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It’s been about 16 years since I first learned about the Nike SB “Día De Los Muertos” Dunk Low. I don’t remember specific details, but, as was the case with most other SBs I became hip to in the early 2010s, I had to have been at my cousin’s apartment on the corner of Hughes Avenue and East 187th Street in the Bronx.
From ages 12–16, we lived on the web pages of Flight Club and pioneering outlets in the sneaker blogosphere, studying mostly Nikes and Air Jordans to ensure we knew exactly what was being rocked up and down Fordham Road, 3rd Avenue, and the Grand Concourse at any given moment. Basketball shoes and cross-trainers dominated the streets of our borough, but we still found it important to learn about the dozens of Dunks Nike Skateboarding had released since 2002 in the off chance that we spotted them in our day-to-day. Or, better yet, so that we wouldn't be stumped if ever we made a trip to the mecca of our adolescence at 254 Greene Street (later 812 Broadway).
Nike SB made it easy to want to learn about sneakers because every pair seemed well-thought-out. Collectors older than us might scoff at the tendency to give every colorway a nickname, but that's what was fun about so many early SBs: "Heinekens," "Mork & Mindys," "Homers," and the list goes on.
Two pairs that stuck with us emotionally more than others were the "Cinco De Mayo" and "Día De Los Muertos" pairs from May 2005 and November 2006, respectively, because they spoke to our Mexican heritage. (I had always envied so many of our fellow Bronxites who would proudly wear pairs of the Nike Air Force 1 featuring Puerto Rico's flag.) If I recall correctly, we didn't think about who designed these pairs because they weren't remembered in the same way that any Jeff Staple, FUTURA, or Stash project was.
Fast forward to October 2026: Who would’ve thought I’d be in Mexico City, connecting with the person responsible for Nike's original Day of the Dead homage?
Legally, his name is Christian Salinas Medina; to his Jewish community he's "Yohannes"—but in the early 2000s, he tagged the streets of el Distrito Federal as "NAHUAL."
"It’s basically your spirit animal in Mexican culture," he tells me over the phone. "When I was younger, I was really into the whole idea that we all have a spirit animal that defines us—where we draw our strength from."
Now 43, he's long left behind his life as a street artist to dedicate himself to various manufacturing and design ventures under the nickname/brand name of "N1°/NumberOneProject."
Today, Nov. 2, is Día de Muertos, a holiday dedicated to the remembrance of loved ones who’ve transitioned to the afterlife. Most notably observed in Mexico in some shape or form over the last 3,000 years, Day of the Dead has become a global phenomenon in recent history, leading to countless marketing campaigns, exhibits, product launches, events, and other efforts inspired by the annual tradition.
Twenty years ago, things looked a bit different: Día de Muertos could still be experienced without widespread commercialization—in particular from global brands. NIKE, Inc. helped change that (for better or worse) with the release of the SB Dunk Low “Dia De Los Muertos” (an incorrect and far too common translation of “Day of the Dead”) in November 2006.
The brand isn't doing anything to celebrate the pair’s 20th anniversary, but I still wanted to track down NAHUAL to speak about how the sneaker came to be; its legacy; his thoughts on subsequent Día de Muertos footwear; and what he would've wanted a second Nike collaboration to look like.
From Street Art to Window Displays
"Everything happened so fast," says NAHUAL as he reminisces about his Nike SB design.
"Around 2004/2005, I used to do Aztec-inspired street art. At one point, I began to make a name for myself in the streets and also began working in KULTE [which would become HEADQUARTER México]. I remember telling Ricardo Campa [founder and operator of HDQTR] 'Hey, you know what? I would like to work in your store because I like fashion. You don't need to pay me with money—I need you to pay me with product. I'll do your window displays.' I would do that while still painting the streets. The people at KULTE saw that people liked my work, that I had vision, and that I had a bit more grit than others, you know? I never held myself back. They would think, 'This guy steps up—he's not afraid to get his hands dirty. You can trust him. He does things right.'"
If NAHUAL was 23 today and trying to make a name for himself in the art world, he could almost exclusively rely on Instagram to get his work in front of the right people—especially if he resorted to viral stunts or over-the-top visuals. Before social media, artists were at the mercy of the Streets, luck, and visionaries like Campa to get solid looks. NAHUAL, with no formal schooling nor connections and from Mexico City's working-class Colonia Industrial, fell into this cohort.
However, his life-long ambition and God-backed instinct allowed him to make unlikely history: He was the first Mexican to design a Nike shoe. But, the project could've easily never happened.
