To tell if your Dunk highs are rel or fake, make sure to check the stitching on the back of the shoes. Fakes always have thinner stitching.
1. Size tag
The fake pair’s inscription about the date of manufacturing is too thin and too narrow.
Most visible if you look at the “01” text. It is too narrow on the fake shoes.
The fake Nike Dunk Highs have their “UPC” text and the numbers are yet again too narrow, but also too thick.
The”CN” inscription is too thin on the replica Dunk Highs.
The fake pair has its “MADE IN VIETNAM” text too thin (this goes for all four lines of text).
The fake pair’s Nike website (last line) is too thin, while the real text is thicker.
Expert's Opinion - Let us verify your Nikes:
2. Rear stitching
The fake Dunks have their stitching lines at the wrong thickness.
The four lines inside the patch in the middle of the shoes are too thick and short.
On the fake pair, the two horizontal lines of stitching that come from the midsole and go to the upper side of the shoes are too thin and boxy.
The authentic Nike Dunk High pair has thicker and longer horizontal stitching lines, unlike the fake pair’s thin and small stitches.
A quick mention:
The steps we’ve written so far are the BEST ways to authenticate this item
The next few steps are still reliable methods…
… but they apply to non-top-versions of replicas available for this item
If in doubt, we recommend double-checking the steps we’ve explained above this line.
3. Toe box
The fake Nike Dunk High shoes have a thinner/slimmer toe box.
The authentic shoes indeed have their toe box thick and pretty bulky.
That’s not how even an authentic but worn pair should look. Even a worn pair of legit High Dunks pair will have their toe box bulkier than the fake pair’s toe box from the image above.
4. Swoosh
The fake Dunks have their stitches on the logo being at the wrong thickness and length.
The fake Dunks have their threads too thin, and how the authentic ones are visibly thicker.
As for the length of the stitches, the fake shoes have their threads too long.
The fake Swoosh doesn’t have its stitches fit deep into the leather.
On the other hand, the authentic Dunk High Nikes have their stitching lines fit deeper inside the logo, as they have a thicker perforation look when compared to the fake pair’s thinner look for the stitches.
5. Tongue
The replica pair has its two registered trademark “®” symbols being too thick and too boxy.
The fake pair also has its bottom side’s “®” character being too close to the letter “N” in the “NIKE” text.
The fake pair has its bottom sides of the letters in the “NIKE’ text being too curvy and too thick, as the letters come out of the patch too much.
Back to the legit Nike Dunk Highs, you can see how their “NIKE” text has its letters sharp and properly cut since they are not placed any close to the bottom “®” character.
6. Midsole
The fake shoes have their stitches badly attached to the sole of the shoes.
The stitches on the fake shoes are bad as they come out of the midsole, while the authentic shoes have their threads in their place, without coming out of the shoes.
Shortlist: Tell if Dunk High is fake in 30 seconds
Verify the size tag inside each shoe, as most of the fake pairs present their inscriptions at different font weights than the real deal.
Look at the back of your shoes. The replica Dunk High pairs usually have their stitching lines at the wrong thickness.
Brief the toe box of your High Dunks, as the replica Nike Dunk High pairs usually have their toe boxes too thin.
Check the Nike Swoosh logo on the side of your shoes, since the fake pairs commonly have their stitching threads too thin and too long.
Analyze the badge on the tongue of your High Dunks. In most cases, the fake Nike High Dunks have their text badly font-weighted.
Examine the stitching on the midsole of your shoes, since the fake pairs usually have their stitching too little visible.
The 6 detailed steps outlined above might not be so practical when you are in a hurry or when you want to buy sneakers online.
That is why we have compiled this quick 60-second solution to authenticating your sneakers.
Expert Dunk High authentication
If you need help with the authentication of your Nike Dunk High we’ve got you covered.
All you have to do is send us good-quality pictures of your High Nike Dunk sneakers and we will get back to you with the results within 24 to 48 hours. The results will also come with a report on why we believe your sneakers are fake or authentic.
That brings us to the end of our real vs fake Nike Dunk High legit check guide. We will continue to update this article as better and newer comparisons are put out.
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About the Author
David is the co-founder and co-CEO of Legit Check By Ch. David's experience: 5+ years of creating educational content in the fashion industry. 6+ years of authenticating luxury items. Currently, David is the Head Editor of the LCBC Library, where 1,000,000+ words have been published, in free guides, for over 1,000 items.
