The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 368 — Practice what you preach ♻️
When flying private goes public it's never a good look
Goooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you giving me a bit of your time.
I’m running in a 5k for the first time in a few years this weekend! Wish me luck! Let’s hope my knees can remain in-tact. Hope you’ve got some cool weekend plans, too.
Back to School guide coming for Monday! Hope yall are excited. Plenty of steals and deals from around the internet coming your way.
Let’s jump in.
Jet-setting with Nike
Nike has been very transparent about reducing its carbon footprint over the last few years through its “Move to Zero” initiative, which has become a company mantra over the last few years.
It just doesn’t seem to be one the folks at the top of the ladder live by.
What’s happening: Nike’s private jets emitted nearly 20 percent more carbon dioxide in 2023 than in 2015, according to data gathered by The Oregonian and Pro Publica.
The details: Nike reportedly owns two Gulfstream G650ERs. The data shows hundreds of stops back and forth between Moffet Airfield in San Francisco, where John Donahoe lives, New York City and Oregon where Nike’s home bases are, and a handful of other swanky vacation spots used between Donahoe and executive chairman Mark Parker.
Here’s more from The Oregonian:
“In July, a Nike jet flew down to San Jose, California, and back to its base in Hillsboro, Oregon; it then took off two days later for Idaho, where Donahoe and his wife were photographed at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, an annual gathering dubbed “summer camp for billionaires.”
Vacation spots Nike jets have traveled to include Cape Cod, where Parker owns a home. Since 2020, the planes have landed there at least 15 times. They’ve touched down in the Cayman Islands at least six times since 2021.”
Nike’s jets landed at Moffett more than 100 times in the first three and a half years of the Donahoe era at Nike, according to the data.
That jet is moving.
The other side: It’s not uncommon for the rich and famous to travel via private jet. Names like Taylor Swift, Drake and more do this all the time. It’s no surprise that less-notable-but-still-wealthy corporate executives do the same.
And, even though this isn’t a good look, private jet use is just a tiny fraction of Nike’s overall emissions, which are generated mainly by production and shipping.
Yes, but: The top sets the tone. It’s a big deal that Donahoe and Parker are dashing from coast to coast like this.
Donahoe and Parker have both touted sustainability as a priority at Nike. It was one of Donahoe’s priorities when he came in as CEO.
The “Move to Zero” initiative, which started at the tail end of the Mark Parker era, has also been earmarked as one of the company’s biggest initiatives.
But none of that “Move to Zero” business seems to apply to them. They just fly back and forth in luxury as they place, emitting hundreds of times more in carbon emissions per passenger than someone in a commercial airliner.
The big picture: This is where the greenwashing accusations begin to hold a bit of weight. For those of you out of the loop, greenwashing is simply the practice of using environmentally friendly policies and products as marketing fodder. You’re selling an image instead of living by it as a company.
Moments like this make it reasonable to question Nike on it here. The brand has long been accused of greenwashing. Add the fact that the brand cut 30 percent of its sustainability department and you can see how moving to zero suddenly wouldn’t feel serious anymore.
Behind the scenes: This isn’t just a Nike problem, by the way. Lots of companies fake it when it comes to sustainability.
For example, you know how Adidas says it made millions of shoes from ocean plastics? Yeah, that’s not entirely accurate. Most of the materials are recycled plastics found near the ocean instead of in it. Still sort of alturistic, sure. But that's not true. Lots of brands do this. It’s not uncommon, but it is very wrong.
The big picture: Whether it’s Nike, Adidas or someone else, it’s always good to carry a healthy dose of skepticism when these companies tell you they’re here to do good for the Earth.
In truth, they’re here to make a profit. And they’ll tell you just about anything to make that happen. Meanwhile, their CEOs are probably surfing the skies in private jets for flights that probably could’ve just been a quick trip via United.
Avengers Assemble
James Whitner and A Ma Maniére are being more ambitious than we’re used to with the brand’s latest collaboration — or, uh, collaborations? — with Nike and Jordan Brand.
The skinny: A Ma Maniére is releasing a collection of seven different shoes in collaboration with Jordan Brand and Nike. The collection is called “While You Were Sleeping.”
