The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 192 — The good and bad of Nike's designer exodus
Leaving Nike? Sheeeeeesh.
Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear, family. Thank you so much for rocking with your boy on this glorious Friday. I hope you’re well.
Big shouts to all the heartwarming stories y’all shared this week in Wednesday’s thread. This is the kind of stuff I love the most, man. Y’all are awesome.
Let’s dive in.
Nike’s designer exodus
There was a whole lot of commotion on the internet over some pretty major departures at Nike earlier this week.
The exodus: A handful of well-respected designers in the sneaker world surprisingly left Nike after years on the job at the swoosh, Complex’s Brendan Dunne reports.
Sergio Lozano: This is the most notable name you’ll see on this list. He’s responsible for the Air Max 95, 98 and the Air Tuned Max.
Nate Jobe: Jobe has played a pretty significant role at Nike in recent years. He was one of the hands that executed Virgil Abloh’s “The Ten” collection, which speaks for itself.
Tom Rushbook: Rushbrook was a global designer for men’s sportswear.
Chad Knight: Knight’s role as a 3D designer at the swoosh might be a significant loss moving forward as they move into the Metaverse.
Now, this isn’t an insignificant development. But it’s also not necessarily doom and gloom for Nike.
This is the life cycle of how things go these days. More often now, designers move around and work with different companies as opposed to just one.
Plus, as we continue to shift into a new year at the top of a new decade, Nike needs new inspiration. These departures may make room for that.
There’s still a concern, though. It’s not so much that these names are leaving. It’s more about why they’re leaving that’s concerning.
Knight shed a little light on this with a pretty revealing quote.
“I want to help create that future and that was not an opportunity at Nike given the old guard’s and MBA’s lack of interest in ideas that aren’t their own…Unfortunately you cannot have ideas about subject matter unless you possess knowledge of it.”
This is not the sort of rhetoric any prospective employee wants to hear — especially in design.
Be smart: We live in a time where you don’t necessarily need the big name or big brand attached to you to make it into the sneaker industry or any creative industry, for that matter.
Consumers have more avenues to invest directly into the creative than ever before. And, a lot of times, consumers are also creatives. That’s a great thing that takes the power out of the corporation’s hands and into the creative’s.
Rejecting creative ideas and suppressing them is absolutely never a good look and will lose you support every single time.
So, hopefully, Nike recognizes that. There’s more room for creativity and innovation as they move forward. But you also have to actually allow that to happen. Or else you’re stuck in the mud.
And, as we know, Nike ain’t really in the business of that.
Rich Paul has a…signature sneaker????
We’re a long way away from the era where signature sneakers and player exclusive models were only limited to the athletes who performed in them. Kanye West and his consiglieres broke that mold a long time ago.
But I never thought I’d see the day where we had an executive out here who had a signature model of any sort. But Rich Paul has done that.
Wait, what? Yes, y’all. Rich Paul — LeBron James’ agent and the head of Klutch Sports Agency — has a signature shoe. And, yes, it’s also incredibly weird.
It’s not with Nike, either. This is a New Balance sneaker. He has his own version of the 550.
It’s a pretty sleek model, too. It looks like the more recent retro’d variation with perforations in the upper for breathability. He also has an apparel collection.
Bruh: I know, I know. But it’s also kind of cool? It opens the doors for new possibilities and personalities to enter the sneaker world.
You don’t have to necessarily be an entertainer or an athlete or a designer to get something like this. Maybe you’re some sort of different creative. But if you leave an impact, regardless of field, it can be recognized.
Plus, this is incredibly inspiring. If you’ve followed Rich Paul, you know he’s built his empire from nothing. And to see him get this love is dope.
I just better not see Mark Bartelstein or Drew Rosenhaus or whoever out here clamoring for one of these. They are not fly enough.
New Jordan Brand signature models are coming
Jordan Brand made a lot of waves in the athletic sneaker space this week. Jayson Tatum dropped the biggest one on us, though.
What’s happening: The Celtics’ star says his first Jordan Brand signature shoe is coming. More specifically, it’s “on the way,” per NESN.
As far as the timeline on it, he wouldn’t divulge specifically when it was coming. He could only say it was on the way.
This isn’t really surprising. Tatum is one of the more popular athletes in the NBA and plays for a legacy team in the Boston Celtics. He’s also extremely marketable and his son is totally adorable. His PE’s have been pretty incredible so far.
The timing makes sense considering they just re-upped with a number of athletes. Bradley Beal, for example, got a new JB logo and signed a contract extension.
They also blessed their athletes with some extremely dope Jordan 6 PE’s.
His upcoming signature model is probably part of some sort of new extension for Tatum as well. It’s the latest step forward for him with Jordan Brand since signing a few years ago.
What’s next: If we’re getting a Tatum shoe, don’t be shocked if we get a Luka shoe, too. It seems like the natural order.
Watch that delivery person, y’all
A DHL employee got clipped from her gig and is facing charges. Why? Because she reportedly stole $60,000 worth of Nike goods from the company’s processing facility in Memphis, per WREG3.
This is wild. Y’all. You cannot make this up. Apparently, she’s been doing it for a while and they have no clue for how long.
A police affidavit revealed that Davis was caught by Nike investigators. It’s unclear how long the operation had been going on. Nike was able to recover up to $10,000 worth of merchandise that was set to be delivered Monday. After being questioned by detectives, Davis confessed to the crime and has since then been charged with theft of property, police said.
We already knew packages were being stolen. But THIS many? Man. That’s wild. Your shoes might be in Memphis right now if you’re missing a delivery.
Sheesh.
#TheKicksWeWear
First the homie Tej gets us popping with these Bron 15 lows. Love that knit, man.
The homie Jone popped out with TWO pairs just stunting on dudes in the gym.
Then Kim came through with these fly J’s for her first appearance in KYW. Well overdue, fam! We love to see it.
You know the homie E Thrope popped out with the XC-72’s on deck taking them all the way back in the day.
The homie Ant came through with the PSG 5’s and they’re beautiful.
My guy Big Baklava popped out in these absolutely stunning Air Max 95 classics.
The homie Rick Dubb came through with the BAPE Undftd ZX 8000. Sick.
Then my guy Andrew showed out with these INCREDIBLE Sacai joints. Man.
Last but not least, the homie Adrian closed us out with the Strawberry Milk Dunks. These joints are STUNNING.
SMOKED THAT. Per usual.
Thank y’all so much for rocking with me, family! Y’all are the absolute best, man. This newsletter is an absolute blast and it’s because of you.
Good luck on the Cool Grey’s this weekend, y’all! Not that you’ll need it. You’ve got it covered. Anyway, peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