The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 121 — Best everything of 2020
We made it, y'all. WE DID IT.
What up, what up family! Merry Christmas. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for hanging out with me a bit on your holiday. We won’t be long today — promise.
Housekeeping before we get started. This is our last newsletter of 2020! Hell of a year, right? Glad this thing is over. We’ll be back on January 11 with more heat and a few other treats coming your way in between then.
Alrighty, fam. Now down to business. BEST EVERYTHING. LEGGO.
Sneaker of the Year: The Chunky Dunky
(Photo by Marcel Karg on Unsplash)
Key info:
Release date: 5/26/20
Retail price: $100
Where to buy: LOL
So there you have it, folks. The Chunky Dunky is the winner of the Kicks You Wear’s Sneaker of the Year bracket.
This was a surprise. Not because the Chunky Dunky didn’t deserve to win, but because of how badly it smoked the Kobe 5 Mamba Week collection. It’s astonishing.
Peep the final results.
I’ll be honest. I thought the Kobe 5 would be the winner here, and that’s where my vote would’ve gone had I actually voted in this one. Kobe Bryant’s tragic passing amplified its impact both in and outside of sneaker culture. And how hard it became to get any Kobe shoe at all, as a result, makes the Kobe 5 such a good get for anyone lucky enough to grab it. These were more than sneakers — they became mementos.
With that being said, though, the Chunky Dunky win is understandable.
The Dunk was the silhouette of the year and the Chunky Dunky was its peak. The only other shoe one could argue had more impact in terms of both volume and hype is the Jordan 1.
But the Chunky goes even beyond the hype. It’s sort of a nostalgia play. This Dunk perfectly captured the essence of creativity that made the silhouette so popular in the mid-2000’s.
Yes, like the 7Eleven Dunk everyone hated so much, this was just another commercial collab, which is generally the antithesis of the Dunk.
But it was also just fun as hell. I mean, this thing had cow print on it. That’s absolutely ridiculous. But it’s just so hilarious and fun in a year that was devoid of so much of it.
It also helped that Ben & Jerry’s is actually dope as hell, too.
You can’t talk about sneakers in 2020 without talking about the Chunky Dunky. This is certainly a worthy pick for Sneaker of the Year. Would you have loved to see the Kobe 5 here? Absolutely. And it would’ve deserved to be.
But the Chunky Dunky does, too. And we should appreciate the run that it, and the Dunk overall, had this year.
Best sneaker star: Travis Scott
(Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash)
Key info:
Brand: Nike/Jordan
Sneaker drops: 3
Quarter Pounders: One. With a side of fries and BBQ sauce.
Here’s the thing about this. It’s all relative, right? And relatively speaking, when comparing 2020 to his past work, this was a pretty lowkey year for him.
He only dropped three sneakers this year: Two Dunks and an Air Max 270. But even with such a smaller number of drops, he’s still made plenty of noise.
He had a McDonald’s collaboration that he also managed to build a line of merch off of. He literally had people reselling burger boxes and McDonald’s posters. What a time that was.
He also jumped on board with Playstation and raffled off five pair of Playstation Dunks.
Everything this dude touches still turns to gold. He single handedly raises resale prices.
Case in point: The Newcastle dunks jumped in resale price by 30% days after he posted a picture of himself wearing them.
That’s so wild. But that’s also exactly why he’s still in the spot he’s in, as wild as it is. You want to talk about influence? That’s what it looks like right there.
The thing you shouldn’t forget: The uprising
(Photo by Derick McKinney on Unsplash)
We’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the uprising that happened across the country this year. The fight against inequality, the mistreatment of Black and brown people and police brutality dominated 2020.
Sparked by the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, people came together in ways that we hadn’t seen before. Marginalized voices had power. And that permeated every single facet of our society.
That included the sneaker industry — one built on the backs of Black creatives and consumers. We saw that new power and togetherness manifest in very specific ways.
Employees at Nike went on strike and demanded Nike do more after Jacob Blake was shot 7 times by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Adidas employees, led by Julia Bond, pushed their company to increase its financial commitment to fighting racial injustice to $120 million from $20 million.
Those things are important but they’re just a start. The fight still rages on. There’s much more work to be done here and most of it is work that we have to do on our own — we can’t trust corporations like Nike, Adidas and the rest of them to change the systems that have. built them into what they are.
But, still, it’s always a great thing to see employees using their collective power to create change. Let’s keep that up in 2021.
Best everything (else):
Brightest future: Nike’s Space Hippie collection.
Nike isn’t the first company to jump in on sustainability, but they’ve done it the best so far. They’ve made it cool, and that’s something that has been a problem for so many others. Salute to the Space Hippie.
Best newcomer: Beyoncé
Beyoncé and Ivy Park energized Adidas in a way that we haven’t seen since Yeezy and Kanye West’s peak in 2016. She really came through in a down year where the brand really needed her to. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
Comeback of the Year: The Nike Dunk
Once again, the Nike Dunk was easily the silhouette of the year. And five years ago you could find these shoes on clearance racks — I’d know, I was buying them. The run might almost be over as they’re going back on a general release schedule in 2021. But it certainly owned 2020 by far.
The “Wow, they really did all that?” All-Star: New Balance
Somehow, New Balance’s 2020 was better than it’s 2019. There were endless collaborations, highlighted by the JoeFreshGoods 992 and the Aimé Leon Dore 327 drops from earlier in the year. The 992 was one of best silhouettes of the year.
Most to look forward to: Adidas Basketball
Two words, fam. Jerry Lorenzo.
The last #TheKicksWeWear of 2020
So you KNOW this finna be a banger. Y’all came through dog.
First the homie Stepfan came through with the Offline joints and cozy vibes for Christmas Eve.
My dog Ruben jumped out there in the University Blue AJ9s. Joints is ICY.
The homie Tommy came through with the Red Cement 3’s. I still need to cop.
The homie Greer popped out in these vibrant red Cortez joints and, well, GOOD LORD.
The homie Jay came through with the What The 5’s and these joints are SO clean. I feel like this is an acceptable Christmas vibe.
The homie Muhammad RLee popped out spreading some love in the Stan Smith V-Day joints.
The homie Megan pulled out the WhyNot Zero.2’s for her birthday. Shoutout to it! Happy birthday, family.
The homie Vasilios popped out in the classic red Blazer 77’s. Shouts to the homie Kyle for the gift — great taste, brodie.
The homie Will popped out in the Chinese New Year BYW joints from Pharrell. HEAT.
The homie Pat broke out the 21’s and, dog, this color is just beautiful. Classic joints.
My dude Adrian brought out the Gym Red AJ1’s and, fam, this is just a brilliant colorway.
Then my homie Robby sent us home with the Black Cement 3’s. CLASSICS DOG.
SMOKED IT. Way to end the year, family. My goodness. More heat coming in 2021.
Alright, family. That’s a wrap for your boy! Thanks so much for rocking with me this year. Y’all built this and I appreciate you so much for it. Cheers to another year of all this! Love y’all.
The Kicks You Wear will be back on January 11. Try not to miss me as much as I’ll miss y’all.
Until then, family. Happy holidays. Be safe. Be easy. Be kind. Peace and love.
Signing off.
—Sykes 💯
Kudos on a helluva year for KYW, Sykes! Happy New Year to the community.