Did Nike Already Leak the Best Affordable Sneaker of 2025?

The Y2K-era V5 Rnr looks way more expensive than it actually is.

Published December 18, 2024

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If any brand knows its way around Y2K sneakers, it’s Nike. The Vomero 5 is widely considered one of the aesthetic’s leading styles, even though the original design didn’t debut until 2010.

You don’t need to search far or wide to find additional examples scattered across the brand’s catalog. The P-6000, Initiator, Air Pegasus Wave and not-so-subtly-named V2K Run all capture bold, tech-driven aesthetic of shoes that came out around the turn of the millennium.

gray nike sneakers — The Vomero 5 is widely considered a Y2K sneaker, despite the fact that it first released in 2010.

Soon, they’ll be joined by yet another Y2K-friendly sneaker called the V5 Rnr.

Y2K for less

With a chunky midsole, mesh upper and synthetic cage, the new shoe certainly looks every bit as retrofuturistic as the rest of its Nike brethren — not to mention models across the aisle, including the hugely popular Asics Gel-1130.

However, the V5 Rnr boasts one thing that none of those other shoes lay claim to: a sub-$100 price tag.

That means the $90 V5 Rnr undercuts the Vomero 5 by a whopping $70, and it represents yet another example of the Swoosh offering sneakerheads affordable alternatives to everyday classics.

Earlier this year, Nike debuted a $75 dupe of its Killshot 2 ($90), called the Court Shot. Then it followed with the C1ty ($90), an approachable take on its exclusive collab with the artist Tom Sachs.