"In late 2004, Ricardo told me and various other artists about a design expo for another brand," shares NAHUAL. "He gave us each a pair of their shoe and told us, 'You're each going to personalize a pair. Give it your all because brand execs will be there and they might recruit you.' I told him I'd do the shoe, but asked how he'd pay me. He told me with money, to which I responded, 'I don't want money—I want you to give me some Nikes.' I wanted some Air Force 1s that had shark teeth ["Tuskegee" Air Force 1 Mid] and he agreed."
"I had one month to customize the pair for the expo. In that month, I couldn't think of anything," recalls NAHUAL. "I would look at the shoe and say, 'I don't really like this silhouette—it's too plain.' It just felt like a drag. I would look at the shoe day after day and think, 'I have 10 days left; I have nine days left; I have eight days left,' and I would do nothing. Everyday, I'd also look at the Air Force 1 that Ricardo gave me and say, "This pair is just too fire.' So, one day, out of nowhere, I started customizing the Nikes, thinking about [KULTE's] window display because Ricardo would have them on sale at some point."
He continues: "Crazily, the day of the expo arrives and Ricardo asks me if I have me shoe. I tell him 'No' and he's shocked. 'Time got the best of me,' I told him. 'Cabrón, you had a month!' he replied. 'I know, but I couldn't, but I made this,' I said while putting the customized Nikes in his hands. He saw them and said, 'No f*cking way, dude! Put that away! You're crazy!' because we were obviously at another brand's event. One of the KULTE guys took the shoe and wrapped it in the only paper he found—papel para bolillo—but it was too late because people had already taken a bunch of photos of my Nikes."
Interestingly enough, NAHUAL remembers finding it odd that several attendees were wearing Nikes—"Nike de cabrones"—that you'd never see in Mexico. (I didn't ask him if he recalled particular pairs, but I imagine these were early Quickstrike (QS) drops.)
"The next day, Ricardo called me and said, 'You know what? First of all, you f*cked up because it was a [redacted] expo. But, I congratulate you because a bunch of Nike people were at the event, looking to poach artists. They saw you arrive with some Nikes in hand, saw how you didn't give a sh*t about [redacted], and want to meet you! Come to this restaurant in La Condesa [a trendy neighborhood in Mexico City] as soon as possible!'"
When he arrived to the spot, NAHUAL saw Campa sitting at a table with a handful of Nike directors. They’re all wearing a joyful expression on their faces. The 20-something-year-old’s unofficial representative had already showed the spokespeople for Oregon some of his work. With their interest further piqued, NAHUAL remembers the group asked him, “‘What do you think you can do for Día de Muertos?’”
He continues: “Since I was already doing Aztec imagery and liked Nike, I already had a Día de Muertos sketch! I took it to that meeting and told them, ‘How about this?’ When they saw it, they all looked stunned, got up from the table and left me with Ricardo; they started making phone calls all hysterically, as if I had told them their parent died. Five, 10 minutes later, they returned to the table—all excited—and said, ‘Congratulations! You’ll be the first Mexican to make a shoe with Nike!’”
"They introduced me to Nery Sandoval [Mexico’s Nike Sportswear and Nike SB Category Sales Manager from April 2005 to June 2009]. He tells me, ‘We like your sketch. You have around six months to make any changes. Once you’re done, we’ll send it to production after a couple of sample runs. If everything works out, your shoe will be out by Día de Muertos 2006.’”
(In recounting connecting with Sandoval, NAHUAL mentions that his design would help "start" Nike Mexico. The Swoosh had been operating in the country as a formal corporate entity since October 1992, but the business was very football-focused in that first decade. As the brand looked to grow in Mexico, it tapped Sandoval to recreate his successful strategy of driving brand heat through independent streetwear retailers in Canada across Mexico. Sandoval told the NO HYPE podcast by Laced Up MX in late 2024 that he thought of collaborating with a Mexican artist on a "Día De Muertos" Dunk as a way to cultivate "engagement sentimental" with local consumers, put Mexico on the map, and create demand for other Nike releases. He ran the idea by Sandy Bodecker, Nike SB's General Manager at the time, and got his full support. The broader SB team wanted the pair to be produced in the thousands and available globally (or at least in the U.S.) instead of just 666 units and exclusive to the other Americas like Sandoval originally envisioned, but Bodecker ultimately green lit Sandoval's plan in order to help grow Nike in Mexico. The Day of the Dead-inspired design was also offered to Canada and countries south of Mexico, but only the former was interested. Total production was increased to one thousand pairs, with the split being 700 for Mexico, 300 for Canada. Sandoval reaffirmed to NO HYPE that the project did what it had to do for energy around Nike product; he's credited it for "establishing the Dunk as the anchor of Nike Sportswears [sic] growth in Mexico," on his LinkedIn profile.)
