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Nike Brings Back a Classic, but Controversial, Running Shoe

The LD-1000, recalled by Nike in the late 1970s, is poised to become the brand’s next must-have sneaker.

closeup of green nike shoeNike
Jack Seemer

By Jack Seemer

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Nike is no stranger to controversy. For better or worse, the company embraces it.

Early in Nike’s history, Rob Strasser, the director of marketing at the time, circulated an internal memo simply titled “Principles.” Number three on the list: “Perfect results count — not a perfect process. Break the rules: fight the law.”

So it’d be somewhat on-brand for Nike to revisit one of its most controversial sneakers, as it’s now doing with the LD-1000 from 1977 — first with longtime collaborator Stüssy and soon as a mainline sneaker, according to leakers.

green and white nike shoes
Longtime Nike collaborator Stüssy helps kick off a new era of the LD-1000 with two of four joint colorways, Phantom (top) and Action Green (bottom).
Stüssy

Heel turn

At a glance, the LD-1000 looks like your typical vintage runner, replete with Nike’s now-iconic waffle sole invented by Bill Bowerman. But a closer look reveals its signature feature: a dramatically flared heel, originally designed to lessen knee torque and alleviate knee pressure.

vintage nike sneaker
A pair of vintage LD-1000s sold for $1,000 at Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s

As it turns out, the heel had the opposite effect for runners. Nike founder Phil Knight recalls the LD-1000’s issues in his memoir Shoe Dog, writing, ” … if a runner didn’t land just right, the flared heel could cause pronation, knee problems, or worse.”

“If a runner didn’t land just right, the flared heel could cause pronation, knee problems, or worse.”

The problem was so bad that Nike ended up recalling the sneaker, sending Bowerman into a sort of slump despite positive feedback from the general public, according to Knight.

“No other shoe company was trying new things, so our efforts, successful or not, were seen as noble,” he writes. “All innovation was hailed as progressive, forward-thinking.”

A new era for the LD-1000

Though decidedly more faithful in spirit and design, the new reissues aren’t Nike’s first efforts to revive the LD-1000.

In 2014, the brand partnered with influential designer Hiroshi Fujiwara to combine the upper of the LD-1000 with the sole of the then-new Roshe Run. Missing, however, was the troublesome heel, as seen on the new 2024 models.

red nike shoes
The 2014 Nike Roshe LD-1000 combined a vintage upper the then-new sole of the Roshe Run.
Nike

Stüssy and Nike have committed to multiple colorways of the LD-1000 together: Phantom (white and blue), Action Green (lime and black), Sanded Gold (yellow and pink) and Green Spark (gray and green), according to different blogs.

According to Sneaker News, the LD-1000 will also arrive in a more muted Vintage Green colorway sometime later this year.

green nike shoe
Sold out upon release, the Action Green colorway of the Stüssy and Nike LD-1000 (pictured) is set for a restock on the Snkrs app.
Stüssy

The shoe’s troubled history should do little to deter devoted sneakerheads, who seem drawn to all things elusive. The first two colorways of the Stüssy and Nike collab sold out almost immediately upon release. A restock is on the way.

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