Caitlin Clark Gives Jimmy Fallon Exclusive Taylor Swift-Inspired Nike Shoes

Caitlin Clark handed Jimmy Fallon a pair of her unreleased “Friendship Bracelet” Nike Caitlin 1 on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Friday. The pair had “Tonight Show” on it, and Fallon put them on before the interview was over.

Fallon’s pair is the only one outside Clark’s own so far, by her account. Taylor Swift fans have traded beaded friendship bracelets at her concerts since the Eras Tour opened in March 2023.

“Obviously, I’m a big Taylor fan,” Clark said. “She’s the best. And I think a lot of my games, people always bring friendship bracelets. They want to trade. So I was like, let’s put it on a shoe.”

Clark debuted the colorway at Indiana Fever practice Aug. 26. The Philadelphia Inquirer described colorful beads worked into fuzzy rope laces that spell out “CC 22,” a bead graphic printed on the insole, and an off-white upper with pastel undertones.

Clark expects it out in late February.

“So they come with charms, and then everybody will be able to kind of make it their own, which I think is fun because you can pick a color, but you don’t really get to customize the shoe and you buy it off the shelf,” Clark explained.

Nike released the Caitlin 1 on Oct. 1. It retails for $140 in North America and $135 in select global markets. Big kids’ sizes run $115 and little kids’ sizes $105, and Nike’s site lists a “Midnight Fever” version among the current pairs.

The launch colorway was blue, paired with an inverted yellow version. Fallon pointed to both on the show, and Clark said the yellow is already out. By late August, Clark had revealed more than 10 colorways, the Inquirer reported, including “Racer Blue,” “Yellow Zest,” and “University of Iowa.”

Before her signature model, Clark spent years playing in Nike’s Kobe line. According to Nike, she went to its designers with three things to solve for: a quicker first step, more separation on her step-back, and a faster shot release.

“Everything in the shoe ladders back to helping her achieve those goals,” Alex Zerzan, an expert product line manager for Nike Basketball, said in Nike’s release. “I don’t know that I’ve worked with an athlete who has been this involved in their product. Her fingerprints are all over this shoe.”

Nike calls the upper Opticast. Hundreds of small nodes run across it, shaped as “CC” on the lateral side and “22” on the medial side. Along the forefoot, the nodes rise into a raised wave meant to support step-backs and lateral cuts.

Underneath is a forefoot Air Zoom Turbo unit over full-length Cushlon foam.

The logo is two Swooshes, one semi-translucent and layered over the other, forming two C shapes. Zerzan said Nike went through more than 300 versions of the mark.

Two messages sit under the outsole. One reads “Shoot More Threes.” The other reads “This was never a long shot.”

Clark made 114 3-pointers in 2026, fourth in the WNBA, according to the Fever. She averaged 22.3 points and 8.3 assists in 40 games.

Nike launched the shoe with an 18-piece apparel collection of jackets, hoodies, and tees.

Indiana’s season ended Oct. 1 in Las Vegas, the same day the shoe dropped. Fever teammate Aliyah Boston had surgery on her right knee Oct. 14 and is out of the 2027 Unrivaled season. Golden State beat Atlanta in Game 7 of the Finals to close the 2026 season.

The Inquirer reported in August that the “Friendship Bracelet” colorway is expected Feb. 24, 2027.