Sneaker Talk: Warren Lotas “Jason Dunk Low”

 

Well, would you look at that. Check the date on the top right corner. November 29, 2019. Here we are in July 15, 2020. Almost 8 months for the shoe to come in. Albeit, with the COVID-19 pandemic currently going on right now, many distribution centers along with warehouses have been in shortage and closed due to this pandemic. These were basically made to order.

So was it worth the 8 month wait? Kinda…

 

Warren Lotas obviously took inspiration from the Nike Sb Dunk High “Jason Voorhees” shoe, which was released back in 2007 during the Golden SB box era.

I believe this shoe wasn’t an official collaboration between Nike SB and Jason Voorhees. They basically took the colors that were inspired by him, (white for hockey mask, black for apparel, and red for blood obviously) and turned into a shoe with excellent color blocking.

You must be thinking, “wow, Warren Lotas is such a great designer. I loved how he turned this shoe into a dunk low with his own twist to it. So original”. Well, I’m here to say your opinion is invalid. Yes, what Warren Lotas did to his shoe was very unique, BUT it was not his original idea of making a Jason Voorhees Dunk Low.

There is only ONE correct answer.

1. There has been images floating around a long time ago of a rumored Friday the 13th SB Dunk Low. Here is a picture provided down below for reference. I only knew of 2 people that actually own these shoes to existence: one of them being fellow NSB user @nicholas.fung and the other belonging (not sure if they still have it) to a RIF-LA employee.

Anyways, with all that out of the way. Let’s get into the shoe.

Honestly, I would give Warren Lotas an A+ for the little details that he took his “time” to put into the shoe. For starters, I love that he brought back the Golden SB box, just like how the original Jason Voorhees Highs came in. The box label mimics as that of an older Nike SB box, but of course with his take and flavor added into the process.

Heck, another small detail that I didn’t really notice until I took both shoes out today for a picture was the carefully detailed/custom dust paper. If you squint and look closely, it’s basically a picture of many Jason Voorhees with the text written on top “THIS IS A WARREN LOTAS PRODUCT”. I personally thought that was something cool that he added in.

So with the shoe, after looking at the Highs and the Sample Lows, you can quickly see that almost everything looks exactly the same except the toe box and the swoosh. The toe box that Warren Lotas decided to go for is a more deep red rather than a faded/worn out red.

Warren Lotas makes the swoosh in his pair white/grey for obvious reasons. Jason Voorhees doesn’t wear a red hockey mask.

You got your regular materials. I’m not saying they’re premium since he basically used a fake pair of Dunk Lows, and fakes aren’t really the greatest thing ever when it comes to the sneaker community. One feature that really caught my eye was the tongue. It’s a fat tongue alright, but it consists of nylon on the outside of the tongue, rather than the usual mesh/sponge tongue used on SB Dunks. The mesh/sponge tongue is still there, but on the inside of the tongue.

Let’s get into the details. Replacing the NIKE SB logo, you have his initials along with the Skull Nike swoosh, which was featured in his Staple Longsleeve tees and his previous custom, “BILL – Nike Air Force 1 (Skull Force 1)”

Instead of the usual Nike copyright paragraph on the inside of the tongue, you’ll see more Warren Lotas propaganda (just kidding) on the tongue.

Overall, I personally wouldn’t wear this shoe. HOWEVER, I do think that this is one of his better works that he’s done on a customized shoe. I wasn’t really a fan of his AF1 customs back in the days. I gotta give him the credit where credit is due, and that’s for his creativity and the little details that go into making this shoe more special.