Nike’s newest shoe, for which the company partnered with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, sold out during its first day on the market in North America.
The shoes, which cost $110, are black and white and feature an embroidered portrait of Kaepernick on the heel tab, his personal logo on the tongue, and Nike’s swoosh.
“This Air Force 1 season, Nike partnered with a collective of collaborators to design an AF1 that connects to their life personally. Colin was identified because we believe his voice and perspective inspire many generations on and off the field,” a Nike spokesperson wrote in an email to CNBC.
Kaepernick’s partnership with the shoe company has been tumultuous at times. Over the summer, Nike announced its intention to release a patriotic shoe meant to celebrate the Fourth of July, which depicted the Betsy Ross flag. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback criticized the use of that flag, claiming it represented slavery and white supremacy. Nike later decided not to release the shoe.
“What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine… There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour,” Kaepernick tweeted, which is a quote from abolitionist Frederick Douglass, on the Fourth of July.
Despite the Betsy Ross flag debacle, Kaepernick was featured in Nike’s commercial honoring the 30th anniversary “Just Do It” ad campaign.
Kaepernick, who drew the ire of many, including the president, for kneeling during the national anthem years ago in protest of racism and police brutality, has not played a game in the NFL since opting out of his contract after the 2016 season. He was in a legal battle with the league over what he alleged to be a conspiracy among team owners to blacklist him after he began kneeling. He has since agreed to a settlement.
