Cardboard boxes from Nike, Adidas and Puma are becoming an integral part of the brand.
Once upon a time, a sneaker box was just a practical device for transporting shoes from the store to your home. But now that the sneaker boom has reached its peak, cardboard boxes from Nike, Adidas and Puma are becoming an integral part of the brand. Marketers and designers are working to convey to the true fans of the brand the value of not only the sneakers themselves, but also their packaging.
The acknowledgment that the Snickers box has become an art form of its own has been confirmed at the Paper and Packaging Board's pop-up museum in New York City. The main curator of the event, Matt Halfhill, founder of the Nice Kicks blog, invited visitors to the museum to look at the shoebox for more than just a cardboard container.
“We designed the Shoebox Museum to highlight sneaker culture, which has been repeatedly reimagined but never really respected,” commented Halfhill. According to him, many sneaker boxes today can be considered the same collectibles as the Sneakers themselves from the past.
Today, it remains a mystery how it all began - with the demand of collectors for rare copies of the boxes, or with the desire of the brands themselves to stand out with the release of the box in experimental formats. One way or another, the consumer propensity to store, photograph, and post pictures of their old shoe boxes has spurred sports brands to get creative and creative with their production.
“The shoe box is the first point of contact that the consumer has with a product…and I think that has been overlooked for many years. Brands start the story of shoes from the box itself,” says Halfhill.
Here are some striking examples from brands that have made unique designs:
Three stripes Adidas
Adidas is one of the few sports brands that has managed to retain packaging designs from the past. Today, consumers around the world still recognize the label's three stripes, which help maintain the brand's identity. Ever since the company launched mass production, the packaging has retained those same three stripes in one way or another. They have become so popular and recognizable that in Adidas came up with open pop-up stores in the format of a giant shoe box.
"Turn it on" by Puma
The slogan "Turn it on" on shoe Puma boxes harkens back to the late 80s when the company launched the world's first running shoe capable of measuring steps thanks to a futuristic detachable cable interface. Later, the Disc System for fixing sneakers without the use of laces was also introduced. This progressive period in the company's activities inspired the final shoe box design with the slogan, which was widely used in the 90s.
Nike cereal box
In one of the most unexpected Nike collaborations teamed up with General Mills and NBA star Kyrie Irving to create a box inspired by a pack of breakfast cereal labeled "Nike Basketball". These vertical shoe boxes were adorned with a basketball, colorful mascots and information about the benefits of "proper" breakfasts for athletes.
Vans Flat Envelope
Vans has managed to create a box like no other, known as the "flat envelope" due to its design. In fact, due to the compact size of the footwear produced, Vans brand has taken the liberty of replacing the traditional box with a lid with a compact design that folds in on itself and features a flat surface on all sides. Its design has hardly changed since the release of the first pair in the 70s.
Nike SB Dunk Colored Boxes
famous line SB Dunk by Nike was introduced back in 2002. Since then, the brand has been releasing new models in colorful boxes. The tradition turned out to be so successful that SB Dunk fans began to talk about the time of release of a particular model in a color vein: “orange box era”, “silver box era” and so on. As a result, experts called the SB line "the most collectible sneaker of its time."
Adidas Yoda Superstars Blister Pack
Adidas has completely broken with traditional packaging by releasing a Star Wars-inspired shoe. Feeling nostalgic for childhood, the designers packed sneakers like a toy in vacuum plastic and cardboard.
Air Jordan's luxury packaging
Having spawned its own brand, logo and marketing endorsement, the Air Jordan line has been distinguished from the very beginning by a distinct approach to packaging. The design of the boxes for the line became more and more creative. There was a package that fit in a briefcase for the first time, as well as a box in the form of a five-sided origami. Well, the “removable lid” in 1995, the “hinged top” in 2000 and the “drawer” and 2011 remained forever in the collections connoisseurs of Nike.
