Are Nike Boots back?
Collaborations from Yeat, Stussy, and Wale have all entered the chat in recent months, making one wonder if the Swoosh’s archive of cold weather classics that are having a moment online are approaching actual motion outside.
Throughout the decades, Nike’s interest in the great outdoors—whether Mount Hood trails or DMV corners—has offered a welcome pause in programming to the televised sports sneaker initiatives they’re best known for. The boot category is as diverse as any channel within Nike, Inc., often more attuned to real world fashion dialogue than anything tied to balls or tracks.
This proves true once again in 2025 as both Baltoros and Goadomes are returning as retros, each rooted in outside exploration and hip-hop endorsement in two drastically different ways.
As autumn ends and winter approaches, Complex is here for a quick download on the past, present, and future of Nike Boots.
The Beginning: Nike Boots in the 1980s
It’s easy to forget how granola and grassroots the early days of Nike were. In 1981, nearly a decade into business and years before it’d launch a signature shoe in team sports, Nike Hiking debuted as a precursor to what would later become All Conditions Gear.
Magma and Approach boots released alongside Lava Dome trail shoes and water-resistant GORE-TEX jackets, positioning the Swoosh as an earthy-yet-innovative player in the space. Mostly muted uppers set in hairy suedes and dense mesh rested atop black rubber soles and often benefited from bright hits of color.
This balanced, slightly techy approach created the brand identity for Nike ACG as it entered the ‘90s.
All Conditions Gear: Nike Boots in the 1990s
This is not hyperbole or old head speak: no decade in sneakers meant more to Nike than the 1990s.
Entering the era at the apex of the Sneaker Wars, competition catapulted Nike design and innovation to space-age heights, creating some of the best product and marketing sportswear has ever seen. The amount of distance between a Nike release from the beginning of the decade to that of the end is unlike any other ten-year-run before or after.
Such is seen across Nike boots and the advent of All Conditions Gear, better known as ACG.
Early entries like the Air Terra ACG and Air Mowabb mirrored Air Max models and Huarache hoop shoes of the same time.
Big boots like the $225 Air Superdome ACG tipped all scales, setting the stage for Nike Boots as a tactical status symbol. By the time Y2K was approaching, trail runners like the Terra Sertig were edgy enough to transcend dirt and asphalt.
Between both spectrums came the definitive Nike Baltoro.
Beefier and bolder than ‘80s installments, the Baltoro caught fire thanks to Howie Mandel makeups bursting with color. Said shades took well to Polo apparel and technical jackets, speaking right to the spirit of boom bap era hip-hop.
Across the East Coast, Baltoro’s held weight in major markets like NYC and DC. The ‘90s gave way to a major outdoor boom by Nike thanks to early ACG offerings that leaned into LL Bean palettes but played well with street style of the time.
As mentioned, eventual Terra trail runners brought Baltoro energy back to the late ‘90s, offering less protection than the bulkier boots but the ability to wear year round. Polo Sport, Nautica, and North Face all acclimated to Terra styles, holding equal billing with Foamposites and Air Max models of the same time.
Nike Air Max Goadome: Nike Boots in the 2000s
Nike boots had energy entering the 2000s, but they certainly didn’t own the market.
Timberland took over hip-hop footwear, as did Air Force 1s, in a trend cycle not terribly different from today. In the early ‘00s, staple items such as 6” Boots and oversized white tees made room for outsized expression by way of throwback jerseys and emerging urbanwear brands.
Having a lot of clothes meant more than having a lot of shoes, with silhouette and layering holding totem importance. For Nike boots to break back in the conversation, they needed something meant more for everyday concrete wear than something expressive and originally intended for hikes.
Enter the Nike Air Max Goadome.
Dressed in rich leather with a puffy padded collar and visible heel-to-toe cushioning, the Carl Blakeslee creation competed with Timberlands in ways only Nike could. More durable than 6” Butters and comfier than Field Boots, Goadomes toed the line between staple and status symbol as the 2000s progressed.
