Nike Renzo

While the skate shoe market was dominated by specialist manufacturers such as Airwalk and Vans, Nike - being the savvy company that they are - obviously saw a genre they could enter and hopefully dominate. The only problem that Nike face is image, skateboarding and street sports pride themselves on differing to the norm, while Nike are a mainstream commercial conglomerate - hardly obvious bed fellows. The Renzo is the name of Nike's skate shoe. It follows skate shoe convention, a tough rubber sole and suede upper. Skateboards have a material similar to sandpaper on the top of their decks, which the skateboarder stands upon. A skate shoe requires a flat sole with a detailed pattern to provide grip. For skate tricks, such as an "ollie", a shoes upper is dragged along the decks surface - therefore, suede provides the grip and toughness required.