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I’m no stranger to crater foam, but this line champions it! Nike Space Hippie debuted last year as part of Nike’s Move To Zero program and focuses on reducing waste and emissions.

Space Hippie and “This is Trash” as a theme is inspired by theoretical life on Mars, where resources are limited and nothing goes to waste. This is part of the brand’s move towards increased sustainability.

Each Space Hippie Shoe is a different type of fit. The 01 is like a low top running shoe. The 02 and 03 change the cut to a mid and a high respectively. The 04 is a lifestyle running shoe with slight Footscape vibes. Overall there’s a range of cuts and styles in the line.

Initial Thoughts on the Space Hippie

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As of right now, I own the 01 and 04. I wasn’t paying attention to these shoes when they dropped, so I’m not sure if they sold out or not. I’m going to guess not, seeing as I was able to get them on sale 7 months after release.

The price made these a good entry points into the Space Hippie series. I’m not going to lie, that was a huge factor in going with these kicks specifically. I wanted something from the line, without too high of a commitment. Luckily, the shoes are nice looking in my opinion. Futuristic in the right ways, while still remaining not too over the top.

These are the kind of shoes that turns heads in louder colorways. Of course, the shape of the midsole is definitely unusual enough to be attention-getting.

Pairs I Have

For the 04s pair I have, the mostly grey and black knit helps a lot with keeping these as low key looking as possible. Meanwhile the hits of orange and the crater foam speckling add enough pop to keep it from being too boring.

The 01s are a bit more exciting but still have a muted quality to the midsole and upper. Pretty much the swoosh and the laces add the most pop to the sneaker. The upper is still mostly grey although it has some volt mixed in.

I do feel some sense that I’m doing a good thing by purchasing a shoe made with the environment in mind. Most of the shoes I buy are covered in leathers and suedes, which I am a fan of. Still, to get something outside of the norm that’s also somewhat sustainably made adds another dimension to the collection. I haven’t had a pair of footscapes in a while and the 04s remind me of a flyknit version with more confetti stubble on the midsole.

Details/Materials

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Each pair in the line up has a unique look and lacing set up.

On the 04, which I currently own, starting at the tongue we have an swoosh and 04 on a nylon tongue tag. This all sits on what’s basically an attached tongue.

The 01 has a more sock-shoe set up so the tongue is basically a pulltab. It reads Nike a couple of times in the Space Hippie font with a swoosh and 01 at the bottom.

The whole upper on both models is basically all one material. The eyelets on the 04 use a flywire type setup. On the 01 you lace through some eyelets made of rope.

On the inner toe of the 04 we get a small embroidered swoosh. Moving to the side we get an embroidered swoosh. On the back of the 04we have a pullstrap with Nike stitched onto it in the Space Hippie font. The 04 just has the Nike Swoosh Pinwheel logo on a blue pulltab.

The insole on the 04 is plain except for the Nike Swoosh Pinwheel logo. The 01 doesn’t seem to have an insole! You are basically right on the midsole in them. The outsole of the 04 has a couple different shades of the regrind material. It also comes up the back of the shoe and we have a swoosh embossed at the end. The 01 is basically all one color on the outsole with white showing through and a swoosh and Pinwheel Logo towards the back.

Included Accessories

The 04 include skinny oval laces while the 01 have more of a rope lace. These ship in a brown shipping-box-looking box that’s apparently made from 90% recycled material. The inside is plastered with the Space Hippie logo and slogans. The idea initially was for the Space Hippies to come single boxed where the shoebox is the shipping box. However, both my pairs of Space Hippies shipped double boxed.

Overall, there’s no extras included with these, which is the point, zero waste. Maybe it’s still expensive to make things out of recycled material. The price seems high to me otherwise. Still, I got them on heavy discount and at at those prices these are a steal!

How is the Quality?

The upper on the sneaker is made with what Nike calls “Space Waste Yarn”, a form of flyknit made from 85-90% recycled content, including plastic bottles, discarded clothing and other scrap material. As such, it’s tough to guage the quality in the same way that I might when looking at a shoe made from more traditional leathers and suedes.

The flyknit seems sturdy. Of course it has enough give to fit like it is supposed to, but I don’t get the impression it will rip easily with regular use. Overall, I think if you know what to expect from a flyknit shoe with a flywire lacing set up, the materials should be satisfactory for you.

I’m not seeing that many QC errors if any on my pairs. This is unusual for Nike, but welcome. I’m not getting any “cheap shoe” vibes from how the shoes look as a whole, so I’m going to say the craftsmanship is decent on these.

How Do The Nike Space Hippies Fit?

Nike Space Hippie Sizing: The Nike Space Hippies utilize knit uppers designed to conform to the foot, which gives a comfortable fit at true to size.

I went true to size on both models.

On the 04, this translates to a generous fit. The aren’t super snug, but a full size down feels like it would have been overkill. The flywire setup does a decent job of getting the foot locked in. The 01 fits a bit more snugly but not tight. I do feel more of the sock-shoe feeling on the 01 vs the 04.

The flyknit upper overall gives us a very comfortable and custom feeling fit on both models I have. The upper isn’t padded, so while these don’t have any plush cushiness on the sides or top, they still feel comfy.

Are Nike Space Hippies Comfortable?

The Space Hippie 01-03 includes ZoomX scraps in the midsole which makes it more comfortable than the Space Hippie 04. The 04 has a harder feeling midsole.

The midsole is made out of Crater Foam which uses about 12% Nike Grind rubber mixed with regular midsole foam. That’s what gives most Move To Zero midsoles that random, speckled look. The Space Hippie 01-03 uses scraps from ZoomX foam in a way that uses about half the emissions. The Space Hippie 4 uses recycled contents from less expensive foams, so there’s very little or no ZoomX in them.

Underfoot on the 04 we just have an insole and the crater foam midsole and outsole. The foam they use here is fairly sturdy, so there’s not a lot of squishiness or bounce to this particular model. I was kind of reminded of Roshe Runs a bit on just wearing them around the house. Walking around in them felt a bit clunky; the outsole hits the ground and makes a sound like it’s hard! The 04 isn’t the comfiest shoe I own by far, but it’s not uncomfortable. The upper for me really helps a lot though as far as how good these feel.

The 01s are a big step up from the 04 on underfoot comfort. The midsole has a lot more give and some squishiness from including ZoomX in the regrind. Overall for long term comfort and walking around for a while, I’d pick the 01 over the 04.

Conclusion

I am curious to try other Space Hippies in the line. I do like the pairs I have overall and have seen some other colorways I’m feeling. I’m also glad Nike is doing more things like this in order to be more environmentally conscious. I’m interested to see where it all leads as far as new models and incorporating more and more into existing silhouettes.

While the sneakers aren’t the most complicated build and the comfort varies with model, they all still looks nice in my opinion. I like the really unique look of the midsole and the overall design of the sneaker. The quality of the flyknit uppers seem decent and help the comfort a lot on the shoe. I think we’ll see a lot of colorways on the Space Hippie models hit sales and on discount the price is definitely right on these. Best of all, they look great on feet!

Where To Cop the Nike Space Hippie

While in production, Space Hippies release regularly on the Nike website. As for the pairs featured in this article, you can find the Iron Grey Space Hippie 04 on eBay. The Wolf Grey 01s can be found on eBay

Shop for all Space Hippies on: eBay