To The Moon Shoe and Back: How Nike's cult runner became an icon

This story is taken from the summer 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally from June 5. Pre-order a copy of the magazine here.

Over centuries, and across cultures, the moon has captured the imagination of humans. Many myths have been told about the moon: stories of the moon as a goddess or timekeeper, of rabbits on the moon, of werewolves emerging from full moons, and even the moon serving as a message for the future. The moon can represent our inner worlds (like in Astrology); its lunar cycles represent the rhythms of the universe. But, at many times, the moon has also been an external reference point for human ingenuity and innovation (just look at the impact of the 1969 Apollo 11 landing). It should come as little surprise, then, that one of the most innovative moments in footwear history was given a lunar-related nickname: Nike’s Moon Shoe.

Since the beginning, the Moon Shoe has defied all odds and expectations. It has a storied legacy; a waffle iron prophecy, if you will. Unexpectedly, this tale starts in a kitchen in 1971, where Bill Bowerman, a veteran track and field coach, was wrestling with the fact that the hard, slick new urethane track had been installed at the University of Oregon two years prior, and was injuring runners. Bowerman needed a solve: how could his runners get a better grip without being weighed down? One morning, while glancing at the Bersted Manufacturing Company Model 251 waffle iron, which he and his wife had received as a wedding gift in 1936, he was struck by an idea: what if he poured liquid urethane straight into the family waffle iron? And that’s what he did.

Bowerman’s waffle iron was ruined (he melted it shut), but it didn’t matter; he was on the precipice of something. He drove into town, bought a bunch of secondhand waffle irons and kept experimenting. The concave bumps that emerged from those first imprints led him to refine moulds and materials until a workable prototype of what’s now known as the Waffle sole finally emerged. As one of Nike’s original innovators, Bowerman’s experimentations resulted in what was the first version of the Nike Moon Shoe – a design that would shape the future of running (and style) for decades.

“The Waffle sole changed everything.” That’s how Nike Running Historian Rick Lower has put it. “Not only did it transform how runners thought about traction and cushioning, but it showed people what Nike was about: solving problems in new ways,” he says. Back then, running shoes were essentially just a sheet of rubber to protect your feet from the road – and Nike was still known as Blue Ribbon Sports, an American importer of Japanese running shoes – but Bowerman had a vision. He kept innovating, making failed prototypes (some of which disintegrated after only minutes of running), with each iteration bringing him closer to the finishing line.

In November 1971, members of Oregon’s cross-country team competed in early versions of Nike’s Moon Shoe. They won the NCAA title, before more college and local South Eugene high-school athletes quietly tested pairs. By the following summer, Bowerman and Geoff Hollister, one of Nike's first employees, were hand-cobbling prototypes for the US Olympic Trials in Eugene. On the ground, Dome people compared the Waffle sole footprints to those of astronauts on the moon and thus, a nickname caught on: the Moon Shoe. This was a pivotal moment for Nike in the brand’s early stages because it was proof that a small Oregon company could push running footwear in an entirely new direction.

Although the Moon Shoe didn’t go to market at that time (though a few pairs are believed to have been sold out of Nike’s Eugene retail store), its DNA did go on to shape the future of footwear. In 1973, Nike released the Oregon Waffle. Two years later, the brand had its first blockbuster success with the Waffle Trainer. The shoe, designed by Bill Bowerman and Geoff Hollister, as well as famed Bowerman collaborators orthopaedic surgeon Stan James and podiatrist Dennis Vixie, became the best-selling training shoe in the country. By 1975, orders had topped 100,000 units, and with its blue upper with a yellow Swoosh, Nike’s innovation was spreading far and wide. And it wasn’t just about giving runners a better grip: the Waffle Trainer changed expectations of what a running shoe could feel like.

Nike never forgot about its iconic Waffle Trainers’ humble beginnings, and neither did the world: the Moon Shoe lives on today. One of the few pairs that exist from the original run famously sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2019. Also, in 2025, Bowerman’s hand-built Moon Shoe was reimagined for the first time, through collaboration between Nike and French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus. The collab took the original silhouette into an entirely new direction: blending the shoe’s racing origins with a modern ballet aesthetic, all while still capturing the look and feel of the original icon. Upon release, Jacquemus’ reinterpretation of the Moon Shoe was an instant classic. Sometimes, all you need is a new approach to an iconic silhouette and a history that actually means something.

From a waffle iron in the kitchen to the track, and now onto the runway, the Moon Shoe continues to break the mould. In April, Nike put out the first-ever general release of the iconic (and historical) shoe. After descending upon 2026, Nike’s Moon Shoe isn't just a reissue; it’s a return to the silhouette that started it all. A cultural mission. Today’s Moon Shoe is a palate cleanser. The inaugural release, with a sleek leather and nylon upper, featured a rich white upper accented by a big, black Swoosh. Now there are three new colourways, including navy and white, yellow and white and triple white.

Like the natural satellite that inspired its nickname, Nike’s Moon Shoe is something to marvel at. It took fifty years for Bowerman’s experiments to become the definitive fashion staple – a testament to the power of the long tail of innovation. The Moon Shoe that bridges the gap between a 1971 kitchen table and the 2026 street-style gallery, all with a tale that would have remained a legend if Bowerman’s son Tom hadn’t unearthed the original waffle iron while renovating. Today, that iron rests safely in the Department of Nike Archives at Nike World Headquarters. Meanwhile, the Moon Shoe is getting laced up by a new generation. Long live experimentation. Long live the waffle iron. The Moon Shoe is back, and it’s a specimen worth studying.