The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 115 — The Curry Brand is an actual thing
Is it a good thing? Probably not. But hey! Not my money.
Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for kicking it with your boy on a Friday.
MERCH IS FINALLY HERE, Y’ALL. Our shop is live! Hit this link and go crazy! Also, our new raffle winners have been picked! Salute to them and shoutout to the rest of y’all for participating. There’s plenty more where that came from, so if you didn’t win this time don’t trip.
Alright, let’s jump in.
Welp, looks like UA is actually doing this
(Photo by Taylor Siebert on Unsplash)
A few months back we explored the possibility of Under Armour launching a subsidiary Steph Curry brand a la Nike and Michael Jordan. We particularly talked about why it might not be such a great idea.
Turns out they actually went and did it. Earlier this week, Under Armour officially announced the launch of the Curry Brand. And, with it, some details.
The Curry 8 will be the brand’s first drop on December 11, per Holden Wilen of the Baltimore Business Journal.
Under Armour says the brand will be fueled by “Under Armour’s performance innovations.” That’s a big plus from a tech standpoint.
They also dropped this commercial that is, quite honestly, one of the best basketball star spots I’ve seen in a few years.
That’s all pretty cool, but on the other side, this still feels like a really bad idea. They haven’t said it publicly, but it’s very clear that this was inspired by Jordan Brand’s decades of success.
But the thing about that is it’s not really replicable at all.
When Nike launched Jordan Brand in 1997, Michael Jordan had already spent a decade creating a lane that didn’t exist before. Jordan’s line already had a sort of cultural cachet that Curry’s brand — or any other athlete’s line for that matter — just can never have.
There’s no real foundation here. No retros. No current drops that blow you away. Jordan Brand’s retro line is what keeps the brand afloat. Without that? It dies. What does the Curry Brand have can even come close to that? The answer is nothing.
On top of that, it’s just not a great market to sell basketball sneakers in, per Matt Powell of the NPD group.
Translation: Launching a subsidiary athletic sneaker brand? In this economy? Awful idea. As bad as an idea as this is, though, you should absolutely want it to succeed.
Here’s why: An (unnamed) percentage of the brand’s revenue will go to building up underserved communities. We don’t know how much, but if these goals are a reflection of the commitment, it’s a pretty significant one.
[B]y 2025, the Curry Brand aims to create at least 20 safe places to play, support 125 programs that impact young athletes, and deliver opportunities to train more than 15,000 coaches—making an overall impact on more than 100,000 youth.
That will definitely win over some consumers. But, more importantly, it’s just an incredible thing to do. The better the Curry brand performs, the more opportunities they’ll have to help people who need it if they’re truly committed to it. And the more people they help, the more people they win over.
That can be the difference for them. There’s a world where this works. But, at the end of the day, the product still has to be good. It has to be a hit. And they’ve yet to prove to us that they can actually make one of those since they caught lightning in a bottle in 2015.
But with a commitment like this to Curry? They better figure out how to do it again and they better do it fast. Otherwise, this could turn left pretty quickly.
Speaking of new brands, here comes Drake with one
(Photo by Joshua Chua on Unsplash)
Speaking of dropping new brands, that thing Drake is dropping with Nike on the 18th? We know what it is now.
It’s called NOCTA. It’s a new sub-label collaboration between the swoosh and the pop star. From the early look of the collection coming on the 18th, there’s a fleece, hoodie and parka coat dropping.
The entire thing was apparently inspired by his “nocturnal creative process” which…ok? Drake dropped a bit more detail on the release and what inspired it in a piece he wrote for Nike.
“That mindset also includes loyalty and team. Whether you are in Toronto, London or Paris, there's this uniform look — Nike Tech Fleece, the gloves, the hat — and it has a real team feel. I wanted to take a piece of that culture that I grew up with, that school of thought, and bring the best to it. With NOCTA, we were trying to make the hardest jacket, the hardest tracksuit, the hardest gloves. Just the best of that world.”
