Nike SB Dunk Low 'Reese Forbes Denim'

Four skaters and a basketball shoe

Nike's skateboarding division, Nike SB, launched in 2002, after an earlier attempt by the company to break into skateboarding in the 1990s had failed. The plan was to take the Dunk, a basketball shoe from 1985, and rework it for skating with a thickly padded tongue and Zoom Air cushioning in the heel. The first four signature colorways went to four pros: Richard Mulder, Danny Supa, Gino Iannucci and Reese Forbes.

Each skater picked his own look. Supa wanted New York Knicks colors. Mulder copied a pair of Nike Tennis Classics he had bought at an outlet store on tour in 1994. Forbes went with wheat-colored suede. Those first shoes were sold through skate shops in boxes now remembered for their color, the Orange Box era.

Forbes was one of the original four and became the first of them to get a second Dunk. That second shoe was the Denim, and it arrived in December 2002 as the last Nike SB release of the division's first year. One retrospective notes it was the only blue-based colorway Nike SB released in 2002.

Reese Forbes and Natas Kaupas

Reese Forbes was born in 1976 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and learned to skate in Washington, D.C., at Freedom Plaza. He turned pro for Element in 1995, was known for his ollie, and in 1999 hosted the 'Reese Forbes Ollie Challenge.' Over what he has called a 17-year pro career he rode for Nike SB and Quiksilver, among others, and in 2007 he became director of Quiksilver's skate team. He also designed a 'Reese Forbes' jean for Quiksilver that a Kennedy Center biography calls the brand's No. 1 seller.

Those jeans are the key to the shoe. Several accounts say the Denim Dunk borrowed the wear marks and distressing of the signature jean Forbes had on the market at the time. Nike's own archive says that for his second model Forbes worked with 'artist, designer and street skateboarding innovator' Natas Kaupas, and that leading with distressed denim, 'complete with frayed selvedge,' gave the shoe 'the look and feel of classic Americana.'

Kaupas was a fitting partner. Born in 1969 and raised in the part of Santa Monica known as Dogtown, he was riding his board up the sides of walls by the mid-1980s, and his 1989 trick of ollieing onto a fire hydrant and spinning 720 degrees on top became known as the 'Natas spin.' He later started 101 Skateboards and moved into design at Quiksilver, where he rose to graphic director and then vice president of marketing.

Early samples of the shoe carried Kaupas's own artwork stamped on the sockliner, according to one history of the line, but that detail never reached production.

Color in a black, white and gray world

It is hard now to picture how loud the early SB colorways looked in a skate shop. Richard Mulder recalled that in 2002, 'if you walked into a skate shop, the only shoes you'd see were black, white, or grey.' Nike SB, then what he called 'a super-micro department within Nike,' could take chances because it 'wasn't as much about the bottom line number.'

Even among his teammates, the Denim stood out. Mulder said he came up with his own colorway in about a minute, and then 'I saw Reese's shoes with the denim, and Supa's with the orange and navy, and I was like, "My God, those shoes are insane!"'

The wider year was heavy with news. Euro notes and coins went into circulation on January 1, the Winter Olympics opened in Salt Lake City in February, and by the time the Denim reached shops the U.S. Congress had authorized military action against Iraq and the UN Security Council had passed Resolution 1441.

How to read the shoe

The upper is denim from toe to heel, in two shades of indigo, a darker and a lighter wash assigned panel by panel and joined with contrast stitching. The edges are left to fray.

Red is the only accent: the tongue tag and heel tab are red, the outsole is red, and the midsole is white. The style code is 304292 441, and the shoe came in Nike SB's orange box with the thick padded tongue that defined early SB Dunks. The 2017 high-top retro kept the two denims, red outsole and golden stitching but left the stuffed tongue out.

Nike has never published a production figure. The number repeated by sellers, collectors and a 2022 auction catalog is 444 pairs, usually with a qualifier such as 'supposedly' or 'reportedly.' One 2017 outlet tied the small run to Forbes moving toward Quiksilver, but Nike SB released another Forbes Dunk, the 'Hunter,' in 2004, so that explanation should be treated with caution.