The collaboration is for its 10th anniversary and was presented alongside an accompanying short film featuring Black creatives in sneakers, including Jae Tips (more on him later), Angelo Bacque, Nina Chanel Abney and more.
What’s included:
We’ve got the Air Jordan 3, Air Jordan 4, Air Max 95, Air Force 1, Air Jordan 39 and Converse Weapon Low pictured here. There’s another mystery pair that Whitner isn’t telling us about included, too.
The big picture: I’m honestly not that into the sneakers here. I probably won’t purchase any for myself — we’ll see. Instead, I’m most interested in the collection’s existence itself.
This is the most extensive collection of different sneakers from a Nike collaborator since Virgil Abloh’s “The Ten.” I’m curious about what that means.
Don’t get me wrong: This “While You Were Sleeping” drop probably isn’t The Ten. I’m not sure we’ll ever get a moment like that again. But this leads me to believe that Nike would try and find it again.
A Ma Maniére makes sense as a collaborator to do this with. The brand has been working with Nike for over half a decade now. There’s a rapport there. It works.
We’ll see how this rollout goes. This won’t be “The Ten” but it could still be special.
Guess who’s bizzack
I’ve been looking forward to Jae Tips’ upcoming Saucony collabs, which is honestly a sentence that, say, five years ago, I’d have never said. I didn’t know who Jae Tips was and I definitely didn’t think a Saucony Collaboration would get me going.
Don’t get me wrong — I’ve been a fan of the brand for a long time. But the collaborations were mostly hit-or-miss for me.
Now, here we are. Saucony had a Sneaker of the Year candidate last year and the brand is back with more.
Tips released a promotional video to accompany the shoes on Instagram.
Take a look:
What’s coming: The collection is called the “To-Do List,” and the accompanying video is so sweet. It’s Jae Tips, just moving around in his ProGrid 9s, running errands with his kids. It gives you a slice-of-life vibe that’s hard not to love.
That’s good storytelling. Honestly, it’s what sells the shoes.
Let’s be real: We’ve known about these for a while. But that extra oomph from the visual gets this one across the finish line for me.
There’s been a discussion online lately about how much stories actually matter when it comes to sneakers, and I get it. The whole “story” thing is exhausting — especially when it’s brands telling bland stories.
But when it’s executed like this? It’s hard not to love.
Flowers for the DMV
The DMV area getting its own Foamposite means something to me, man. Look at these beauties.
Maybe a little too on the nose with the DMV pull tab, but whatever. This rules.
Why this matters: Foamposites and New Balance. Those are the two things that the DMV — and, specifically, Washington, D.C. — has elevated over the last 40 years or so in sneaker culture. I’ll throw Nike boots in there, too.
New Balance has made a few (but not enough!) overtures to the area to show a bit of love for how much we rock the brand out here. Maybe my memory is failing me, but I don’t recall Nike doing this with a Foam. At least not so overtly.
This is just really cool to see, man. Even if the Cherry Blossoms aren’t in season right now. Hopefully, I can grab a pair next week.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!!! LET’S GET IT!
First, the homie Storm got us popping with her first AE1 pickups! Love to see it.
Then the homie Jessica came through with the CMFT Jordan 11s looking as fly as ever. Love the rug too, Jess!
My dog Rob came through with the Bape x Undefeated x Adidas ZX 8000. Sleepers! It’s a triple collab, but I’ll allow it. These are dope.
Then the Golden Boy came through with the Paris Safari Dunks. LOVE these. Gotta get em. No questions.
Same with the Paris PS8. The homie Rick Dubb came through with these joints and they’re so good.
And then the homie D Walk sent us home on the JFG 990v6 Prom Blue joints. LOVE these. Can’t wait to wear mine, man.
Y’ALL SMOKED IT!!!! Good stuff, man.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thank you so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you. Hope you have an excellent weekend.
If you have any tips, questions, or recommendations, email me at mikedsykes@gmail.com. You can also message me here on Substack.
Let’s chat again on Monday. Until then! Peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
Enjoy your 5k! You are going to feel such a sense of accomplishment to cross that finish line!
The real question is: what are you running the 5k in??