Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear! Thank you so much for rocking with me on this spectacular Monday. Appreciate you!
Y’all really love the merch so far, it seems! It warms my heart. I can’t wait until it hits your doorstep, fam. You’re going to love it. If you haven’t copped yet, you can click this link and go pick something up!
Alright, folks. Let’s get down to business.
On to the next
(Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash)
We’re officially on to round two of KYW’s Sneaker of the Year bracket and, I have to say, y’all shocked me with some of these. I tweeted out the results in this thread so y’all could take a look. Some real upsets and some real close calls.
Before we dive into our new matchups, some quick reactions to round 1:
The Dark Mocha (30) beating out the New Beginnings AJ1 x Air Ship pack (3) was easily the biggest surprise initially. But the more I thought about it, the less surprised I became. It’s clear I simultaneously underrated the Mocha a ton here and overrated the New Beginnings pack and y’all set it straight.
The most contested matchup was easily the TurDunken (13) vs. the Fire Red Jordan 4 (20). It was tied until the very end but, ultimately, the TurDunken broke through with 104 votes to the 4’s 103.
Was really surprised to see the Space Hippie collection (16) go, but the Off-Whtie AJ4 (17) was always going to be a tough matchup.
SO GLAD the Bad Bunny Croc (32) got smoked the way it did.
The TurDunken win was close, but it feels right. I’ll start off by saying that there’s no question that I love the Fire Red 4 more. I have a much deeper connection with that silhouette — it’s been around for decades.
But that’s not what voting for the sneaker of the year is about. I was reminded of that by the homie Conor Levy in the KYW thread last week. Here was his point:
Hot Take: Jordan Retros that have released before don't belong in a Sneaker-of-the-year conversation. Sure, they were literally released this year, but they aren't *of* this year. The main reason so many of us love them is specifically because of nostalgia. New colorway of an old silhouette? Good to go.
He’s absolutely right. That’s something to keep in mind as we move forward in this.
The AJ4 is a retro — one of the greatest kicks of all-time, granted, but it’s still a retro. The TurDunken is a new idea on an OG silhouette, and that deserves to be recognized more in 2020.
This also applies to the Mocha vs. New Beginnings matchup. The Air Ship and the Varsity Red 1 are both phenomenal. But they’re also of a different time and era. The Air Ship being Sneaker of the Year in 2020 just wouldn’t feel right.
Alright, here’s a look at round 2. These look like they’re going to get really competitive down the stretch.
Same thing as last week. I created a Google Forms sheet for y’all to vote on that you can find here. This time, I added pictures so the kicks will be fresh in your minds as you vote.
Some quick thoughts on these:
The matchup I’m most intrigued by is the StrangeLove SBs (5) up against the Dior AJ1 (12). The StrangeLove SB was one of the more beloved silhouettes this year BUT I can see the Dior hype train fueling an upset.
The easiest W, in my opinion, should be the Kobe pack (1) vs. the Off-White 4 (17). The Kobe collection should win and it’s not really close to me.
Upset might be lurking for the Chunky Dunky (2). The Union AJ4 (15) had a really strong run in round 1. We’ll see how the Chunky Dunky performs.
Alright, folks. Let’s get to it!
AND1 — yes, THE AND1 — is up for sale
(Photo by Jonathan J. Castellon on Unsplash)
As sneaker culture has moved into the mainstream, a handful of brands that popped in the 80’s and 90’s have been on the comeback trail. Some have succeeded, others haven’t.
One of the brands having trouble is AND1. The street ball centric brand has been struggling to regain the foothold it once had on the culture. And the path just got a bit murkier with Sequential Brands — its parent company — putting it up for sale last week, per WWD.
It’s not just AND1 hitting the market — it’s every brand Sequential owns. The company is exploring the divesture of its many brands.
Executive chairman William Sweedler said it’s time for them to “refocus on the process of exploring strategic alternatives to fully maximize value for our shareholders.” Basically, upkeep was too expensive. They’re cutting costs.
It’ll be really interesting to see how this plays out for AND1 and its future.
On one hand, there’s a world where this can be a really attractive asset for someone. It’s a niche brand that has a storied history ripe for tapping into. I mean, they had a whole video game, y’all. And it was great.
On the other hand, they literally just lost their biggest name in Fred VanVleet and have struggled mightily to grab consumer attention over the last decade. It just doesn’t hit the way it used to anymore in this new era.
The culture was better when AND1 was in its prime. Seeing that again would be amazing. Hopefully, whoever acquires it finds a way to bring back the energy the brand used to have.
This is wack as hell
I love sneaker culture. That’s why KYW exists — because this culture is so endlessly fascinating to me and I do love it so.
With that being said, there are some things about it that absolutely bother the hell out of me. One of those things is the men of this culture who complain about women’s exclusives. Someone on Hypebeast made that mistake last night.
That ain’t it, fam. That’s just silly, man. Straight up. There’s nothing “unfortunate” about a women’s exclusive drop.
In fact, that’s super dope. Especially considering the type of heater this shoe is. Honestly, there should be a lot more of this. Women should get actual cool releases exclusively WAY more often.
I’m trying to figure out what the “unfortunate” part is. That some dude will have to try and find a size 13 in women’s for this joint? Cry me a river. Guess what? Female sneakerheads go through these kinds of sizing gymnastics every week. Suck it up. Or, ya know, just sit this one out. It is for the ladies, after all.
This is gatekeeping by way of sexism and it’s garbage. This is the mindset that turns women away from the culture. That’s wack. It won’t fly here — straight up.
This is how CAPTCHAS should be
I have no idea if these are actually real or not, but this is absolutely how CAPTCHAS should operate all the time. Shouts to Sockjig.
Make CAPTCHAS funnier in 2021. If I’m gonna take the L, at least let me get a good laugh out of it. I’m tired of spotting the fire hydrant, yo.
What’s droppin, bruh?
JBalvin x Jordan AJ1 — Tuesday, December 8
Space Hippie 04 “Cactus Flower” — Tuesday, December 8
Nike Dunk High “Iowa” — Wednesday, December 9
Prada x Adidas Luna Rosa 21 — Wednesday, December 9
Air Jordan 11 “Jubilee” — Saturday, December 12
That’s a wrap for Monday, folks! Thank you so much for rocking with me, family. Appreciate you, as always, and hope you have an amazing week! Y’all are the best.
Don’t forget to vote in the poll this week! I have a feeling things are going to get really close. Every vote counts!
Talk to you Wednesday, family! As always, peace and love. Be easy. Be well. Be kind.
Signing off.
—Sykes 💯
looks like Hypebeast deleted that tweet and edited the article that had verbiage like that 👀 maybe next time they'll learn and remember that they have a huge women's demo following them too
I would like to see the results of the AM90 Infrared vs the Travis Dunks, it feels like a powerhouse matchup, but I have a big personal bias because 90's are one of my favorite shoes overall