Nike Releases Limited Run of ‘Gold Mountain’ Dunks to Celebrate AAPI Month
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Nike is celebrating AAPI month with the launch of a new hi-top sneaker that celebrates the legacy of Asian Americans in fashion, sports and culture.
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The Nike Dunk High Gold Mountain Sneaker was released at a special invite-only dinner earlier this month at San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant, Mister Jiu’s. There, guests like Beef star Young Mazino, actor Daniel Wu, and Taiwanese singer Eileen Sho Ji, joined Chef Brandon Jew for a family-style meal, that also brought out notable Asian American artists, activists and business leaders to celebrate the “profound impact” of Asian culture in America.
Nike Dunk High Gold Mountain Sneaker
Jew helped to curate the event, alongside fashion retailer Darkside Initiative, and the creative agency Intertrend, whose founder and CEO Julia Huang was on hand to help kick off the evening. Huang says she’s been inspired to see more and more Asian Americans breaking through stereotypes and finding success — something she wanted to celebrate and promote.
“Our journey to be part of The Golden Generation Dinner was paved with a significant amount of serendipity,” Huang tells Rolling Stone. “Motivated by a desire to celebrate this year’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in a unique way, we aimed to showcase and gather notable Asian American figures in art, culture, and entertainment, all actively advocating for the AAPI community. We envisioned an event transcending a momentary celebration to spotlight a generational shift that emphasizes the profound impact of Asian Americans on our societal fabric.”
The location of the event was significant, with guests gathering in North America’s first-ever Chinatown (known to many as “Gold Mountain”). Still a vibrant part of the San Francisco landscape, Chinatown continues to be a hub for Asian artists, top chefs and creators these days, not to mention a popular filming location for recent films like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Similarly, Darkside Initiative says the Nike collab helps to honor “the people, values and culture that helped build one of the largest Chinese communities outside of Asia—and those who continue to make it thrive.”
Nike Gold Mountain Dunk Sneaker
Based on a classic Nike Dunk High silhouette, the “Gold Mountain” sneaker features an earth tone colorway that nods to the California landscape, with a blue sole inspired by the Pacific Ocean. A Gold Mountain graphic adorns the side of the sneaker, while the tongue and insole feature lotus flower detailing and characters spelling 旧金山 (translated to the “Old Gold Mountain”). The hope for whoever puts these sneakers on: that they’ll be blessed with good fortune in every step they take.
The Nike Dunks are quickly selling out online, with both sneakerheads and casual fans alike snapping up the shoe to support the AAPI community. As of this writing, the sneakers are still in stock online at Farfetch.com and StockX, with prices starting at $159.
And while this was a sneaker release tied to AAPI month, Huang says Asian excellence is something that should be celebrated all year long.
“It takes hard work to hold on to culture, to celebrate it, and to embrace it,” she says. “Asian Americans are breaking through generational stereotypes of what can and cannot be done by overcoming societal obstacles and preconceived expectations. More and more, we must continue to celebrate our diversity and amplify voices. We must continue to stand up, stand out, and speak up. Only by doing so do,” she concludes, “can we pay tribute to the richness of Asian American identity, history and culture.”
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