The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 185 — Find your love
We talk so much about the negative with kicks. Let's change that.
Good morning, family! The Kicks You Wear is back. Thank you so much for rocking with your boy on this glorious Monday.
Housekeeping reminder: The newsletter will be out for the next couple of weeks until Nov. 15. Locking in some cool stuff for Special Delivery and taking some time with the family. Going to miss y’all, but be good while I’m gone!
Let’s dive in.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the negative
The Kicks You Wear started just over two years ago. Two years. I’ve been doing a bunch of reflecting lately on what I do with this newsletter and what purpose it serves for you all.
To do this, I’ve revisited previous pieces and moments from the last two years.
I feel like I’ve done a decent job of connecting the dots with a lot of this stuff. And I hope you feel the same way, too.
But you know how it goes. When you check yourself, all you do is find your biggest mistakes. Then you beat yourself up over them a bit.
I’ve been beating myself up a bit for one thing: I think there’s so much more joy to be covered with this stuff. And I don’t mean the fluffy PR stuff. I mean the actual cool things people are doing in this industry.
Here’s the thing:
Sneaker culture is changing. It’s evolving and growing at a rapid pace. Many of us do not like some of those changes.
The game is set up in so many ways for us to lose, whether it’s artificial scarcity, the resale market, and the overall discussion of sneakers as an asset class. This is a cold, callous business. And often times, that can be the focus. It’s necessary.
But a lot of this is emotional, too. It’s warm. Sneakers mean something. They tell stories. They tell you about who you are as a person. You can learn a lot about someone from one pair of shoes.
I think capturing that is important. And remembering why we — why I — love this stuff in the first place is important, too.
Here’s my thing: I can only speak for myself here, so I will.
I’ve taken lots of L’s on stuff. But I’ve also had plenty of W’s, and I’m sure you have, too.
Those W’s have often come with a fleeting moment of excitement. Once that’s gone, it’s gone. It’s on to the next. And that’s not right. Those moments are meant to be appreciated.
That’s not just with shoes. That’s same applies with everyday life. Being intentional and appreciating the good in what you have saves you from so much anger and stress. Stop to smell the roses sometimes. It’s great.
So I’m going to do a much better job of that moving forward. And I hope y’all see that. Still gotta fix the SNKRS app, tho.
Beyoncé is smoking the triple collab
Beyoncé’s next Ivy Park collection is coming in a couple weeks and it’s a collab with…Peloton? Yup. With Peloton.
Here’s a look.
I was initially confused by this. But after quick conversation from some homies online and a few google searches, this makes a lot of sense.
Of course, Adidas has the Peloton partnership popping. So, naturally, it makes sense for them to work with an Adidas endorsee on apparel.
But it makes even more sense when you realize Beyoncé has a Peloton partnership herself. This is what I completely missed in my initial confusion.
Beyoncé has been curating classes and workout routines for Peloton for nearly a year now. They’re nearly at 5.6 million global members for her class, per PopSugar.
The smart take: This is actually a triple collab I can get behind. It is very niche and specific, but there’s already a ton of synergy here to work with. They’ve got a built in audience and they’ll make a product that someone actually has use for.
This won’t be a hype launch that folks will use as a resale grab like some of the other collabs we’ve seen — specifically in the sneaker world.
This launch is exciting. It’s quality. It’s useful. It checks every single box. This feels like an extremely great direction for Ivy Park. Hopefully, they keep the flow going.
SPECIAL DELIVERY: They finally got me doing some Yeezys, y’all
We almost (unintentionally) made it to a year without reviewing a pair of Yeezys on the show, but they finally got me.
We looked at the Yeezy 700 MNVN on the latest episode of Special Delivery. These definitely were not my cup of tea, but it’s a shoe I appreciate for reasons outside of its aesthetic.
It’s because it’s a shoe we need. It’s a shoe that allows people to participate. It helps Yeezy do a better job of not leaving folks out. We talk about that and more on this week’s episode.
Tap in! And plz don’t make fun of my face LOL.
Speaking of leaving folks out of the culture…
Talking about the Black and Brown folks who built sneaker culture into what it is today being left out is one thing. It’s another to actually hear from those folks.
Luckily, this piece from NBC has us covered. Sneakers is estimated to be a $70 billion industry. Yet, the folks who built it are being walled off from participating in it, writes NBC’s Curtis Bunn.
This is well worth a read. It gets heavy quick with this quote from James Whitner.
“It’s a white boys’ club, like most things…There are people aware of it, but their privilege doesn’t force them to have to change it.”
I’ve read this story so many times. I’ve seen it, heard it, talked about it. And it still hasn’t changed. Until it does, we need to keep telling it.
So make sure you read this today.
What’s droppin, bruh?
AJ 15 x Billie Eilish — Thursday, October 28
Nike SB Dunk Low “Mummy” — Thursday, October 28
Air Force 1 Low “Siempre Familía” — Friday, October 29
Yeezy Foam Runner “Vermillion” — Friday, October 29
Yeezy 500 “Brown Clay” — Saturday, October 30
Thank you so much for rocking with your boy today! I’ll see y’all in a couple weeks. I’m going to miss you. Know I’m still rocking trying to put together cool content for you.
Til next time, family. Peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯
Man, I really want those Air Force 1 Low “Siempre Familía”, but as a nerdy white guy I feel like it's maybe a bit inappropriate? They're just so cool though.
Is there a list of sneaker shops or boutiques that are black and/or brown owned?