Are Nike Shoes Vegan?

Nike is a popular multinational business that originated in America, focusing on the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of footwear as well as many other products to do with sport and comfort. 

When Nike was first created, they might have focused primarily on shoes. However, since their sales skyrocketed and they became a household name around the globe, they have now expanded their business into equipment, apparel, accessories, and even services. 

Nike is the world’s largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and is still a major manufacturer of sporting equipment. The latter market is much larger than the former, which might be the only reason why Nike hasn’t managed to reach the top of the market just yet. 

In 2012, Nike raked in revenue over $24.1 billion in the fiscal year and was employing over 44,000 people over the world. In 2014, the company was valued at $19 billion, making it the most valuable company among the other sporting businesses. Just three years later in 2017, the brand was valued at $29.6 billion. 

So, we’ve established that Nike is an incredibly successful athletic apparel and equipment. However, can the products be enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike? Today we’re going to be looking at whether or not Nike shoes are vegan-friendly or not. 

Are Nike Shoes Vegan-Friendly?

Let’s get right to the point, shall we? Bear in mind that we are focusing on the shoes that Nike offers, not the apparel or other products they have for sale. 

When considering whether a business or product is vegan-friendly or not, there are two main considerations to take into account. For starters, are there any animal-based products used within the shoe? The second is whether or not the shoe has been created with any materials that have been tested on animals. 

With shoes, you should focus on two pieces of the shoe - the material that the upper is made of, and the adhesives used to bond the materials together. 

PETA states that the two most common materials used for shoes that are not considered vegan-friendly are leather and wool, as these two materials can come from animals’ skin or coats. Additionally, some adhesive materials that shoe manufacturers use are not vegan due to the animal-derived products used in them. 

Not every shoe manufacturer discloses the adhesives they use with their products, so a seemingly vegan-friendly shoe might not actually be vegan due to the adhesive used. However, you might not be able to find this information out easily. 

Nike’s customer support team states that Nike has both vegan and non-vegan shoe options on the market. Some of the Nike shoes available have leather uppers and therefore are definitely not vegan. 

So, some Nike shoes are vegan-friendly and some are not. Nike’s customer support team also added a list of 179 Nike shoes that are vegan-friendly. We have listed these below so that you can definitely know whether the shoes you choose are vegan or not. 

Choose a pair of shoes that we have listed below to be 100% sure that you are wearing a pair of vegan Nike shoes, both in terms of the uppers and the adhesives. 

A List of Nikes Vegan Shoes

Below are 179 shoes verified to be vegan-friendly by a Nike representative. It would be rather daunting if we left you to go through the entire list on your own! So, we have broken it down into 11 different categories to help you find shoes depending on what you need them for. 

Men’s Running

The following 28 shoes are vegan-friendly, verified by Nike themselves. 

• Air Cesium
• Air Coos
• Air Huarache Run
• Air Max 180
• Air Max 30/40
• Air Max 360
• Air Max 90
• Air Max Moto
• Air N’Sight
• Air N’Sight (4E)
• Air Pegasus
• Air Pegasus (4E)
• Air Run Dual-D II
• Air Structure Triax
• Air Validus
• Air Vomero
• Air Zoom Elite (2)
• Air Zoom Hayward
• Air Zoom Miler
• Dart IV Plus
• Nike Free 5.0 (all styles)
• Nike Free Trail 5.0
• Nike Impax Revolution Trainer
• Nike Shox 2:40
• Nike Shox FSM
• Nike Shox Ride III
• Nike Shox TL IV
• Nike Shox Turb OH

Women’s Running

Likewise, there are also plenty of vegan shoes from Nike for women to wear while running. 

• Air Coos
• Air Huarache Run
• Air Max 180
• Air Max 30/40 II
• Air Max 36
• Air Max 360
• Air Max 90
• Air Max Moto
• Air Pegasus
• Air Structure Triax
• Air Zoom Apace
• Air Zoom Elite
• Air Zoom Hayward
• Air Zoom Percept
• Nike Free 4.0
• Nike Free 5.0 V2
• Nike Free Trail 5.0
• Nike Impax Revolution Trainer
• Nike Shox 2:40
• Nike Shox Now
• Nike Shox Ride III
• Nike Shox TL
• Nike Shox Turb OH

Men’s Track & Field

Nike has plenty of vegan shoes that are ideal for running track and field, and we have them listed below.

