Caitlin Clark's first Nike signature shoe is out: How they look, how to buy sneaker in both colorways
Nike's design borrows from several other signature sneaker lines, including Kobe Bryant
• 2 min read
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark's first signature sneaker with Nike released nationwide Thursday, hours before tip-off in a decisive Game 3 playoff game against the Las Vegas Aces.
Years in the making, the Caitlin 1 was released in two colorways — the "Warning Code" in bright yellow and blue, and the "Caitlin Blue" in royal blue with pink soles. The sneaker is built with guards in mind and borrows from different signature lines Nike has debuted over the years, including Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum.
Only limited sizes of both colorways were still available on Nike.com an hour after release on Thursday, but these weren't produced with exclusivity in mind.
"It speaks very much to who I am, like this ordinary person that at times does some super extraordinary things on the court," Clark told ESPN about her first sneaker. "But to me, that's just what I do. "I understand, to other people, it's incredible and they could never comprehend doing those things. But at the same time, I feel like I do everything that they do, whether that's play golf or eat cereal for breakfast or whatever it is."
Clark worked directly with designers to ensure everything she wanted to incorporate in her first sneaker was made available to the public. Her signature "CC" logo is molded into the upper of both colorways released Thursday and every colorway set to release later this year.
According to Nike, a "responsive Air Zoom Turbo unit paired with Cushlon foam helps you stay smooth and controlled through every move. The innovative Nike Opticast upper delivers lightweight, locked-in support, so you can push tempo without feeling weighed down. Finished with signature details special to Caitlin, this shoe is made for hoopers who shoot without hesitation and make logo splashes the new normal."
Clark has worn various iterations of Nike's Kobe line during her time in the NBA with the 'Kobe VIII Protro' being her preferred model. Nike has updated colorways specifically for Clark in different Fever makeups, but this is her first signature release independent of Kobe.
Nike has already soft launched several upcoming colorways of Clark's debut model, including a white-based pair, a red option and a purple version.
Clark is the sixth active WNBA player with her own shoe, joining A'ja Wilson, Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jacy Sheldon. Wilson and Ionescu are the only ones signed to Nike, like Clark.
"She has these extended and elevated expectations out the gate," Nike footwear designer Ben Nethongkome said in the interview with ESPN, "whereas other athletes in the past may have just been super happy to be part of the Nike family and just kind of go with the flow. Hers (is) like, 'I need this. There's a lot of anticipation around my product. This needs to be a banger out the gate.'
"So that added pressure. We knew that was gonna be there prior to coming in, but it only juiced up the team even more for us to create better work."
Clark donned the purple colorway of her first shoe during Indiana's Game 2 playoff victory over the Las Vegas Aces this week. The winner-take-all Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday night.
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