Nike’s Rarest Prototype Is Now a Jacquemus Commodity

"The Nike x Jacquemus Moon Shoe transforms an unreleased archive piece into the collaborators’ fourth commercial project, continuing the lucrative exchange between sportswear and high fashion"

"The campaign literalises the shoe's "modern ballet aesthetic" with an en pointe pose"

The story of Nike’s original Moon Shoe is a piece of sportswear folklore. Co-founder Bill Bowerman, inspired by his wife’s waffle iron, poured liquid rubber into the appliance to create a novel sole, producing a lightweight racing flat for the 1972 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. The shoe left crater-like imprints and was never sold commercially, a defining example of raw, function-first innovation.

Now, for the first time, that archival legend has been reinterpreted by French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, raising questions about how a piece of pure engineering history becomes a modern fashion commodity.

The collaboration’s exclusive Alabaster colourway styled in a vintage gymnasium setting

The Off Noir colourway contrasts its refined, fashion-led silhouette with rustic wooden tools

"Campaign visuals place the refined shoe against vintage gymnasium equipment, connecting the design to its athletic origins."

The contrast in purpose defines the collaboration. Bowerman’s design was a solution to a problem, an athlete’s tool built for speed and grip. The Jacquemus version, with its ruched nylon upper and self-described "modern ballet aesthetic," is an object of style.

While it retains the iconic waffle sole, made here from Nike Regrind material, its low-to-the-ground torpedo shape feels more suited to a Parisian runway than an Oregon track. As Jacquemus himself notes, his goal upon discovering the shoe in Nike’s archives three years ago was to "create a new story and reshape it in the Jacquemus way."

This release is the fourth footwear project between the two brands, following the Air Max 1, J Force 1, and Air Humara. While previous models successfully paired Nike’s performance DNA with Jacquemus's minimalist design language, this latest effort takes a different approach. It plucks a near-mythical object from the archives, commercialising a story previously known mostly to sneaker historians and brand purists.

"The University Red version shows the design’s ruched upper and minimalist, low-profile form"

The co-branded packaging, designed to look like packaging from Nike’s earliest days as Blue Ribbon Sports, reinforces this historical framing. Debuted during Jacquemus’s spring 2025 show in Paris, the shoe will be available in three colourways, including the Jacquemus-exclusive Alabaster, positioning it firmly within the managed release cycles of contemporary fashion.

The Alabaster colourway, a Jacquemus exclusive, highlights the shoe’s minimalist aesthetic

he Off Noir model features a ruched nylon upper, suede panels, and a Nike Regrind outsole

he University Red style provides a bolder take on the reinterpreted, low-profile silhouette

"The full collection, showing the Jacquemus-exclusive Alabaster, Off Noir, and University Red colourways."

The story of Bowerman’s waffle iron has always been a powerful piece of marketing, but the shoe it produced was kept separate. With its release on jacquemus.com on 29 September and SNKRS on 6 October, the Moon Shoe completes its journey from a functional prototype to a carefully packaged piece of accessible luxury.