• Air Zoom Katana Cage II
• Air Zoom Katana Racer
• Air Zoom Marathoner
• Kennedy XC
• Monsterfly
• PV Lite
• Rival D Plus II
• Zoom Eldoret II
• Zoom Forever
• Zoom HJ II
• Zoom Jav
• Zoom Lanang St
• Zoom Lisista
• Zoom Long Jump III
• Zoom Maxcat
• Zoom Miler
• Zoom Miler XC
• Zoom Powercat
• Zoom Rival S III
• Zoom Rotational III
• Zoom Streak XC
• Zoom Superfly G5
• Zoom Waffle Racer IV
• Zoom Waffle XC V

Women’s Trail Running

The following Nike shoes are vegan-friendly and perfect for women’s trail running. 

• Air Alvord IV
• Air Max Assail III
• Air N’Sight
• Air Run Dual-D II
• Air Validus
• Air Zoom Kyotee
• Air Zoom Steens III
• D4C2 Strap Runner
• Dart IV Plus
• Nike Recoupe
• Nike Shox Junga

Men’s Training

Nike offers 10 shoes that are vegan-friendly and ideal for training. 

• Air Dual-D TR
• Air Max 360 Trainer
• Air Max 90 TR
• Air Max Resolution II
• Air Trainer Huarache 2K6
• Nike Free Trainer 7.0
• Nike Impax Interine Ltr
• Nike Shox Explodine
• Zoom Haven II
• Zoom Vick IV

Women’s Training

Below are a list of vegan-friendly Nike shoes to be used with women’s training. 

• Air Max 180 Trainer
• Air Max 90 Trainer
• Air Max Agora Mid
• Air Max Melodic
• Air Max Resolution II
• Air Mix Down
• D4C2 Trainer
• Nike Free Trainer 7.0
• Nike Impax Interine
• Nike Incyc Trainer
• Nike Shox MC
• Nike Slat Trainer Pro
• Steady III

Men’s Tennis

Nike offers four pairs of vegan-friendly tennis shoes, which are listed below. 

• Air Max Breathe 3
• Air Zoom Revive
• Air Zoom Vapor 3
• Air Zoom Court 2 Court

Men’s Soccer

The next shoes are all vegan-friendly and perfect for playing soccer. 

• Air Max Total 365
• Air Zoom Control
• Air Zoom Control FS
• Mercurial Talaria III FG
• Mercurial Talaria III SG
• Mercurial Vapor III FG
• Mercurial Vapor III SG
• Nike First Touch FS
• Nike First Touch Mesh
• Nike Mercurial Vapor 365
• Nike Noventa IC
• Nike Noventa TF
• Nike Noventa VT
• Nike Tiempo Natural IC
• Nike Tiempo Natural TF
• Nike Tiempo Natural VT
• Nike Total 7 VT
• Steam FGTotal 90 Shift FG
• Total 90 Shift IC
• Total 90 Shift MG
• Total 90 Shift TF
• Zoom Total 90 Supremacy FG
• Zoom Total 90 Supremacy SG
• Zoom Total 90 Supreme FG
• Zoom Total 90 Supreme SG
• Zoom Total 90 Supreme TF

Men’s Football

The following shoes are ideal for playing football and are manufactured with zero animal-derived products. 

• Air Astrograbber
• Air Astrograbber ¾
• Air Zoom Apocalypse IV
• Air Zoom Blade II D
• Air Zoom Blade II Turf
• Air Zoom Boss D
• Air Zoom Boss Shark
• Air Zoom Boss Turf
• Air Zoom Super Bad
• Blade II Shark
• Blade II TD
• Land Shark
• Land Shark Mid
• Land Shark Mid Plus
• Land Shark Mid Plus Wide
• Open Field Boss ¾ (3E)
• Speed TD
• Strike Force
• Strike Force ¾
• Super Speed D
• Super Speed D ¾
• Vapor Jet TD
• Vick III D
• Vick III Shark

Men’s Basketball

Here are three types of shoes that are ideal for playing basketball, all vegan-friendly. 

• Air Finesse Uptempo
• Air Zoom Huarache 64
• Nike Shox Bounce

Men’s Sandals

Nike also offers vegan-friendly sandals. 

• Air Deschutz CVT
• Air Moray Slide
• Air Moray Thong
• Atee Thong
• Bati Slide
• Benassi Swoosh
• Celso Thong NTS
• Celso Thong Plus
• Land Slide
• Santiam 4
• Straprunner VI
• T90 Slide

Summary

You cannot say that Nike is completely vegan-friendly as they offer shoes made of leather. However, they do offer plenty of shoes that are still vegan-friendly and therefore can be enjoyed by vegans as well as non-vegans. They also offer a great range of shoes so that you can wear them no matter what you are needing them for.