The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 159 — Virgil gonna Virgil and y’all are gonna like it

Will Virgil convince y'all that you like Jordan 2's?

Jun 21, 2021

Good morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear! Thank you so much for rocking with me again today. Appreciate you!

Hope you had an excellent holiday weekend. Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there — especially the Black dads. Y’all are dope as hell.

Let’s dive in.

Virgil gonna Virgil and y’all are gonna like it

(Photo by Travis Essinger on Unsplash)

We’re about to really see how influential Virgil Abloh really is. Off-White is coming with an Air Jordan II this year per a leak from zSneakerHeadz.

Here’s a quick look at a rendering of it.

zSneakerHeadz @zSneakerHeadz

FALL 2021. #OFFWHITE x AJ2 LOW SP Black/Blue/Grey Mock-ups pictured — close representation of what we are getting.

And here’s a look at the actual shoe.

Domo @Domo_LXXXVI

@MikeDSykes Yoooooooo

This is going to be fascinating. It’ll be a real indicator of how much of a grip hype has on sneaker culture.

The thing about the AJ2 is that, for whatever reason, people just don’t love it. They never have.

Maybe it’s because it came between maybe the two greatest J’s ever in the 1 and the 3? Or maybe it was basically a designer shoe? Maybe it’s the lack of a swoosh?

Regardless, the conversation around the AJ2 is always either how bad it is or how we don’t talk about it enough.

But the Off-White halo effect is real. This is going to drive people to buy the AJ2 in the same way that Travis Scott wearing the Newcastle Dunks blew up their value or the same way that the Last Dance Documentary skyrocketed specific Jordan models.

Over the next year, we’re going to see an AJ2 resurgence. Less coveted models will be en vogue after people inevitably miss out on these.

Relatively tame StockX prices will rise. New Jordan 2 models will pop up out of nowhere. And people will lose their minds over a shoe they weren’t even looking at last year. Just like the Dunk.

Why? Because that’s just how hype works.

Black folk have inspired the hell out of me in 2021

(Photo by BP Miller on Unsplash)

In celebration of Juneteenth and overall Black excellence, here’s a list of Black influencers, creatives and sneaker people that I’ve absolutely loved in 2021.

Let’s start with designers:

James Whitner dropped the sneaker of the year with the A Ma Maniere 3. And the fact that it was created to appreciate a Black woman? Even sweeter.
Salehe Bembury brought life to New Balance’s 2002r with two ultra-creative colorways and I absolutely love to see it.
Aleali May might have the best Jordan 1 collab out there this year and, obviously, there are a ton of them.

There are also many powerful voices and creators.

Jazerai Allen-Lord is a jack of all trades in this culture from design to content creation to whatever else you can think of. And she’s created an incredible community with the Kickback on Fridays.
The homie Kari and his Sneaker Phetish YouTube channel are must-watch for me at this point. Especially as a new YouTuber.
Christina Kenan and If I Can’t Wear SNKRS is amazing but y’all already knew that. She’s really building an amazing community of women.
Adena and Chad Jones really stand for everything that makes sneaker culture great with Another Lane. I love it.

There are so many more folks out there that I just don’t have space for. And that’s a pretty incredible feeling. Sneaker culture is Black culture and I love it.

Happy Juneteenth.

SPECIAL DELIVERY: The Kawhi episode!

HaHAAAAAAhahahha. SPECIAL DELIVERY is back, family. And we’re talking the Kawhi 1.

New Balance has used this shoe to tell us different parts of Kawhi’s story and the Moreno Valley colorway is about his origin. We explore that and more in this latest episode.

And I completely bomb our Kawhi Leonard quiz lmao.

How’d you do on the quiz? Did you know the answers? And if so, plz help me next time.

KD wearing big ass KD’s

The KD 14’s signature moment is as heartbreaking as it is incredible. He literally hit one of the toughest shots I’ve ever seen on the basketball court in the Ky-D 14’s.

But…his toe was on the line. Because his shoe was too long. And his feet are huge.