He also talks about how he grew up a Nike kid and how it’s always been a dream of his to create a collection with the swoosh, which again, alright I guess. It wasn’t that long ago that he was set to leave the brand for Adidas, but I digress.
What’s more interesting to me is that this doesn’t seem to be a one-off collection like October’s CLB drop. It’s bigger. This is a new brand under the Nike umbrella in the same way we see Beyoncé’s Ivy Park with Adidas. That’s huge.
I have questions.
Why wouldn’t they do this with someone already deeply established in Nike’s culture like Travis Scott? It’s still odd to me that he has no signature brand with the swoosh. Now Drake does? That’s weird.
Also, just how big is this thing going to get? Are we going to see summer collections? Just how limited is this going to get? What does it turn into?
It’s all pretty fascinating. I’ll have to wait until December 18 to get my answers. Well, some of them at least. Others will need a bit more digging. Best believe I’m on it.
NO WONDER Nike went so hard at Warren Lotas
This man sold $10 million of fake Dunks, y’all, according to new reporting from Complex.
In a new court filing submitted to the Central District of California, Lotas is asking the court to modify its grant in Nike’s preliminary injunction that required him to stop selling look alike Dunks.
In that filing, he revealed just how many pairs were purchased and how any refunds he has to process now. And, uh, it’s A LOT.
With each pair retailing for $300, Lotas says he has processed over 29,000 refunds for the Staple x WL Pigeon or WL Broccolini—both shoes fashioned after popular Nike SB Dunks—and credited an additional 7,000 preorders to be replaced with the Reaper. With around 36,000 total orders, that would bring the preorder gross to roughly $10,800,000. While the original shoes are legally barred from being sold, Lotas hopes to retain the ability to fulfill the Reaper replacements, noting that the brand stands to lose $2,100,000 in revenue if it is unable to sell them.
$10 million! 10 M’s! That it a lot of money to make off of replicas, yo. My word. Hell, somebody get me a pad and a pen. Let’s get this money rolling.
When the system is consuming itself
Ah, this is my favorite song! Even Nike employees are botting Nike now, y’all. You really can’t make this up.
If you didn’t think the system was broken before? Whew, boy. Here’s your proof. Hopefully, whatever anti-bot measures they come up with work. And, hopefully, they share them with the public.
Won’t hold my breath, though.
#TheKicksWeWear
First the homie JBraze got us popping with these WILD Black Hornet Dunks. SO good.
My dog CPro kept the Dunk thing going with the Michigan joints.
Then my dog Q popped out with the Russell Westbrook Georgetown joints. Welcome to D.C., Russ.
The homie Josh kept the party going with the Sean Wotherspoon AM 97/1’s. Again, fam. FIRE.
The homie Muhammad RLee popped out SUPER flashy on us.
My dog Jum popped out with the metallic gold 97’s and a FRESH ass fit.
Of COURSE the homie Greer popped out fly in these AJ1’s. My goodness.
Then the homies Adrian and Sumeet held us all down with the KYW merch and a couple pairs of fly kicks.
The homie Chazz pulled out the Mocha 1’s with another fresh fit. SHEESH.
The homie Marc popped out in the X-Racer trail joints and, fam. I NEED.
My dog Danny popped out in the FIBA 12’s. My man was READY.
Then the homie Matt sent us all home with the BRED 4’s. BRUH. This might be my favorite shoe ever.
MAN. Y’all really came through for your boy. Happy birthday to me, fam. Love y’all.
That’s a wrap for your boy today! Thank you, again, for rocking with me! I appreciate your time, as always.
Don’t forget to vote! The weekend is going to be a turning point for a lot of these sneakers. These races are extremely tight — your vote could decide it. Get in there. Vote for your sneaker of the year.
Alright, fam! Until next time! As always, peace and love. Be easy. Be well. Be kind.
Signing off.
—Sykes 💯