For a while, skate shoes were pretty tame, vans-looking shoes that didn’t look too far from your average beater pair of sneakers. Things changed, however, during the late 90s and early 2000s; the days of the future, Oakleys and transparent plastic.

 

Looking back on the 2000s, it’s easy to see a precise visual tapestry weaving throughout everything from phones to watches to shoes – yes, skateboard shoes. The D3 by Osiris is a shoe that has become the quintessential 2000s skate shoe. It couldn’t not; its presence was beyond anything that was out then and had been out before. It was undeniable – you could not walk past it on the shelf without picking it up and marvelling at it. They were the ‘chunky skate shoes’.

 

Were the D3s ugly? Was it too big? Were they even good to skate in? It doesn’t matter – they made a wave everyone was riding, éS, Lakai, Globe, etc. Designed by Brian Reid – co-founder of Osiris Shoes in 1999, the D3 was a flop until they graced the feet of the king of Nu Metal, Fred Durst, who sparked their virality. The name D3 comes from D for Dave Mayhew (the Osiris rider for whom the shoe was made; being his 3rd pro model shoe, the D was adorned a ‘3’ and thus the D3. The shoe we all know and love today, though, is their follow-up shoe, the D3 2001 – an even bigger, chunkier and more technical.

 

Alongside the hype of the shoe was drama that followed – to this day, Dave Mayhew claims designer credit while Brian Reid refutes this. When Osiris released shoes back in the day, they liked to say “Designed by our skater Dave Mayhew” instead of “Endorsed by our skater Dave Mayhew” – this is where the designer drama comes from. It’s like saying George Foreman was great at making grills when, in fact, he just put his face on them. Especially in recent years, Under Armour partnered with A$AP Rocky and Dave Mayhew to release their own version of the D3. They both have their own story, and the rest is history.