The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 179 — The supply chain is crumbling
Here's what that means for your sneakers
Good morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with your boy this morning. I appreciate you!
How was your weekend? Fantastic, I hope! I went bowling. It was cool. I’m not very good at it, though. On a related note, happy birthday to my homie Q Money.
Let’s proceed.
Delays on delays on delays
Y’all better start that Christmas shopping up now. Supply chains everywhere are collapsing and we’re seeing massive shipping delays across industries. It’s happening for a couple of different reasons.
First of all, ports everywhere are in peril right now.
Cargo ships are stuck in port and facing delays that stretch for weeks at a time.
And that’s because ports are operating under maximum capacity. Because of COVID protocols and social distancing, there are less workers. And some workers outright leaving for safety reasons.
There’s also a lack of shipping containers available to move goods because of all the anchored ships.
Here’s what that actually looks like. The green dots are all ships. It’s chaos.
That’s just shipping. Here’s reason #2: It’s the factories. There are shortages everywhere here, too.
Because of the U.S.-China trade war, companies spent years moving their manufacturing business out of China and into Vietnam.
Now Vietnam’s factories are shutting down in droves because of COVID-19.
Those shutdowns are causing huge delays in the development of products for companies around the globe.
Here’s what that looks like in the context of Nike, per the Wall Street Journal.
Nike, which makes around half of its footwear in Vietnam, said last week that it had lost 10 weeks of production there because of factory shutdowns. Those 10 weeks translate to about 100 million pairs of Nike shoes not made, according to BTIG LLC, a U.S. brokerage.
That’s massive. This is why you’re seeing those delays in some of the kicks you’ve been waiting months for.
Be thoughtful: Before you get frustrated and start complaining about everything, think of the human element at play here.
Vietnam is largely unvaccinated. These workers were already putting their lives in danger in largely unsafe environments for low wages to make things you love. Now, it’s 10 times worse because of the pandemic.
Sure, it sucks you can’t buy your Dunks. But whatever. There are more important things in the world. So many of us have enough of everything already. You don’t need more right now.
The lesson to be learned here is the pandemic is still raging on, despite what it might feel like in your bubble. So be proactive. Be patient. And, most importantly, be safe.
More sustainable practices, less sustainable kicks plz
Can we please stop with the sneakers that are made out of recycled materials? Well, not stop. Because it is a good thing. But brands are doing it so much, it defeats the purpose.
Case in point: Adidas is dropping a new collaboration with Palace and creating the Ultra Boost 2021 with recycled materials.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Seeing recycled materials on popular models might drive people to not only buy that sneaker but more like them made from similar materials.
But here’s the thing: At a certain point, this just becomes a half measure. There are just more and more sneakers being created — just with sustainable materials. Here’s why that’s bad.
Yes, when these sneakers are inevitably thrown away, parts of them can be recycled. But, most times, the entire shoe can’t. There’s still waste.
On top of that, the production of non-sustainable shoes isn’t slowing down at all and, honestly, won’t.
So what you end up with is a half-measure here. Yes, there are more sustainable sneakers. But they aren’t actually reducing any of the waste. Regular sneakers aren’t disappearing.
Don’t get it twisted: This isn’t me saying sneakers made from sustainable materials are bad. They’re not. It’s a good thing we have them.
There’s just a much smarter way we should be doing this. For example, things would be different if these materials were put into every single sneaker developed — or even just most of the sneakers. But that hasn’t quite happened yet.
Before we make some real change, we’ve got to get to that point.
SPECIAL DELIVERY: I think I just met my Sneaker of the Year
There are so many sneakers you could choose from for Sneaker of the Year. 2021 has been pretty good in that department.
But I think I found mine. It’s the Social Status “Free Lunch” Dunk. This thing is amazing — and can y’all believe I hated it at first because of the cut? Insane.
This thing has me in a chokehold, though.
The details on the shoe are insane. It reminds me of old SB’s from yesteryear when I first jumped into sneakers as a youth.
The story behind it is also incredible. Its inspiration is so thoughtful and heartfelt. I just…really appreciate that.
I talk about all that and more on this week’s episode of Special Delivery.
Hope y’all love this as much as I did!
Is it just me or…have all the custom Off-White Dunks better than the original?
Virgil needs to get back in the lab or something because the community is straight-up cooking this man.
Every Off-White “Dear Summer” Dunk customization has been so much better than the originals. These Olive joints are actually pretty incredible.
From the color to the lace customization, this design actually makes this look pop. And that’s much more than I could say about the original.
Look where a little creativity with these got us, y’all. Wow. Whaddaya know.
What’s droppin bruh?
Nike Undefeated “5 on it” pack (SNKRS drop) — Tuesday, October 5
Sacai x Clot x Nike LDWaffle “Kiss of Death 2” — Thursday, October 7
Air Jordan 5 “Blue Bird” — Thursday, October 7
NBA x Nike Dunk Low EMB “Anniversary” — Friday, October 8
Nike Dunk High “Midnight Navy” — Friday October 8
Thank y’all so much for rocking with your boy today. Y’all are the best ever. You keep me going.
Stay tuned. We’ll talk on Wednesday. Til then be easy, be safe and be kind. Love.
-Sykes 💯