Much of that momentum came from key markets of the DMV and NYC.
Across DC, Maryland, and Virginia, the Goadome was the perfect pair for those that watched The Wire and those that lived it. Steep Tech jackets and fur coats both made sense with the new Nike Boots, eventually brightened up by way of streetwear thanks to a young Wale’s musical tribute.
Over in New York, the Goadome gained favor from Jimmy Jazz and Foot Locker consumers looking to stay warm in the winter and rockstar studded rappers preparing for a hot summer. Jim Jones and other Harlem affiliates stretched the appeal of the Goadome from Avirex jackets to Chrome Hearts jeans. All the while, the Goadome proved trend proof and denim went from ultra baggy to heavy metal distressed.
As Goadomes gained ground city to city, Nike leaned into the East Coast groundswell by combining them with beloved Foamposite. The Nike Air Max Foamdome drafted off of Folarin’s favoritism of Penny Hardaway and the new age Nike boots, setting the stage for way more hybrids on the way.
The Hybrid Era: Nike Boots in the 2010s
In some senses, the Foamdome killed the Goadome from a mainstream perspective.
Yes, purists across the East Coast and Midwest who fell in love with the function still stood by the Goadome, but the Foamdome opened the floodgates for a massive amount of ‘sneakerboots.’
The Nike Air Bakin Posite Boot was a mouthful at the moment and the culmination of Nike Sportswear fusing everything retro basketball with Foamposite. It was essentially a one-off in regard to allure, carving out a path for mall-coded sneaker boots that sold strongly.
Over the ‘10s, Nike Air Max 90s, Jordan Spizikes, and Jordan 6 Rings all took to sneakerboot form or winterized updates with the later MJ hybrids arguably better as boots.
Previously, Jordan turned the 6 into a boot back in the early ‘00s and Nike winterized the ‘94 Barkely around the same time, but neither took like the models mentioned above.
Later in the decade, Nike relaunched ACG as a means to merge both boot worlds. Tech’d out black high tops with Flywire tech and modern cushioning catered to city fashion types like 13th Witness known for scaling buildings for dramatic photography.
The idea of introducing performance tech to the palette and players adored in big cities was a good idea but was without lasting impact.
Nike Boots Today and Beyond
Once again, Nike boots became divided between OG oddities and boundary-pushing projects that never really caught.
A return to Timberlands—anted up by Chrome Hearts embellishments—the rising popularity of Rick Owens, and the full-fledged adoption of Uggs gave new Nike boots little room to flourish. Lucky enough, an unexpected endorsement from Playboi Carti saw the Foamdome back in IG feeds in the 2020s.
Shortly after, A$AP Bari started posting ponyhair Goadomes and Yeat had his own ComplexCon collaboration. The Swoosh tapped Wale for a Friends & Family collab on the boot that put him on the map, adding to the seemingly strategic energy.
Quietly, this return of the Nike Air Max Goadome had been bubbling for a minute.
Early to mid-2020s collaborations with Supreme and contrast stitch GRs restored feelings for those enamored with ‘00s nostalgia if they were looking close enough. As mentioned previously, the Stussy stylings of the Baltoro and retooled takes on the Mowabb checked boxes for the OG heads, hitting a sweet spot for fans of traditional vintage.
So, are Nike Boots back? One could look at the tale of the tape and ask if they ever left.
In an era where rage rappers and streamers set trends and glorify the mid-2000s, a Goadome renaissance makes sense. Just the same, the cozy menswear-meets-vinage lane leaves plenty of room for Mowabbs and Baltoros in rotation.
At the moment, it feels unlikely that a "new" Nike Boot will hit the masses or even attain core fanfare. It’ll take dope design and probably a push from a UK rapper, Lil Yachty co-sign, or performance endorsement from gorp-groups to transcend.
Still, Nike Boots are literally and figurative as big as they’ve been in a decade, with decades of hits to pull from.