SAMPLEDNike SB Gives the Air Force 1 a Wheat Workboot-Inspired Streetwear Drop
The Nike SB Air Force 1 Low "Flax and Black" hit SNKRS today at 2 PM for $120 — a hairy flax suede AF1 with a gum sole, SB dubrae, and just enough skate-shop pedigree to feel earned.
Nike SB dropped the Air Force 1 Low "Flax and Black" today, June 9, 2026, at 2:00 PM on SNKRS (opens in a new tab) for $120, style code HM8517-200. The shoe takes the classic AF1 silhouette and rebuilds it with skate-ready construction and a premium flax suede upper finished with a gum rubber outsole.
It is, on first look, the Air Force 1 you already know: chunky midsole, perforated toe, six-eyelet lacing. Then your eye catches the texture. The upper is built from a hairy, almost workboot-grade flax suede that pushes the silhouette away from boutique-leather AF1s and toward something you'd actually scuff on a curb. A matching gum outsole runs from heel to toe, the foxing stripe and midsole tinted to the same tobacco hue so the whole shoe reads as one solid wheat block.
A skate-shop AF1, not a basketball relic
What separates this from a standard "Wheat" AF1 retro is the SB construction. According to early product listings on Sneaker Bar Detroit (opens in a new tab), the pair carries Nike SB's skate-tuned tweaks under the hood: a reinforced toe panel, padded collar and tongue cushioning meant to survive ollies, and a Zoom Air unit in the heel in place of the standard AF1 sole.
The dubrae is stamped "SB-1," the tongue label reads "NIKE SB / AIR FORCE 1" in black on flax, and the insole is a plaid black-on-orange pattern that nods to the brand's flannel-and-corduroy fall palettes.
It is, in other words, a skate shoe that wants to be confused for a fashion shoe — and a fashion shoe with the receipts to back up an actual session. Sneaker Bar Detroit notes the rollout includes select skate retailers alongside Nike.com, which is the right distribution shape for a pair Nike clearly wants to land with skaters first and resellers second.
Why the wheat keeps working
The Air Force 1's history (opens in a new tab) is, by now, almost too well-rehearsed: 1982 debut, first basketball shoe with Nike Air, retired, brought back, eventually outgrowing the hardwood entirely. The shoe's second life has always been street, and the wheat colorway is the version that travels furthest outside sneaker circles. It reads as workwear. It reads as hip-hop. It reads, more than anything, as winter.
Putting that colorway on the SB version is the move. The standard "Wheat" AF1 has been reissued enough times to feel like a default. The SB Flax and Black reframes it for a 2026 audience that grew up on Dunks, that wants its AF1s a little chunkier and a little weirder, and that will absolutely wear a pair of suede sneakers in the rain because the gum sole and reinforced toe say it's allowed.
The outsole is where the SB lineage shows clearest: a full gum tread with the familiar AF1 circle-pivot points, restamped with a "NIKE SB" patch where the herringbone meets the arch.
The drop, briefly
- Shoe: Nike SB Air Force 1 Low "Flax and Black"
- Style code: HM8517-200
- Price: $120
- Release: Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 2:00 PM ET on Nike SNKRS (opens in a new tab) and select skate shops
- Build: Premium flax suede upper, gum rubber outsole, padded SB collar, plaid insole, "SB-1" dubrae
If you missed the original Wheat AF1 (opens in a new tab) waves over the last two decades, this is the one to grab — and if you didn't, this is still the one to grab, because Nike SB just made the wheat AF1 a skate shoe again.