KYW Mailbox — 📩 Is Adidas OK? An NIL signature shoe and more

Checking in on the Adidas bounceback

Gooooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me this morning. I appreciate you!

Y’all know what it is. It’s mailbag day! My favorite day of the month because I get to hear directly from you all. Thank you, again, for your questions. Y’all had my gears turning like crazy on this one.

Let’s jump in.

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Will adidas ACTUALLY bounce back?

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

The reader continues: The opportunity is there. Dunks and AJ1s are sitting. They have Jerry Lorenzo and Bad Bunny. Yet, it doesn't seem like the fear of God is really instilled in them. It looks like they have this opportunity and they’re going to watch Asics, NB and Mizuno capture the attention and hype.

First of all, absolutely LOVE that you call out Mizuno doing some dope stuff here. That brand is smoking hot right now. If you’re not hip, you need to get hip. There will be some collaborations coming in 2024.

Getting back on track, I totally get where this question is coming from.

I’ve been as critical of Adidas as anyone. This year has not gone the brand’s way. And when you look at the incredible movement brands like Hoka and Asics and Mizuno and New Balance have had, you wonder what’s going on at the three stripes.

But…I actually think Adidas’ rebuild — for lack of a better term — is going much better than anticipated.

You’re absolutely right: The brand hasn’t capitalized well on the assets it currently has in its portfolio.

• What in the world are they doing with Jerry Lorenzo? After the FOG preview, it’s been crickets. He’s their highest-profile non-athletic collaborator at this point.

• The Bad Bunny Campus 80 is also a really good shoe, but it does feel like it’s gone a bit under the radar. The Forum has disappeared. Don’t even get me started on the lack of energy behind the Response CL.

But zoom out: While all that is true, Adidas is pretty healthy for a company that just ripped its own heart out.

• Its market cap is at about $36 billion, which is the highest it’s been since the brand separated from Kanye West in October 2022. (The latest post-Kanye Yeezy sales certainly helped).

• The Samba also has plenty of excitement around it right now as one of the premier general-release models we see in sneaker culture — even if it is a bit confusing.

• Plus, the new Crazy Infinity model has folks excited about a non-Yeezy sneaker in a way I haven’t seen in quite a long time.

I think you’re spot on in that it certainly wouldn’t hurt to retro some of those older Ultra Boost models, but I don’t think that solves a ton. They’ve already tapped into that inventory quite a bit.

What Adidas needs: Like Nike, Adidas is searching for that next “it” thing. In the same way the company found Boost back in 2015, it needs to find another piece of innovation that excites people.

What would you say is the calling card of the Adidas brand at this point? It was Yeezy. With that gone, it doesn’t have one. But it desperately needs that. It doesn’t have to be a collaboration — it just has to be something. I think Adidas is on its way to finding that again.

It’s going to take a while. Remember — the brand just tore everything down to the studs and is starting anew. That transition can’t happen overnight. We’ve got to be patient about it.

The progress hasn’t been perfect, to be sure. I have plenty of critiques — especially following this soft Yeezy relaunch. But the brand has progressed, nonetheless.

Let’s give things a bit more time to play out and see where they land.

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With NIL will we see a college athlete get a signature shoe for sale to general public?

This is a fascinating question that I’ve thought a ton about over the last 3 years or so.

The short answer: No, I don't think this will happen for a few reasons.

• First, the NCAA has spelled it out in their name, image and likeness guidelines that collegiate athletes are not allowed to endorse products while representing the school. They’re not even allowed to wear school colors while wearing endorsements.

• Schools also have their own NIL bylines that typically say the same thing. For example, here’s Marquette’s. It explicitly states “NIL activity may not conflict with an existing institutional sponsorship agreement or other contract of Marquette University.” That’s common.

All of that nips the idea of an Adidas athlete wearing an Adidas signature shoe while playing basketball for a Nike program. It’s not permitted.

With that said: This is a problem that we’re eventually going to run into with some student-athlete. Someone will push that boundary eventually.

Flau’Jae Johnson — a guard on LSU’s basketball team — has spoken openly about the fact that she’s bothered that she can’t wear Puma while on the court.

• The reason why: With LSU being a Nike school, a player wearing a competing brand would be seen by Nike as a breach in contract on LSU’s part.

