When tragedy strikes, everybody grieves and remembers in different ways. In the case of NYC graffiti artist FAUST, he has chosen to commemorate his late best friend, Sure, through a new Nike SB Dunk High design.

Dressed in deep black, the centrepieces of the unique sneaker are Sure and Faust’s graffiti tags embroidered in metallic gold thread at the outer ankle of the left shoe. The tags stand out over the solid black upper in impressive detail, even including the paint dripping effect one would see on a graffiti tagged wall. More of Faust’s signature elements show up if one looks closely at the design, such as black embroidery at the right shoe’s heel counter and “Sell Your Soul” imprinted in hardstyle font on the insoles.

The FAUST x Nike SB Dunk High will be dropping on 27 August 2022 as a skate shop exclusive release, for a retail price of US$130. Whether or not they will be undergoing a wider release is still up in the air, but we’ll keep you updated.

In other sneaker-related news, Tom Sachs is releasing another edition of his groundbreaking NikeCraft General Purpose Shoe.

To announce the upcoming release of these commemorative sneakers, FAUST posted a series of Sure-Faust graffiti tags on his Instagram with a caption quickly summarising the later years of Sure’s life before his tragic passing:

“Remembering Sure, my best friend and partner-in-crime. Brooklyn’s own, Sure traveled the world serving in the United States Marine Corps and rose to the rank of Sergeant by the age of 23. He did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and relief missions in New Orleans and Mali. But he was so prolific on the streets of New York, you would have never known he was away.

These are a few of our last tags together, caught in SoHo in 2010. He didn’t stay home for long. Rising through the ranks at such a young age, Sure never shied away from danger. Later that year, he tragically gave his life serving this country in Afghanistan and left behind an indelible mark.

RIP SURE 1986-2010″

– @faustnewyork