The Nike Air Rift 2 "Summit White/Swan" Brings the Split-Toe Slip-On Back for Summer 2026
The women’s-exclusive colorway pairs Summit White neoprene and Swan grey mesh with Ice Blue Swoosh accents on the revived 2002 silhouette.
by Sophie Caraan · HypebeastName: Nike Air Rift 2 “Summit White/Swan”
Colorway:
SKU: IQ8006-100
MSRP: $125 USD
Release Date: June 25
Where to Buy: Nike
Nike is bringing back the Air Rift 2 in a women’s-exclusive “Summit White/Swan” colorway for Summer 2026, the latest release in the brand’s sustained revival of the Air Rift line. The style marks another chapter in Nike’s renewed focus on the split-toe silhouette, which has built significant momentum in recent seasons off the back of the original Air Rift’s return.
The Air Rift 2 first released in 2002 as a structural evolution of the original 1996 Air Rift, a shoe developed with input from barefoot runners training in Kenya’s Rift Valley. Where the original Air Rift featured a Mary Jane-style single strap closure and a more pronounced midsole, the Air Rift 2 stripped things back considerably, replacing the strap system with a full slip-on construction and smoothing out the sole unit for a cleaner, more streamlined profile. The split tabi toe, the defining functional detail of the line, carried over intact.
The “Summit White/Swan” build layers Summit White neoprene across the base of the upper with Swan grey mesh covering the sides, running along the toe box, and wrapping into the collar. Horizontal perforations run down the side panels for ventilation, while Light Silver mesh appears on the tongue, collar, heel, and a strip across the top of the foot. Ice Blue does the accent work on the forefoot Swooshes and insoles, keeping the overall palette close to monochrome with just enough contrast to read as intentional rather than incidental. The outsole features semi-transparent rubber inserts that extend the shoe’s airy, lightweight visual character through to the ground contact.
The loopless slip-on construction and the absence of any external strap hardware give the Air Rift 2 a cleaner silhouette than its predecessor, sitting somewhere between a sandal and a low runner in its overall aesthetic. That quality has made the Air Rift line an increasingly relevant reference point for the fashion crowd’s ongoing engagement with tabi-toe footwear, a category that has seen sustained interest since Maison Margiela‘s Tabi boot moved from niche to mainstream. Nike’s Air Rift revival has tracked that moment closely, with the original silhouette’s return followed by the NikeSKIMS collaboration giving the line a significant commercial boost ahead of the Air Rift 2’s reintroduction.
The “Summit White/Swan” colorway follows the Air Rift 2’s earlier return in its “Kenya” colorway, which confirmed the brand’s intention to build out the Air Rift 2 as an ongoing women’s franchise rather than a one-off retro moment.