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Nike Daybreak: the sole that came from a waffle iron

The most famous story in Nike history sits under this shoe. Co-founder and track coach Bill Bowerman poured rubber into his wife’s waffle iron in the 1970s, looking for grip without the weight of spikes. The lugged sole that resulted became the hallmark of Nike’s early running shoes, and the Daybreak still wears it. Look at the underside and you’ll see those square lugs exactly like that, in gum rubber.

The rest of the shoe is equally honest. The upper is thin nylon with suede where it wears: the toe, the heel and the rim of the sole. The swoosh is large and continues down to the lower edge of the sole, and NIKE appears on the tongue and heel in red on a white patch. The sole construction is low and wedge-shaped, with a raised heel typical of running shoes from that era. This is a shoe without hidden technology; everything it does you can see.

One thing to watch for in the titles. Just over a fifth of the offerings are called Daybreak Type, and that is a different, more modern shoe that borrows the name but has its own construction. Anyone looking for the classic silhouette should choose a title without Type. Collaborations also appear, including with the Japanese label Undercover.

In Nike’s own seventies corner the Daybreak stands next to the Cortez, which comes from the same period but with an entirely different sole. Where the Cortez carries a flat sawtooth profile, the Daybreak is the purest surviving bearer of the waffle sole. Two shoes, one era, and the difference is literally under your foot.

On this page you’ll see which versions of the Nike Daybreak are hottest now according to the Hypescore, from what price they can be found and at how many shops they are in stock.