The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 347 — Misplaced blame 🧐
John Donahoe should look in the mirror when diagnosing Nike's problems.
Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you.
In my cart: I probably spent too much time on the Joe FreshGoods site last week! Not only did I cop the NB 1000, but I also circled back on another pair of 610s—for $100! I need to be stopped.
On my radar: Those Industrial Blue Jordan 4s. I want those. I won’t call them Military Blues — they seem slightly different. But, regardless, I think they’re really good.
REMEMBER: After today, KYW will be out this coming Friday and the following Monday. It’ll return to your inbox next Friday. I won’t be gone too long!
Let’s jump in.
Where’s the accountability?
You’ve almost certainly heard the phrase, “The captain always goes down with the ship.” It’s not actually about the captain staying on a sinking ship because it’s sinking — it’s about the captain making sure their crew is good and safe before getting off. It’s an act of true accountability.
John Donahoe probably isn’t the biggest fan of it.
What’s happening: In an interview with CNBC, Nike CEO John Donahoe was asked directly why his company can’t seem to keep up with its competitors creatively.
His response: “In hindsight, it turns out, it’s really hard to do bold, disruptive innovation, to develop a boldly disruptive shoe on Zoom,” Donoahoe said. The man is stuck in 2022.
He could’ve said Nike relied on Retro for far too long. He could’ve given his competitors credit and talked about how they’ve improved drastically, pushing Nike to improve. Before saying what he said, he even offered up the fact that Nike shut down multiple Vietnam factories, which put a lot of pressure on the brand’s infrastructure. He could’ve just left it at that.
But nope. He just laid the blame at the foot of his employees for, apparently, not being present enough. Never mind all the poor decisions he’s made along the way.
I’ll be honest: This quote annoyed me. A lot. It wasn’t just the simple fact that this was Donahoe implicating his employees for the company’s waning (yet, still domineering) presence in the marketplace.
It was also that he just cast aside the circumstances that got us there in the first place.
Let's not forget that we all struggled through a global pandemic — unless you were a billionaire. Then you probably just ran to the nearest superyacht.
It wasn’t just being on Zoom that stifled creativity. It was also probably the fact that millions of people were dying from a virus that we knew nothing about. Hard to be creative when you don’t know how life will go next week.
Donahoe’s complaint may have felt a bit weightier two years ago. The first vaccines were pumping out. We’d learned a bit more about COVID-19 and how to combat it. Coming back to the office was a safer proposition. Folks didn’t (and still don’t!) want to.
But today? Come on, man. Give me a break. As he said, employees had been back in the office at Nike for the last 18 months.
By May 2022, Nike employees were required to work in office for at least three days per week. That got upped to four in October of 2023.
We’re still not seeing that innovative work. Nike’s problems have only been exacerbated over the last year with analyst and investor complaints.
There’s also this: Maybe Nike’s middling performance over the last couple of years does have something to do with employees not seeing enough of each other. Maybe the creative spark just hasn’t been there. Maybe they need to get together more to get those juices flowing.
But Donahoe should answer this: Nike’s competitors had to work in that same remote environment. They had to play by the same rules. At the same time, you don’t see a brand like New Balance having that same problem. You don’t see Hoka and On having those problems. You don’t see Crocs having those problems. Why is that?
It ain’t because of Zoom. That’s because of you and your decisions, John Donahoe.
How hard would you work for a company when, since 2020, the biggest headlines from the brand have been about layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs? How motivated would you feel? You wouldn’t. That’s not how people work, especially not during times of crisis.
The big picture: Donahoe bringing up this tired talking point shows a lack of self-awareness and empathetic capacity. It’s kind of embarrassing — especially when it just doesn’t seem to be that much of a talking point anymore. At some point, you’ve just got to look in the mirror and ask yourself why people don’t want to work hard for you.
Nike doesn’t have a Zoom problem — it has a people problem. And it’s not the people’s fault. Until Donahoe figures that out, these problems will still persist.
