Nike’s Beautifully Dunk-ish Sneaker Is a Gazelle in Swoosh’s Clothing
The Nike Field General 82 is Nike's latest foray into the world of flat-ish sneakers.
To be clear, this low-top sneaker is not literally a hybrid sneaker, but its build and colorways are undoubtedly reminiscent of other slim shoes currently dominating the market.
So if the Field General 82 looks kind of familiar, but you just can't place it — you're not imagining things.
For all visual intents and purposes, the Nike Field General 82 is the perfect blend of Nike's signature Dunk sneaker and an adidas Gazelle, the beloved Samba alternative that has accumulated considerable flat shoe favor in its own right.
The super slim silhouette combined with a mega-flat sole gives that football-ish vibe from which the Gazelle originated, while the shoe's shape, down to the paneling, is utterly Dunk-coded.
Plus, the latest pink and blue colorway is a near-perfect match for the adidas Gazelle 85 in "Bliss Pink and Dark Blue," but on the outside where we'd see the classic Three Stripes, we get the signature Swoosh.
And that buttery brown base? An adidas classic, through and through.
Where Gazelles are partial to a bit (or more) of suede, this Field General 82 is all leather, all the time.
Though very clearly inspired by the flat offerings of Nike's contemporaries, the Field General 82 is far from the first Nike shoe to pull on the (often viral) allure of other sneakers. In fact, it's not even the first Nike shoe to borrow from a beloved adidas football sneaker.
Nike's Killshot 2 Premium is a Wales Bonner Samba gone Swoosh if we've ever seen one, flipped-out tongue and all.
Nike's C1TY sneaker is made from a similar mold, only this time, the stimulus came from Nike's own archive.
Complete with a heel-loop and mesh upper, the C1TY sneaker is a wearable compilation of Nike and Tom Sachs' General Purpose Shoe, classic dunks and even the Field General 82 sneaker itself. Meta!
Even with its nods to sneakerdom's (recent) past, though, the Field General 82 (first repopularized by Union LA) is more a glimpse into Nike's future as the brand continues to try and get in on some of that sweet, sweet, slim shoe real estate currently being monopolized by other brands.
All that aside, want to know what really sets the Nike Field General 82 apart, separate from its foray into major Gazelle territory?
It's got the Timothée Chalamet seal of courtside approval.
A defining metric, no?