Pre-Production: Not A Single "No"
Whenever working with designers, Nike typically shares a digital document made with Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software to help them plan every component of a sneaker. NAHUAL didn't wait for the official template—instead, he prepared his own digital render using the original sketch he showed Sandoval. With that, the Nike team got to work.
At the time, the Distrito Federal-native was vegan, which led him to pitch the Swoosh an uncommon ask: For the "Día De Los Muertos" Nike SB Dunk Low to be free of animal products.
"They told me, 'That'll be a challenge, but we aren't saying 'no,'" NAHUAL recalls. "Luckily, there were a lot of motivated individuals at Nike who understood my vision. They truly supported me all the way. I cannot complain—since day one, Nike gave me everything I asked for. There wasn't a single 'no.'"
NAHUAL says that there were only two rounds of samples before final production began, citing that his vision for the project was pretty clear from the start. Which confident artist wouldn't say that, right? And yet, the clarity with which NAHUAL breaks down his design and the pride heard in his voice suggest his claim is true.
Given the runway to explain his shoe, NAHUAL leaves no detail out.
Nike SB Dunk Low "Día De Los Muertos" Design Breakdown
"I knew a lot about Aztec culture, so a Día de Muertos shoe was the perfect opportunity to showcase all my knowledge," he shares. "I had an almost literary understanding [of the Aztecs]."
This was an understatement: He was well-versed in Aztec codices—pre-Hispanic manuscripts that documented everything from religion to major battles. One of his sneaker's most-important elements—the skull of Mictlāntēcutli (pronounced meek-tlahn-teh-koo-tlee; meaning "Lord of Mictlán")—derived from an Aztec codex.
"My interpretation was based on a codex because I wanted it to be purist—authentic to our culture—so that it was rooted in pre-Hispanic history and not be a cute little drawing like what you commonly see today for Día de Muertos projects. No—I went straight to the origins of Aztec culture. Any Aztec from years past, then, could look at the shoe and know that it was about the god of death."
NAHUAL speaks about his skull of Mictlāntēcutli design with great satisfaction: "It's powerful because it has something recovered from hundreds of years ago and displayed in the present [on a pair of Nike SB shoes]. It looks ancient, but modern at the same time."
Why does Mictlāntēcutli only appear on the left sneaker? "Because there is only one god of death," NAHUAL points out. "Printing two skulls would've invalidated its ideological accuracy."
"The skull has its mouth open because he represents the underworld. Once a year, he allows spirits in Mictlán to leave so that they can return home and be among family. [On the shoe,] the spirits exit from his mouth on the left foot, spread out across the right foot, and eventually return to his mouth [once the Day of the Dead holiday is over]."
The spirits NAHUAL refers to take the form of multi-colored skeletons throughout the 20-year-old Nike SB release. Their design is based on a plastic toy he and countless children across Mexico would receive around Día de Muertos. The version included on the pair of shoes was a vectorized scan of a skeleton toy he had.
"The color orange draws from the cempasúchil [pronounced sem-pah-SOO-cheel] flower [Mexican marigold]," he explains. "It grows in this season [and it's important because] orange is the only color that the dead can see on their return home from the underworld. [Think of the Disney-Pixar movie Coco—specifically the scene where they cross a long, orange-colored bridge.] You place those flowers at the entrance of your home to help the dead find their way."
"Purple is a melancholic color," he continues. It's common for papel picado [decorative tissue paper with cutouts] during the season." (Overlays feature a purple trim.)
"[Profile Swooshes] in black cobra are inspired by the feathered serpent, the god Quetzalcoatl [pronounced keht-sahl-koh-AHTL]."
Beneath a black midsole (a suggestion from Sandoval), there's a fiery orange-and-black translucent outsole. "The midsole divides the underworld underfoot from the realm of the living above," NAHUAL explains. "The outsole is translucent because it represents Mictlán, the lowest level where the dead rest. I used orange because I imagined [the underworld] full of lava—a place where spirits awaited their return. I wanted to evoke that while there, spirits lost their essence, their color." Only when Mictlāntēcutli let them out for Día de Muertos would these spirits regain their color, as seen across every black-colored synthetic suede panel on the upper, representing a portal between the living and the dead.
Both halves of the shoe are held together by bright orange midsole stitching: "Metaphorically, that orange thread is what binds you to death—there’s no escaping it."
