Here we have it, what might be the most out-of-nowhere lawsuit of 2026. Following the release of images from their corner shop-inspired Air Max 95 pack, Nike has officially been sued by the American chain, 7-Eleven. So how did this happen?
The shoe itself is part of the Convini pack, inspired by famous corner shops (or convenience stores, depending on where you’re from) and their significance in Japanese neighbourhoods. The first pair comes in 7-Eleven's trademark red, orange and green tricolour, while the second comes in a blue, red and white look in a nod to Japan’s Lawson chain.
We haven’t heard any noise from Lawson’s as of yet, but it's not hard to see what the problem is. For one, this isn’t an official collaboration. Nike’s obviously taken the product down from its site, but the colours were simply listed as Safety Orange and Sport Green. No acknowledgement of 7-Eleven. Interestingly, Nike was meant to officially collaborate with 7-Eleven on a pair of SB Dunks around the 2020 Olympics. But, as with a lot of things in 2020, COVID put that on hold. To rub salt in the wound, Nike was also planning on dropping these on 11 July, aka 7-11 Day.
Nike might have gotten away with this. If you follow sneaker outlets enough, you’ll find plenty of examples of generic GR colourways being unofficially associated with big brands and pop culture icons. The smoking gun appears to be not just the colours, but the corner shop-inspired insoles. Plus, the fact that these are two shop-themed shoes makes this a little harder to brush off as a coincidence.
So why does this make things interesting again? Well, for starters, it creates a little more buzz around a fairly standard GR AM95 pack, and now it's looking like they might not release at all. Second, it's a bit ironic given how litigious Nike has been. They famously sued MSCHF for their 'Satan Shoes' back in 2021, as well as Shoe Surgeon in 2024 for violating their trademarks.
Thirdly, this whole lawsuit may bring back memories of the 2000s Nike SB era, where things were a little more risky. The shoes frequently, albeit unofficially, brushed up against huge trademarks like Heineken, Jedi, and of course, Tiffany. That was until Freddy Krueger and New Line Cinema came around. And the last reason? Well, I mean… of all the groups to get sued by, 7-Eleven?
