The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 189 — Rest in peace, Virgil
Virgil has left us at 41 years old. But it felt like things were just getting started with him.
What’s good, family! Thank you so much for rocking with me this beautiful Monday morning! Appreciate you!
Housekeeping: Our last newsletter of 2021 is coming on December 17th. I know, I know! I’ll miss you, too! The good news is I’ll be dropping my “best of” series and giving you a quick holiday shopping guide for the sneakerhead in your life that won’t blow your pockets out. That will be fun!
Let’s jump in.
You don’t need to feel sad about Virgil Abloh
I truly cannot believe that I’m typing these words to you, but we’ve lost Virgil Abloh at just 41-years-old.
The fashion icon, designer and artist had apparently been privately battling cancer since 2019 and died on Sunday. A message from his account detailed that he’d been diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma — a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
He’s gone way too soon. I’ll be honest — I don’t really know what to say here, except that we’ve lost.
We just lost someone who was an iconic BLACK designer in an industry that doesn’t have very many of those. And he completely reshaped it, too. He took minimal design to a new level with some damn quotation marks and a Sharpie.
We lost an artist who was so dedicated to sharing his work with the world he created exhibits just for all of us to see in it.
We lost someone who gave us absolutely iconic album covers that shaped the look of the art that we love to hear.
But, most importantly, his wife just lost her husband. His kids just lost their father. And those are holes that you can’t fill. No one can.
With that being said: We shouldn’t feel sad for Virgil at all. I mean, why would we? Yes, it’s OK to be sad that he’s no longer with us. We should be. But that’s not his problem — it’s ours.
For him? He lived his life out until his dying breath shaping the zeitgeist of today, tomorrow and the next day. He spent his time on Earth flipping industries in ways we didn’t think anyone could. Music, art, design, fashion, footwear, clothing, apparel, luxury. His fingerprints are all over each and ever sector. That’s a life lived. The wild part is it was clear he had so much more to give.
So I’m actually happy for him. I’m thrilled he got to live his life out the way he wanted to and share his art with us. We’ll be impacted by it for…well, forever. It’ll never be forgotten. Virgil Abloh is a name that will go in history books.
He’s not without his warts. I, myself, have been very critical of him. You wish he’d opened more doors for Black creatives through his partnerships and Off-White. There are also creative theft accusations that certainly matter here.
Those warts are part of his story, too. There’s no way to properly talk about Virgil and the man he was without discussing them. We have to acknowledge that, clearly, he was not a man without flaws.
But also recognize that for every “keep it 2 Virgils” story there is out there, there’s also an Englewood Barbie story, too. And that’s pretty great.
So, yeah, I’m sad Virgil is gone. But I’m very thankful we got to experience his art the way we did. And happy he was able to share it with us.
There’s one last thing I want to say. You never know what someone is going through behind closed doors. I cannot stress this enough.
This is why I end every newsletter the way I do. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. I mean that. Kindness is essential in our lives and what we just experienced with Virgil exactly why. You never know when the last time you might speak to someone will be.
So, always remember, a little bit of kindness goes a long way.
Oh, and fuck cancer.
Adidas’ mysterious meta journey
Every corporation in every industry is racing now to try and establish themselves in the Metaverse and the sneaker industry is no different, as we’ve discussed before here.
Adidas is diving in headfirst and maybe a bit more aggressively than anyone else in footwear.
What’s happening: Adidas has done three big things.
They just announced a new partnership with Coinbase that they hilariously tell us is “probably nothing” in pure crypto-meme fashion.
There’s also something going on between them and The Sandbox — an open-world blockchain game. Adidas has a plot of land in the virtual world.
They were also dishing out NFT tokens to some users on CONFIRMED, though it doesn’t appear that those users actually own the tokens? (Which is the entire appeal of this whole thing, but OK!)
So…what’s happening? It’s honestly hard to tell what Adidas’ play is here. It’s very clear that it’s not just any single thing, but multiple things at once.
In Sandbox, there’s the possibility of some sort of gamified shopping experience they could create, for example.
And maybe the POAP tokens users got through CONFIRMED are part of that experience? Who knows?
Whatever it is, though, it’s clear: Adidas is going all-in here. We’ll see what it means for users down the line.
These Union Dunks are…eh?
Union LA has been on a run over the last four years or so starting with the Jordan 1 back in 2018. But the leaks of what is to come in 2022 don’t have me too excited.
What’s happening: Y’all have seen the Jordan 2 by now. But there are also these Dunks that are, apparently, coming down the line. And, well, these pictures aren’t that flattering.
Hold on a sec: Before you call these trash, you should know that these are not official images. And that matters a lot. There are some leaks that are unflattering. So, while I’m not that into these, it’s worth withholding judgment.
With that being said I am NOT that into these. I’m not totally sure what that material is, but it doesn’t sell me on these joints at all. And it covers the entirety of the shoe in this leak.
We’ll have to wait and see, but we know the Dunk run has to come to an end at some point. This looks like that “whew boy, we did way too much” moment in a sneaker.
I hope I’m wrong.
Copping sneakers makes no sense these days
Y’all know all the stuff we do to try and cop kicks these days, right? The multiple tabs, the pre-carting, ATC links. All that jazz? I’m here to tell you none of it matters.
Case in point: My fiancé, who knows how to do absolutely none of that garbage, is 4-4 on raffles this year. Her latest dub? The A Ma Maniere Jordan 1’s for YERBOI.
A story in two tweets.
There’s a lesson to be learned here: My fiancé is the greatest and is really better at this than me. All that extra stuff that we do to cop? Sure, it helps. But what this mostly comes down to is dumb luck sometimes.
That’s really all there is to it.
What’s droppin, bruh?
Reebok Question “Pink Toe” — Monday, November 29
Adidas x Human Race “Sichona” Yellow — Tuesday, November 30
New Balance 550 “Carolina Blue” — Wednesday, December 1
Yeezy QNTM “Amber Tint” — Friday, December 3
A Ma Maniere x Jordan 3 “Airness” (SNKRS DROP)— Friday, December 3
Thank y’all so much for rocking with your boy today! I appreciate you. Y’all have an incredible week. Get those holiday decorations up, man. Ain’t nobody else finna do it.
Lol. Holla at y’all on Wednesday. Til then, you know the drill. Peace. Love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯
appreciate your insights as always bro!