More uniform troubles for Nike
Nike’s struggles in the uniform department have been well documented in 2024. First Major League Baseball. Then FC Barcelona. Now? Team USA.
What happened: Nike unveiled Team USA’s track and field kits during last week’s Paris showcase and the reaction was not a positive one.
A look: Citius Mag posted the kits on Instagram. The women’s uniforms drew a lot of criticism from the athletes who will soon be wearing them.
What was said: Tara Davis-Woodhall left a comment under this post saying, “Wait, my hoo haa is gonna be out.” U.S. Steeplechaser Colleen Quigley took her criticism a step further, saying, “They are absolutely not made for performance,” in a message to Reuters.
The other side: Nike is slightly rebutting this. The brand isn’t defending the look but did clarify that these aren’t the only options available to its athletes.
The brand says its track and field kits include almost 50 pieces and 12 competition styles for specific events.
Pole Vaulter Katie Moon backs that up with her statement here, saying that she is concerned by the look but added that athletes have plenty of options.
You can see how different the uniform Sha’Carri Richardson showed off in Paris looks compared to the picture above. It’s night and day.
Zoom out: Even with different options, though, something like the look above will raise people’s suspicions.
Women’s uniforms in sports have always been a hot-button issue, and for good reason. For so long, women in sports have been hyper-sexualized through the things they wear—especially in the Olympics. That’s why Germany’s women’s gymnastics team opted for bodysuits during the 2020 Games.
Taking this history into account is important when creating this stuff. Nike didn’t do enough of that here.
On the verge of something special with Stewie
Breanna Stewart and Puma are taking a huge step forward for women’s signature shoes.
The news: Puma was also working in Paris last week, too. Stewart unveiled her third signature shoe, the Stewie 3, during a brand showcase. Nick DePaula gave us a first look via Twitter:
The shoe is dope.
The look here is incredible. It gives me a sunset vibe with that color transition from a yellow in the midsole to a darker orange on the upper.
Some of the details are also inspired by her family, which is always cool.
The big picture: The most exciting part about this shoe for me is simply that it exists. Folks. Again, this is Stewart’s third signature model with the brand. That’s huge.
Stewart is the first female signature athlete to climb the ladder this high in years.
Sheryl Swoopes with Nike was the last woman to have at least three signature models with a brand — she got up to seven. No one else has had as many. Usually it’s just one or two then you’re done.
Not anymore. Stewart has crossed the threshold and she’s still going.
She might be the first woman to come this far with a sneaker in a while, but I can assure you she certainly won’t be the last.
Kendrick Lamar’s shoe size CONFIRMED
Never in a million years did I think Kendrick Lamar’s shoe size would ever be something people care about. Thanks, Drake.
The backstory: A Drake record leaked over the weekend with him taking shots at K-Dot. One of those shots was this: "How the [expletive] you big steppin’ with a size 7 men’s on.”
That’s a bar. What made it even more hilarious was sneaker boutique RIF LA coming to Dot’s rescue with his actual shoe size.
I ain’t need to know this information, man. Nobody was asking for this. Honestly, the homie just made the bar slightly worse for Kendrick.
It’s all good tho. Kendrick is still that dude. Can’t wait for the response.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
Nike “Jackie Robinson” Air Max 1 — Monday, April 15
Nike Shox R4 “Metallic White” — Tuesday, April 16
Nike SB Dunk Low “Big Money Savings” — Wednesday, April 17
Auralee x New Balance WRPD Runner — Thursday, April 18
Joe FreshGoods x New Balance 1000 (NB release) — Friday, April 19
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you. I hope you enjoyed today’s newsletter. Tell a friend to tell another friend about the Kicks You Wear. Tell enough friends, and I’ll send you a free T-shirt!
Until next time, folks! Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
8.5-9, eh KDot? Glad to see we have at least ONE thing in common!!
(And ironically, I squeezed into a pair of 9.5s this weekend too. The OVO Jordan 8s, to be specific...)