Caitlin Clark’s signature shoe, the Nike Caitlin 1, will drop on Oct. 1. The brand confirmed the release date of the highly awaited sneakers on Wednesday following her weeklong not-so-subtle hints on Instagram.
Although the shoe will not arrive until early fall, Clark debuted a pair on Thursday against the Atlanta Dream. After testing the sneakers during her warmups, she unsurprisingly gave a glowing recommendation.
Caitlin Clark Raves About Yet-To-Be-Released Caitlin 1s
Roughly six months before the announcement of the release date of the Caitlin 1s, the Indiana Fever superstar appeared on “The New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce” podcast to share information about her signature shoe.
Clark noted that the Kobes, the shoes she has worn since college, can sometimes feel a little rigid, causing her to struggle late in games. With the Clark 1s, she added that “the technology that we’re going to put into it isn’t anything that they’ve ever put into a basketball shoe before.” Without yet revealing the full details, she already ramped up the excitement for the sneaker’s expected performance.
Fast forward to Thursday, after testing the shoe, Clark couldn’t be prouder of what she and Nike accomplished.
“As a young kid, you love basketball sneakers, you always want the best sneakers. Now, I feel like I have the best basketball sneaker, and it has my initials on it,” Clark said.
Caitlin Clark on debuting her signature shoe tonight:
“As a young kid like you love basketball sneakers, you always want the best basketball sneakers. Now I feel like I have the best basketball sneaker…” pic.twitter.com/7ofkx38FiN
— Kyle Ingram (@SnapshotKyle) June 18, 2026
The two-time All-Star said in Nike’s press release that she wanted the shoes to “reflect how I play: fast, confident, and ready to let it fly.”
According to the brand website, the Caitlin 1s have a “responsive Air Zoom Turbo unit paired with Cushlon foam” to give the backcourt standout the cushioning she wanted to improve on from the Kobes. Additionally, the Opticast, a never-before-used upper, “delivers lightweight, locked-in support” for her to push the pace of the game without “feeling weighed down.”
Clark added in the brand’s product information that “Nike and I really crushed it,” so her latest claims about the shoe were unsurprising.
The tech and specifications weren’t the only aspects highlighted in the collaboration between Clark and Nike. The racer blue colorway, which Clark and Nike teased to their fans before the official photos were released, was eye-catching.
Before Thursday’s contest, the former Iowa phenom remarked, “I’ve never had so many people staring at my feet when I was warming up and taking pictures of my feet, which is a little weird, but I’ll let it slide in this scenario.”
Clark’s game is usually what catches people’s attention. She is easily one of the WNBA’s premier scorers and passers. On Thursday, the focus was on her shoes, which she promised were the best on the market.
