The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 143 — Let the ladies have fun
The A Ma Maniere AJ3 is a women's exclusive. Let it be that.
Good morning, family! Happy Friday! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend.
Not a shoe thing, but I am thoroughly enjoying the latest season of The Sneak featuring Michelle Martinelli and Nate Scott. Check it out if you like true crime pods!
Alright, fam. Let’s jump in.
The A Ma Maniere AJ3 missed a big opportunity
(Photo by Klim Musalimov on Unsplash)
Listen, the Jordan 3 A Ma Maniere drop is about to be one of them ones. This is going to go down as one of 2021’s most hyped shoes.
And it’s a women’s exclusive created entirely as a tribute to women, AMA owner James Whitner told Complex.
The official title of the shoe is “Raised by Women” and was inspired by the first Jordan Whitner’s mother bought him: The AJ3.
We rarely see this — a high-heat item built exclusively for women. But you couldn't tell from the marketing of this thing.
As the good homie Kari of Sneaker Phetish points out here, men have been ever-present in the advertising of this thing from seeding packs sent out to promotional pictures.
Here’s an example:
This is part of the plan. Whitner told Complex wanted to build a shoe that both men and women would want.
“You hear women say so much, they want to participate in the journey with men. They just want to buy dope stuff and we just wanted to be mindful of leading with women but including men and doing something that spoke to A Ma Maniere with the subtle details, like the suede.”
Certainly, from a business standpoint this makes sense. But…it’s still sort of disappointing. This women’s exclusive might be the sneaker of the year yet, somehow, it still finds a way to consider the male consumer
That’s a problem for a few reasons.
The honest truth is there will be a lot of women who don’t get to touch these because so many dudes are going to poach them.
And women aren’t granted the same access the other way around. No designer makes a men's shoe with women in mind. They’ve rarely been much of a consideration.
Don’t get it twisted. We’re all going to be chasing this shoe. And, yes, it’s fine for a man to want a women’s exclusive. But a women’s exclusive should just be designed and marketed for women — not men. Period. And the fact that this one doesn’t feel like a women’s exclusive is just yet another reminder of how male-centric this industry is.
Yes, progress is being made. Female voices are being empowered more and more by the day.
But clearly, there’s still a lot more work that needs to be done.
MSCHF causing MSCHF part 2
Welp. Glad this is all over. The dispute between Nike and MSCHF is over and, as we all could’ve guessed, it ended in a settlement, per Complex’s Brendan Dunne.
The agreement:
“As part of the settlement, Nike has asked MSCHF, and MSCHF has agreed, to initiate a voluntary recall to buy back any Satan Shoes and Jesus Shoes for their original retail prices in order to remove them from circulation.
If any purchasers were confused or if they otherwise wanted to return their shoes, they may do so for a full refund. Purchasers who choose not to return their shoes and later encounter a product issue, defect or health concern should contact MSCHF, not Nike.”
Let’s be real: Nike never cared about MSCHF dropping devil shoes or Jesus shoes or whatever. They only cared about public perception.
Once people thought the Satan shoes were affiliated with the Swoosh, they had to take action. It was bad publicity.
Remember, they didn't need any more of that. This is on the heels of the Hebert scandal. And the company is concerned about an eroding public trust. So they did something to appease the public.
Now Nike lets this die down, MSCHF sends whatever notice they need to send and, of course, no one returns them. Everyone goes on about their day. Boom. Case closed. Glad we wasted our time on that.
StockX’s IPO is OTW
Looks like StockX is preparing for an IPO, according to 2pm Inc.
We knew this was coming in 2021 but not this soon. Still, it isn’t surprising after the company just completed a round of funding that bumped its value to $3.8 billion, per Front Office Sports.
The latest round of funding was just the final infinity stone, it seems. Yes, I just compared StockX to Thanos.
These shoes are SMACKED
LMAO I don’t even know what to say. If you’re a fan of South Park, you’ll love these 4/20 joints from Adidas.
They really put Towelie on a shoe, man.
The shoes really get smacked in the sunlight. This is wild! I love it.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL ALREADY KNOW THE VIBES. LET’S GET IT!!!
First, the homie Uncle Stan got us popping early with the Off-Zoom Fly mercurials. SHEESH.
The homie Mitch popped out in the ACG AO and, clearly, the homie was ready for any weather.
DAAAAAAMN DANIEL. (I’m sorry.) He earned it tho! The homie popped out in the Royal Mids and they’re super fly.
Then the homie Ninja Kitteh popped out in some un-BEE-leivable joints. Yes, I stole this.
The homie Sarah is going to push me over the edge on buying more Air Max 90’s. I’m fairly confident in that.
The homie Andrew popped out in the UNC Eric Koston lows and, uh, is this the best AJ1 low? Because it feel like it is.
The homie Phil popped out in the Vandal Highs one last time before shipping these bad boys off.
The homie Shawn P stepped out in the Skepta Tailwinds straight STUNTING. Sheesh.
The homie J Mike had a message for us from his baby girl and my heart is SWOONING.
Then my guy Adrian sent us home with the Space Hippie colorway of the Cosmic Galaxy joints. SHEEEEEEEEESH man. I need parts.
That’s a wrap for us, family! Thank you so much for rocking with me today. Have an absolutely fantastic weekend.
Til next time, y’all.
The MSCHF and Nike settlement is interesting and funny at least to me lol. I wonder if MSCHF would pay retail or resale to buy back those shoes. Plus, didn’t MSCHF also agreed to buy back the Jesus shoes as well as part of the settlement?
Has there yet been a matching sneaker + makeup palette collab? Just asking because it seems so obvious to me now, take 2 popular things for the ladiez and build a cool color palette for both... haha