005, and the colorway draws heavily on the forested, natural environment around the store for inspiration.

Finally, the QS means “Quick Strike,” a sign that there wasn’t a lot of warning between the shoes’ announcement and availability. In this case, it also meant a particularly limited release at the store in Ithaca, with hand-built wooden shoe boxes for a limited number of pairs.

But the most defining aspect of a pair of Dunks, as any sneakerhead will tell you, is their unique look. Everyone knows the classic Dunk shape, but over the years the color selection and blocking has stretched from tie-dye to wood grain and everywhere in between.

This pair picks up that tradition with an earthy, natural color scheme. Fuzzy browns and greens sit atop a white and gum outsole, an increasingly popular choice in Nike’s design scheme for the Dunk. The flat laces have been replaced with hiking laces as well, for a look that’s as at home in a skatepark as it is in the woods.

While the limited edition in-store pairs have come and gone, you can still get your hands on a pair of Nike’s newest from its website, or at your local skate shop.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Some of the best shoes of 2015 are still available
on your feet 2015 still available xeno flux

While shoes from huge brands like the Yeezy Boost 350s and UNC Jordan 1s are long since sold out, many of the best shoes are still waiting to be purchased, depending on your size. If you missed out on a new pair of kicks for the holidays, this is your chance to lace up something fresh for the new year.
Beast Mode x Greats

As if Greats' black and gold collaboration with Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch wasn't appealing enough, these chukkas are built with an NFC/Bluetooth LE enabled chip with unique information about your pair in the corresponding app. It's a great way to connect with other sneaker collectors, as well as verify what you have is the real deal.
Adidas Xeno

Read more
Nike Auctions Air Jordans to Benefit Children’s Health
nike auctions air jordans to benefit childrens health doernbecher ajs two pair bonus

Nike’s Air Jordans have been the go-to basketball shoes for 30 years now. They’re stylish, they're comfortable, they perform well, and they bear the name of arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. Though Nike was once associated with low wages and poor working conditions at their Asian factories, they’ve definitely turned things around. For example, raising big funds for children’s health is a free-throw-line leap in the right direction.

Nike has taken to eBay with the goal of auctioning off 12 Nike Air Jordan XIIs. So far they’ve put up six beautiful pairs, and will be initiating another three-day auction on Sunday, November 8. The highest bid so far was an incredible $14,100, and other pairs have gone for right around $10,000.

Read more
Celebrate Jordan’s college days with these high-top Retro Ones
jordan 1 high unc jordanunc 6

On Your Feet is all about that new shoe feeling- from the first time you open the box until they’re worn into the ground. Sometimes we’ll sift through the constant Air Jordan releases to bring you the gems other people will leave on the shelves, and sometimes we’ll slide on reclaimed leather loafers from Prague, but we’ll always focus on comfortable shoes with appealing and creative aesthetic. So lace up your new kicks and stand on the precipice of adventure, where will we go together?

No release fires up the sneaker community like a classic pair of Jordan 1s. The silhouette demands attention for its comfort, simple style, and extensive legacy. Most of the popular colorways revolve around Jordan’s time in Chicago, but before that, he was a Tarheel, a team with its own unique colors and traditions.

Read more