Ever since production began on Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s pre-millennial sports flick starring Josh O’Conner, Mike Faist, and Zendaya, reactions have flown faster than an elite-level forehand. Following the movie’s box-office debut this past weekend, users on X reveled in explicating the love triangle at the center of the plot, scrutinizing every sweat-soaked frame like they were poring over outfits in r/malefashionadvice.
The analogy isn’t far off: With Jonathan Anderson overseeing costume direction, Challengers was all-but-guaranteed to stoke a frenzy of chatter in the fashion world—Loewe, the Spanish brand where Anderson is creative director, has already started selling an “I Told Ya” shirt inspired by the one Zendaya wears in the movie. But the deepest fashion cut might be the most surprising: O’Connor’s Patrick Zweig swears by the Nike Killshot 2, a retro-looking sneaker with a roller coaster history.
The first version of the Killshot was introduced in the late ‘70s, but its modern-day story really begins in 2009, when J.Crew reintroduced the silhouette to the selvedge-wearing masses. According to menswear lore, the big-box retailer needed a win amid declining sales, so it swapped out the original Killshot’s mesh uppers for leather, added a gum sole, managed to keep the price under $100, and stumbled onto a smash hit in the process. For a decade, J.Crew was the only place to buy a pair, and every time it announced a restock, customers ransacked the inventory like teenagers let loose at Supreme.
By 2019, the very same year Challengers takes place, the Killshot had proved so popular that Nike finally released it via its own channels, in an expanded range of new hues. In a sly bit of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it anachronism, O’Connor wears the shoe in scenes set in both 2009 and 2019, in the original white and blue colorway. (The sneaker even makes a cameo in that soon-to-be-infamous churro scene, which we’ll let you explore for yourselves.)
Much like Tashi Duncan’s tennis career, the Killshot once looked unstoppable—until, suddenly, it wasn’t. But if Challengers‘ box office run is any indication, the silhouette might be poised for a timely resurgence, thanks to guys like Mark Ronson and Shawn Mendes (and no shortage of anxious cool-hunters chasing the next Samba).
Whether you’re familiar with the sneaker’s history or not, it’s still the easiest way to borrow some of movie’s prodigious court-inspired style chops. The price of Loewe’s “I Told Ya” shirt? $330. The Killshot, on the other hand, still costs a cool $90. Game, set, match.
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