The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 104 — Taking a stroll in Ivy Park
Beyoncé is BYKE. Hype-Beys, rejoice.
Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear! Happy Monday. Hope you had a fantastic week while I was away. Missed you! It’s a bit dusty in here so let’s do some housekeeping.
Did a cool thing while I was away and got engaged to the love of my life! So, needless to say, I had a pretty good break.
We’re also just 100 subscribers away from 2,000! Free shoes are OTW! Merch too! Tell your people to subscribe. Y’all might win a pair of free kicks!
Alright, enough of that. Let’s jump in.
Yoncé SZN is here again
(Photo by Brianna Santellan on Unsplash)
The time has come, y’all. Beyhive, ready your phones and your thumbs. Ivy Park is back.
Beyoncé and Adidas are finally dropping the Fall Ivy Park collection later this week on October 30. They ran this (sort of trippy?) promo video last week ahead of the collection launch.
The vibe for this fall collection is totally different. It starts with the look.
We got burgundy, orange and white tones in January. This time around Beyoncé is working with lots of neon and pastel color palettes in this run.
There are more shoes, too.The Ultraboost, two Nite Jogger colorways, and the Super Sleek 72 silhouettes are back, but they’ve added two versions of the Adidas Forum and a Superstar.
Adidas has to get this right. This is their biggest moment in 2020 since, well, Ivy Park’s debut. This year has been awful for them. They’ve struggled amid the pandemic which, duh. There’s no shame in that.
But they’ve also had accusations of racism arise. On top of that, they’ve had a number of executive departures including former Adidas GM Jon Wexler. And Kanye West, their biggest name, is apparently wearing Jordans now? Yeah, not great.
Beyoncé and Ivy Park are giving them a chance to bookend the year with another successful collection launch. And that means a ton for their future together.
It’ll work — it’s Beyoncé. Of course it will. The only question is how smooth will the launch be?
There’s more gear to buy now, but there’s also more demand for this than in January’s initial launch. People are prepared for it. They’re ready now and they remember that last L.
This is a chance for Adidas’ new CONFIRMED app to really shine. This is how they show us it’s not just a blue version of SNKRS . If they can somehow cut down the botting, it’ll be a big win.
This is 2015 Yeezy all over again for Adidas. The hype is there. Folks have been waiting for months. Successfully channeling that into this drop has long-term ramifications. We’ll see more of this down the line and we’ll see it more often.
Shouts to Beyoncé. She has single-handedly produced Adidas’ two biggest W’s in 2020. Once again, a Black woman is out here saving the day. Sounds mad familiar at this point.
Reebok might be on the move
(Photo by Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash)
Speaking of Adidas, it looks like they might be out on the business of Reebok. The three stripes is considering selling off the company, per Bloomberg.
Reebok had become a burden for Adidas not too long after it’s purchase in 2005. This is more of the same. They bought Reebok for $3.8 billion in 2005 and it went downhill from there. Here’s more from Modern Retail in 2019.
At the time of the Reebok acquisition, Adidas had about 10% of the U.S. sneaker market, while Reebok had about 8%, according to Matt Powell, sports industry analyst for NPD Group. By 2015, Adidas’ and Reebok’s U.S. market shares had fallen to 4% and 1%, respectively.
As Adidas began to rebuild itself after their dip from 2005 to 2015, they began to close Reebok stores and lay off employees. Reebok eventually bounced back and became profitable again in 2019, but the pandemic killed that momentum. Their revenue dipped by 42% last quarter.
So Adidas might be looking to sell low on Reebok, it seems, as it tries to dig itself out of its own COVID struggles.
If they do choose to move on, per reports, they’re looking to complete the sale by March of 2021 — a quick window.
There are reportedly suitors already. VF Corp and Anta Sports are interested in buying the company, per Complex.
Reebok obviously has its struggles. It’s in the tank, once again. And it hasn’t performed well with younger audiences in the same way Puma or even New Balance have amid their returns.
But there are some things whoever purchases Reebok will be able to build on.
They’ve got a rich history in sports — particularly with basketball. There are a ton of retros they can tap into from Iverson all the way back to Dominque Wilkins and more.
They’ve also got Kerby Jean-Raymond coming in soon to help shape the future of the brand and that’ll be a huge foundational piece for them.
We’ll probably see Adidas make a decision on this relatively soon. When they do, don’t be surprised if there are tons of suitors waiting in the wings to make a play.
New Balance sweetens the signature shoe pot
Selling performance footwear isn’t easy, obviously. The marketplace has been struggling for years.
We’ve gone over it here at length — particularly with basketball. Signature shoes are all fine and good, but no one really wears them anymore. Brands have completely sold out on aesthetic and wearability for technology. It’s better for the players, but worse for sales.
New Balance is countering that by giving you something else to buy. Yes, they’re dropping a Jolly Rancher colorway of Kawhi Leonard’s new signature shoe. But instead of just dropping that on a signature hoops shoe, they dropped it on a cooler silhouette in the 327.
Here’s a look.
This doesn’t fix the signature shoe problem. But it plays perfectly to the signature athlete’s new purpose and our new sensibilities as consumers.
We’re not just watching what they’re wearing on the court or on the field — we’re looking at what they’re wearing walking through the tunnel. And now, Kawhi Leonard has his Jolly Rancher signature 327 to wear there. And that’s another thing for the consumer to buy.
It’s brilliant. Talk about getting a bang for your buck.
A guide to buying Black
We absolutely love to support Black owned business here at the Kicks You Wear. Shouts to my boy Dapper J, who just put me on to a bunch of Black owned sneaker businesses.
I’ll share the goldmine here with y’all. Here’s a link to a handful of Black owned sneaker brands including Perry Co., SIA Collective and more.
Gon head and flourish, family.
What’s droppin, bruh?
JJJJound x Reebok Classic — Monday, October 26
Nike Día De Los Muertos collection — Tuesday, October 27
Jordan x Off-White AJ5 Sail — Thursday, October 29
Nike Dunk Hi “Slam Jam” — Friday, October 30
Beyoncé x Adidas Ivy Park collection — Friday, October 30
That’s a wrap for me, family! Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate you, as always. I missed y’all so much. See you on Wednesday for our thread!
Don’t forget! Subscribe if you haven’t already! Lots of good stuff coming, but you also might win a pair of free shoes!
As always, folks. Peace and love. Be easy. Be well. Be kind.
Signing off.
—Sykes 💯
Congratulations!!