Thematic sneaker releases go down around essentially every major holiday with many labels focusing on Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and Chinese New Year just to name a few. Another major event that often gets translated into footwear? St. Patrick’s Day. A celebration of Irish heritage that often ends with a blistering hangover or a stomach full of corned beef and cabbage. For decades we’ve seen brands create colorways specifically designed around this celebration of the lucky Irish and today we’re going through the best St. Patrick’s Day sneaker releases of all time. If you're in the St. Patty's spirit, all of these sneakers can be found StockX.
Nike Air Force 1 Low Premium St. Patrick's Day (2006)
A direct nod to Irish heritage from Nike, 2006s AF! Low Premium saw the humble Bruce Kilgore-designed silhouette get covered in patent leather overlays with most of it coming in green. Accenting white hits for the Swoosh, heel overlay, laces, sole, and branding allow the green to be even more prominent while a depiction of a leprechaun’s hat on the lateral heel ties everything together well.
Nike Air Max 90 St. Patrick's Day (2007)
A year after the previous entry on this list Nike took the liberty of crafting a St Patty’s-themed Air Max 90 complete with four-leaf clovers and gold accents. The former of the two details appear on the mudguard while the Swoosh logo gets a metallic gold makeover that pops amongst the various green shades of the rest of the sneaker.
Nike SB Dunk Low St. Patrick's Day (2022)
It’s always a good time when Nike SB gets in on holiday-themed releases as the division is one of the more creative sides of Nike and 2022’s St. Patrick’s Day SB Dunk fits the bill. An all-over green suede upper mixed with a golden hit on the Swoosh and a four-leaf clover on the lateral heel will make you feel like you found gold at the end of a rainbow.
Nike Air Force 1 Low Shamrock
More AF1s that honor St. Patrick’s Day came to us well past the 2006 release with 2021 bringing us a “Shamrock” shaded colorway with white accents. Aside from the various green shades across the sneaker, Nike added debossed four-leaf clovers to the heel overlay to give this pair some extra luck.
Nike Air Max 90 Shamrock
Similar to the 2007 Air Max 1 and the just-mentioned AF1 from 2021, the Nike Air Max 90 “Shamrock” featured almost identical colors to the AF1 and came with the same debossed four-leaf clover design on the mudguard.
Nike SB Dunk Low St. Patrick's Day (2005)
17 years prior to the latest SB Dunk Low “St. Patrick’s Day,” the skateboarding side of Nike crafted a nod to the holiday in ‘05 with an almost all-white SB Dunk Low that featured accenting hits of green. Unfortunately, there aren’t any super obvious details aside from the color scheme that this is related to St. Patrick’s Day, however, it is one of the rarer sneakers on this list.
adidas Dublin St. Patrick's Day
What better place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than in the capital of Ireland, Dublin? Well, adidas thought this would be fitting for an homage to the holiday in 2018 when they released their archival adidas Dublin silhouette in honor of St. Patty’s with an all-over emerald green suede-covered sneaker. Debossed patent leather on the tongue, shamrock graphics on the insole, and a golden hit of “Dublin” branding make this one of the more authentic tributes to St. Patrick’s Day.
Saucony Jazz St. Patrick's Day
Many of the sneakers previously mentioned on this list feature accenting hits of white alongside green shades for their tributes to St. Patrick, however, Saucony took a different approach in 2013 with the Saucony Jazz Low. Taking on a primarily black upper, the only visible hits of green come in the form of the stitching, laces, heel, and portions of the sole. To really drive home the connection to St. Patty’s Day, we see shamrock graphics appear on the mudguard and heel tab while a Celtic cross is present on the insole.
New Balance 990v4 Made In USA St. Patrick's Day
The city of Boston is well-known for its Irish heritage as the city's NBA team, the Boston Celtics, as well as political and religious ideologies, stem from the impact of Irish immigrants in the region. Keeping in theme with its hometown, New Balance crafted a 990v4 to celebrate the holiday of St. Patty’s Day. Though it doesn’t feature any graphics nodding to the holiday, it’s green theme and release in March of 2018 tie the sneaker to the occasion.
adidas Handball Spezial St. Patrick's Day
Another nod to St. Patrick from adidas, 2019 saw the German sportswear label bring its Handball Spezial to Ireland with an overt nod to the holiday. Covered entirely in green suede across its overlays (sans the amber hits on the Three Stripes and heel), golden Spezial branding with a shamrock made this sneaker that was apart of a three-pack of St. Patty’s sneakers stand out.
Saucony Shadow 6000 Shamrock
Saucony brought more nods to the holiday celebrating the lucky Irish with 2022’s Saucony Shadow 6000 “Shamrock” which featured a prominently embroidered clover on the tongue. Alongside this, the sockliner coming covered in a clover graphic while the white, green, and tan mixtures on the upper made the model a perfect sneaker for any St. Patrick’s Day outfit.
Concepts x Converse Weapon High St. Patrick's Day
Concepts, natives of Boston, fittingly celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with another New England-based company, Converse, in 2015 on their infamous Converse Weapon silhouette. The two-tone black/green build on the upper with a contrasting white sole unit made it (arguably) the best St. Patty’s sneaker of that year.
Nike SB Dunk High St. Patrick's Day
What most likely inspired 2022’s Nike SB Dunk Low “St. Patrick’s Day,” 2013 saw Nike SB bring us an SB Dunk High that came covered in green leather with metallic gold accents. Just like the aforementioned low-top, the SB Dunk High “St. Patrick’s Day” featured a white sole unit, however, the lack of shamrock graphics gives a low-top an edge in terms of a better homage to St. Patrick.
House Of Pain x adidas Campus 80s
Legendary hip-hop group House Of Pain teamed up with adidas way back in 2009 to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with co-branded details and a green-covered adidas Campus 80s. Alongside the band’s logo taking over on the tongue, we saw more nods to House Of Pain with “Fine Malt Lyrics” stamped in gold alongside the midfoot. Limited to just 1,500 pairs, the sneaker is a tough find today over a decade later.
