SKIMS and Nike are putting a vintage spin on a 52-year-old runner. The SKIMS x Nike Waffle Racer, announced ahead of its release, reworks the original waffle-sole silhouette with nylon underlays and suede and leather accents, all finished to look deliberately worn in.
The three colorways lean on faded details and a retro palette so the shoe reads as if it were pulled straight from the 1970s, when the Waffle Racer first appeared. SKIMS branding joins the grippy waffle sole, marking the shoe as collaboration rather than straight reissue.
Kim Kardashian's loungewear and shapewear label already has one Nike rework behind it in the Air Rift, which it slimmed into a more barefoot-style trainer for gym and everyday wear. The Waffle Racer takes the same instinct in the opposite direction, toward archive rather than technical.
Kardashian has a documented habit of bringing archival fashion moments to the red carpet, so designing her own old-school runner is a natural extension. The shoe also lands inside a wider revival of retro performance footwear, where distressed and vintage builds have been selling steadily.
The Waffle Racer is scheduled to drop on November 10 through BSTN's site at £131.99, roughly $177, with the other colorways expected at additional stores around the same time. The remaining colorways are expected to reach other retailers around the same date, though the brands have not named a full stocking list.
No apparel has been confirmed alongside the sneaker. Most earlier SKIMS x Nike releases have included clothing, so the door is not closed, but for now the Waffle Racer stands as the one named product in this drop.
Nike introduced the Waffle name through co-founder Bill Bowerman, whose waffle-iron experiments produced the crepe-soled grip the runner became known for. The SKIMS edition keeps that textured outsole in place beneath a cleaner, faded upper.
The worn-in treatment is doing much of the marketing here. Rather than a crisp retro release, the pair is presented already broken in, with the faded colorways and mixed textures supplying an age the shoe has not actually earned.
For the publication, the collaboration is part of our broader coverage of style, where we have tracked Nike's sneaker output alongside other retro-leaning labels. The Waffle Racer continues a run of heritage silhouettes being reworked for a new audience rather than left in the archive.
We have covered Travis Scott's Nike collaborations before, noting how a celebrity name layered over a familiar model can shift both demand and resale value. The SKIMS pairing works the same lever, with a distinctive visual language in place of a musical crossover.
The faded, vintage treatment also echoes what we found reviewing the Axel Arigato Area Lo, a sneaker built around a worn-in leather that aimed for a similar lived-in quality. The Waffle Racer applies that idea to a silhouette with true heritage behind it.
Where our guide to women's sneakers favours clean, versatile pairs, this drop is narrower in ambition. The Waffle Racer is a collector-leaning release with a specific archive reference, not a wardrobe workhorse, and the three colorways are all tuned to that mood.
What the collaboration changes
SKIMS has been stretching beyond loungewear and shapewear into footwear through its Nike relationship, and the Waffle Racer gives that partnership a clearer heritage anchor. The first project, the Air Rift, leaned technical and minimal; this second one leans archival and nostalgic.
For Nike, the Waffle Racer is a model with strong running lineage that has been underused in recent collaboration cycles. Pairing it with SKIMS pulls the silhouette back into circulation and attaches a fashion name without abandoning the performance story.
The price point of roughly $177 positions the pair at the accessible end of collaborative sneaker releases, below the inflated figures that often accompany hype-driven drops. That, plus the three-colorway spread, signals a release built for wider availability rather than scarcity.
What has not been disclosed is equally telling. Neither brand has confirmed a full retailer list, a production run size, or whether apparel will follow.
What comes next
Whether a clothing capsule joins it remains unconfirmed, though the brands' prior drops make one plausible.
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Images: SKIMS x Nike Waffle Racer; Nike