From skate shops to the auction room

The Denim sold through Nike SB skate accounts only, at $65. Fifteen years later it was important enough that Nike chose it for the division's anniversary: in February 2017 Nike brought three of the four original 2002 pro models back as high-tops, along with the Denim. The Dunk High OG 'Reese Forbes Denim' went on sale February 23, 2017, through Nike's app and on February 25 at select retailers, for $110. It was the first time an Orange Box SB had been retroed.

The original's idea echoed through later shoes. A Medicom collaboration Dunk from December 2004 used an all-denim upper as a callback to Forbes's pair, and in 2012 Nike SB released raw-denim Dunks made with Levi's.

In April 2022 a pair of originals was offered in an online auction in Hong Kong marking Nike SB's 20th anniversary; one report said the Denim would 'run you at least 10 grand to start.' The result was not made public. A size 9.5 pair was later listed for immediate sale at $16,700, and as of October 2026 a sneaker resale shop listed the shoe from about $16,111.

Rankings keep it near the top of the canon. One editorial list ranked it No. 9 among the greatest Dunks of all time, and a May 2026 ranking of the 30 best SB Dunks placed it No. 22, calling it 'still one of the more sought-after pairs in its lineage.'

The numbers

Style code

304292 441

Colorway

Denim/Denim-Denim

Release

December 2002 (December 1, 2002, per two release databases)

Retail price

$65

Release type

Nike SB skate accounts only; Orange Box

Production

Not published by Nike; widely reported as 444 pairs

Retro

Dunk High OG 'Reese Forbes Denim,' February 23, 2017, $110

Timeline

1. 1976

   Reese Forbes is born in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

2. 1995

   Forbes turns pro for Element.

3. 1999

   Forbes hosts the 'Reese Forbes Ollie Challenge.'

4. Mar 2002

   Nike SB launches; the first Dunk Lows go to four team riders, including Forbes's wheat-colored pair.

5. Dec 2002

   The Dunk Low Pro SB 'Reese Denim' is released in the Orange Box through Nike SB accounts at $65; two release databases give December 1.

6. 2004

   Nike SB releases another Forbes Dunk Low, the 'Hunter,' during the Pink Box era.

7. Dec 2004

   A Medicom collaboration Dunk with an all-denim upper calls back to the Forbes Denim.

8. 2007

   Forbes becomes director of Quiksilver's skate team.

9. 2012

   Nike SB releases denim Dunks made with Levi's.

10. Feb 16, 2017

    Nike SB's 15th-anniversary plans are announced: three original pro models as high-tops, plus the Denim.

11. Feb 23, 2017

    The Dunk High OG 'Reese Forbes Denim' releases at $110, the first Orange Box SB to be retroed.

12. Apr 2022

    A pair is offered in an online auction in Hong Kong for Nike SB's 20th anniversary (April 14-25); the result was not published.

13. May 15, 2026

    A ranking of the 30 best SB Dunks places the Denim at No. 22.

The world in 2002

• Jan 1, 2002

  Euro coins and banknotes go into circulation in the eurozone.

• Feb 8, 2002

  The Winter Olympics open in Salt Lake City, Utah, running through February 24.

• Jun 30, 2002

  Brazil beats Germany 2-0 to win the FIFA World Cup final, with Ronaldo scoring both goals.

• Jul 1, 2002

  The Rome Statute takes effect, establishing the International Criminal Court.

• Oct 11, 2002

  The U.S. Congress approves military action against Iraq if it fails to comply with UN weapons requirements.

• Oct 12, 2002

  Bombings at two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, kill 202 people.

• Nov 8, 2002

  The UN Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1441 on Iraqi disarmament.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Nike SB Dunk Low 'Reese Forbes Denim' is number 24 of 100 in the sneakers entries of the FLOAT 100. 22 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (47 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Early samples carried artwork by Natas Kaupas stamped on the sockliner, a detail that never made it into production.
• It was the last Nike SB release of 2002 and, by one account, the only blue-based colorway the division released that year.
• The 2017 high-top was the first time Nike retroed any shoe from the Orange Box era.
• Forbes also designed a 'Reese Forbes' jean for Quiksilver that a Kennedy Center biography calls the brand's No. 1 seller.
• Teammate Richard Mulder's reaction on first seeing the Denim: 'My God, those shoes are insane!'
• The 2017 retro dropped the stuffed tongue that defined early SB Dunks.