The Union x Nike Dunk Low Passport Pack, a series of sneakers inspired by vintage pairs you could once only buy in Asia, has been a difficult drop to track. You won’t find Union Los Angeles’ super-exclusive Nike Dunk Lows on Nike’s big release calendar, which tracks all of the upcoming sneakers customers can (at least try to) buy in the coming weeks. Instead, Union announced that the Dunks — of which there are three: ‘Pistachio,’ ‘Argon‘ and ‘Court Purple‘ — were going to be made available through a raffle to residents of Los Angeles first.
Why? Well, to calm the hype, and tap into the nostalgia of in-person releases.
The first pair, ‘Pistachio,’ came out in early February. Initially retailing for $150 dollars, it now sits at over $350 on resale sites like StockX. Clearly there’s interest. The second and third pairs, ‘Argon’ and ‘Court Purple,’ are due out today, March 31st — but an undisclosed amount of Angelenos have already secured pairs in their size.
The aforementioned raffle took place last weekend, and those that won were already notified — as evident by the pairs appearing on resale sites already.
For the rest of us (myself included, since I live all the way in Pennsylvania), it seemed like we were officially left out — forced to fork over way more than retail if we wanted a pair. But, Union teased a broader SNKRS release on Tuesday with a simple Instagram story slide featuring the two’s logos spliced together. (For those unfamiliar, SNKRS is Nike’s sneaker shopping app.)
So… you’re saying there’s a chance? Maybe, if you’re still willing to battle bots, lightning-fast footwear collectors and aspiring sneaker entrepreneurs. These styles will go super, super fast.
Because while, yes, the Dunk is a popular Nike silhouette already, these represent two of the better renditions of the Dunk thus far — and Union’s first collaborative sneakers of 2022. Both the ‘Argon’ and ‘Court Purple’ pairs pay tribute to Japan-only designs from the early to mid-2000s — hence the name Passport, which is a nod to needing one to get yours. But they’re also simply interesting feats of design: The Passport Pack sneakers feature ripstop outer layers, which can be removed to reveal premium leather uppers. Each sneaker looks totally different without its outer layer, YouTubers from countries where the sneaker’s already dropped proved.
And while I’m not a big enough sneakerhead to care much about packaging, the box it arrives in looks like a plane ticket and the liner paper features a dozen-plus passport stamps. These are cool touches that Union didn’t need to add, but are totally welcome — especially for collectors that won’t ever wear theirs.