Here’s my thing: Basketball is a large part of how she makes her money. Couldn’t one argue that being prevented from endorsing her product is a violation of her NIL rights? I’m not a lawyer, but that feels like a battle that’s coming at some point.

These schools need to be prepared for that. If it comes, we might eventually get that NIL sneaker.

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What tips do you have, if any, on buying kicks overseas?

Man, I should put you in touch with my dog Evan — the genius that makes Special Delivery magical. This man comes up on so many sneakers for the show by purchasing them from overseas shops.

Spots like Size?, Luis Via Roma, Dope Factory, END and more will have some absolute bangers for you. You’ve just got to dig a bit deeper for it.

Here are four crucial things I always pay attention to:

• First: Always, always, always check the conversion rates. Rates differ between the British Pound, the Euro, Canadian Dollars and more. Always be aware of what you’re spending. Google’s currency converter helps tremendously.

• Second: Make sure the shop ships to you. Some places don’t actually ship to the U.S., so you’ll have done the digging for the shoe and the currency conversion for no reason. Also, make sure you’re not paying an enormous amount for shipping. That’s almost never worth it.

• Third: Check your sizes. Size conversion is super essential here. You’ll typically either see U.S. sizing, UK sizing or Euro sizing. The math is different on each. Here’s a chart from Zappos.

• Fourth: Make sure it’s reputable. There are plenty of scammers out there who have built dummy sites that seem like overseas shipping spots but aren’t. I know some folks who have gotten got. Make sure you do your Google. Check Instagram and other social accounts, too. See what people are saying in the comments or replies. That will let you know if the operation is legit or not.

That’s most of what I’m checking for. You typically pay a bit more — especially if there’s a duty fee involved — but you’ll also be able to get pairs a bit early sometimes depending on what they are.

Some Jordans and other heaters that you wouldn’t be able to find with U.S. retailers will be sitting in certain spaces in Europe. Same with New Balance and Canada.

There’s plenty to choose from. Just be careful and check those boxes. You’ll be fine.

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Is there a PE not released that you wish you could get your hands on?

Dog. This Chris Paul Red Cement Jordan 3 is EVERYTHING. I’m not huge on PEs because I know I’ll never get them and, honestly, I don’t really feel like I need to. Some shoes are just meant to be one of ones.

But these? I’d drop some bread on these for sure.

That red is just so perfect. And the cement print? Whew *chef’s kiss*. These are probably a bit too obscure to ever actually release, but I’m never saying never. After all, we are getting Red Cement 4s soon.

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If you couldn’t wear Nike, Adidas or New Balance what would your favorite sneakers be?

Really put me on the spot with this one. So my first instinct was Asics for obvious reasons (some of which I detailed in Monday’s newsletter!). And I think I’ll still lean that way. Asics is probably my most worn non-New Balance brand of 2023 so far.

But there’s a lot of other goodness to choose from.

• You’ve got Saucony, who I believe dropped one of the best collaborations with Bodega earlier this year.

• There’s also Mizuno, a brand I briefly mentioned at the top of this newsletter, doing pretty incredible things.

• Plus, we can’t forget about classic brands like Reebok, Converse and more.

I said it on Monday and I’ll say it again. Now is the perfect time to be a sneakerhead. There’s a whole bunch of heat out there for the taking.

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#TheKicksWeWear

Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBRATIONS LETS GOOOOOO.

First, the homie Jake popped us off with the Notre Vans while biking. This is just a vibe.

My dog Josh came through with these incredible Plaid 1300s. Such a fly sneaker. Under retail, too. Nice.

The homie Stretch Armstrong came through with these amazing Doernbecher AJ1 lows. The laces on these joints are so crazy, man. WOW.

The homie Brett came through with his baby girl rocking the Spidergwen D.O.N. 4s while he was rocking the Next Chapter Spider-Man 1s and, man, my heart is on fire.

Then my brother Danny Ocean shut it down with these absolutely ADORABLE AJ1s for my niece, who we’ll be welcoming into the world soon. Can’t wait to meet you, Soleil! ♥️♥️♥️

SMOKED IT. Y’all are the best, man. Thank you for this amazing energy every week.

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Thank you so much for rocking with me today, family. Appreciate you. Y’all are the best.

HOUSEKEEPING: Remember, KYW is out after Monday until August 11. I’ll be back before you know it. I promise.

Let’s do this again on Monday. Until then, peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.

-Sykes 💯