NAHUAL extended the storytelling onto the insoles, replacing standard Nike SB-branding with his Mictlāntēcutli artwork in both shoes. "Slipping your feet into the pair and stepping on the insoles meant death was touching you for a second,” he reflects. "Death was telling you, 'Your feet rest on the ground, but at the same time they rest on me. Someday, you will be mine.’ Putting the pair on was [an act of reverence,] like a ritual saying, 'Today, death allows me to live and enjoy, but there's a day it'll come claim me.'"
Nothing special was done about the packing by the brand, but the didn't stop NAHUAL from celebrating his project with a custom box. Nike SB was in its Black Box era (February 2006 to September 2007), matching with the "Día De Los Muertos" Dunks. "It was coincidence," he says. "I customized between 18 and 33 boxes for Friends & Family at Guerrerrilla, printing skeletons on the black-and-purple packaging."
"Just think about it—everything I just told was was the vision of a 23-year-old Mexican from la Colonia Industrial," NAHUAL says. "All of that was in my head. I had a vision—I wasn't just designing something that looked nice, you know? Honestly, I don't think I was even a designer nor an artist. I mean, I truly think God anointed me. There was something in me that I had to get out."
By Nov. 2, 2006, NAHUAL's vision had taken over sneaker conversations across the globe. According to Sandoval, that original "Día De Los Muertos" Nike SB launch prompted the first release day lineups in Mexico City. He—and by extension Nike—knew they had something when they saw collectors from Japan and New York City lined up for the shoe. (NAHUAL shares that these SB fanatics from Asia made things a bit uncomfortable for him, his mother, and his sister—somehow, they discovered where the three of them lived and made their intentions known: "They printed a picture of the shoes and would say, 'Día de Muertos, Día de Muertos, sell me Día de Muertos!'" NAHUAL recalls. (His sister wasn't very fond of him around this time.)
The Nike SB team gave him 60 pairs of Dunks—some he resold for more than the $3,000 MXN box price [around $275 USD on launch day], some he gifted to friends, family, neighbors, and random people he'd cross paths with at parties.
(Today, pairs go from anywhere between $4,500–$10,000 USD.)
NAHUAL became a household name in the aftermath of that Mictlāntēcutli-inspired project, although he wasn't limited to footwear. Instead, he lent his creativity to other consumer brands, acted, and continued to explore his interests across different mediums. Some of his contemporaries began to get looks for collaborations timed to Día de Muertos, but none had quite the impact as the first.
"I tried to pack as much context—themes, symbols, imagery—as I could to come up with a pair that felt truly authentic to Mexican eyes, you know? I was never thinking about an international level. I told myself, 'I want any Mexican to look at this and get it.' And I think that's what made it resonate worldwide," he shared.
Slowly, NAHUAL stepped away from designing and street art, transitioning into editorial work for different magazines. He'd customize Nikes and create sneaker sculptures of high quality, all while occasionally revisiting his "Día De Los Muertos" graphics on apparel and accessories.
However, his next huge look wouldn't come until October 2018 thanks to Kyrie Irving and his Nike SB-fandom.
NAHUAL signed off on Nike Basketball using his artwork on a special-edition Kyrie 4 celebrating the NBA star's love of the Nike Skateboarding catalog. Appreciative, the folks from Oregon opened the door to the Mexican creative working on hoops product at some point. Ideas have been discussed and rendered, but nothing has stuck.
Though entirely curious about what an older, wiser NAHUAL might make with the Swoosh 20 years after their first linkup, the 43-year-old entrepreneur shares that he's been aware of the external pressure to follow up such a perfect design—awareness that's made him doubt reopening the Nike door. Still, he expresses complete confidence in being able to disrupt the field once again if he had the time and resources to focus on another original NAHUAL x Nike collaboration.
"As a designer, I would've liked if things fell into place for another pair of shoes," he expresses. "You know what I would've done after a sneaker inspired by death? A pair inspired by life—the Dunk of Life. I could've closed a loop."
NAHUAL shares that some of the concepts he had thought of for this sequel included a design inspired by nature; an all-white look; and a wear-away upper.
He also wonders why the brand hasn't re-released his pair in SB Dunk High-form, as it's done with other projects.
In the immediate future, he plans to strengthen his faith, work on his dream of establishing a Mexico-based footwear company, and encourage the next generation of Mexican creatives.
When asked what message he has for this cohort, NAHUAL says the following: "Create things to empty your heart, not to fill your pockets with money. When you make something authentic, success comes on its own, and the money follows. Once you have money and success, things become more restrictive and you don’t always have a way to empty your heart anymore. Back then, I emptied my heart—it was like crying with my chest wide open. Just look at everything that happened."