The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 195 — Vaxxed up shorty
Nike is reportedly firing unvaccinated employees this weekend
Goooood morning, family! Thank you so much for rocking with me on this glorious Friday. Here’s to the fantastic weekend y’all are about to have.
Me? I’m going to try and step outside for the first time in three weeks. Like, literally step outside. It’s going to be a blast. I hope.
Alright, enough. Let’s jump in.
Just Vax it
In a move that isn’t all that surprising, Nike will reportedly begin to terminate unvaccinated employees, according to a report from The Oregonian.
The details:
Nike has had a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place for its corporate employees since October.
It had a hybrid return to work plan in place for January 10 but has since scrapped that because, well, COVID isn’t going anywhere. No new date has been given but the mandate remained in place.
And now, reportedly, the company will terminate employees who have not gotten a medical or religious exemption by January 15.
Here’s what employees were reportedly told in an email leaked to the Oregonian.
“You failed to complete the verification process and our records show that you do not have an approved (exemption). As a result, you are not in compliance with the Policy and your employment is scheduled to be terminated on Saturday, January 15, 2022.”
I reached out to Nike for confirmation of this report but have not received a response at the time of this piece’s publishing.
Here’s the deal: This is…rough. I never root for anyone to lose their job under any circumstances. These are people’s livelihoods we’re talking about here. I’m very sensitive to that. There are also ways in which this could impact Nike’s production.
But Nike is a private entity. And as such, they can make it mandatory that any corporate employee under their umbrella must be vaccinated.
There is a conversation to be had about a mandate being issued to an ununionized workforce. That’s always scary — no union would ever straight up say “yes” to a mandate of any kind.
But this isn’t something like, say, payscale talk or benefit negotiations. It’s a public health matter. There’s a different precedent here.
The other side: I’m not about to talk to y’all about a slippery slope.
At this point, this slippery slope is being unvaccinated — you’re 13 times more likely to end up hospitalized.
From personal experience, I’m fully vaccinated and boosted and just experienced an Omicron breakthrough. It was hell for two days. If I wasn’t vaxxed? Whew, boy.
So, yes, it stinks people may or may not lose their jobs over this. That’s never good. But being vaccinated is very, very important. So I get it.
Please, family. Be safe out there. Vax up.
The price of the brick just went up
The street poet Fat Joe once said “yesterday’s price is not today’s price.” That is indeed the case with Nike’s Air Force 1. The classic sneaker’s price just jumped from $90 to $100.
This iconic shoe has been $90 since its debut in 1982.
So why the jump?: Well, it’s not exactly clear why. But there are a few factors that we need to consider here.
Nike’s prices on other hyped shoes have risen recently including that of many Jordans which have seen $10 to $20 increases over the last year or so, too.
Inflation is at its highest levels in decades. The sneaker industry is impacted by that.
There’s also the labor shortage (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the consumer) and companies like Nike are dealing with.
You add all that together and you could easily see why the Air Force 1 and shoes like it are costing a bit more.
It still stinks: This iconic sneaker is one of the beacons for cool in the culture. The thing about it was it was also accessible for most people, too. A $10 price increase doesn’t exactly make it the most expensive shoe out there, but $10 is no small deal.
Plus, even as a GR, the Air Force 1 was hard to come by last year because of resellers buying up the block. This boosts those prices up even more.
At the end of the day, the AF1 will still be one of Nike’s more popular shoes. People are still going to buy these things up. But this is a sign of things to come around the industry. And it probably won’t be fun for most of us.
I guess Drake’s shoes are still a thing
So, uh, I guess we’re still doing this? Things had gone quiet on the Drake NOCTA signature sneaker front for a while last year.
But the NOCTA x Hot Step Air Terria is still coming and it’s coming soon, per Sneaker News.


I just truly do not understand the appeal of this shoe. It’s like the thicc skater mid-2000’s era had a baby with K Swiss and this is what they came up with. All due respect to both of those parties, by the way.
This is a big test for Drake.
It’s the first time we’re seeing him come with a signature sneaker carrying his subsidiary brand’s name on it.
How it moves is going to determine how much more we see of this moving forward and what we see from the brand.
Being honest here: It doesn’t seem like many folks are vibing with these. I will admit the black pair look much better than these, but I’m also not a fan of triple-black sneakers. So we’ll see how that goes.
Can’t wait to get these on Special Delivery, though. WHEW boy, that’s going to be a fun one.
The Brady Brand?!?!? Nah fam
I cannot believe this is a thing. Tom Brady has an apparel brand. And it was 3 years in the making? For a $95 hoodie? That just says Brady?
Nah, fam. Tom Brady done lost his mind. I don’t care how many Super Bowls you got. I better get one of them rings if I’m paying that much for a regular hoodie. Sorry.
In all seriousness, this is so weird, man. But it makes sense when you see the brain behind it.
He’s launching with Jens Grede, the co-founder of Kim Kardashian’s Skims.
This follows a very simple formula. Take high profile name. Attach name to “premium” product. Cash out. That’s what this is here.
With that being said y’all wouldn’t catch me dead in none of this. I better not catch any of y’all in it, either.
#TheKicksWeWear
WE BYKEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! The Kicks We Wear is here! Let’s get it started!
First, the homie Candace got us popping with these clean Space Hippies. Man, this silhouette is gonna be around forever. I love the longevity.



My guy Domo popped out in the Kyle Kuzma x RHUDE Clyde Pro joints. Puma really gave Kyle Kuzma a sneaker and he went WILD with it.
The homie Jess pulled out these dope Kyrie’s, too. I go back and forth between KD and Ky on Nike’s best signature hoops line but, man, these are up there.
There was mad Air Max love today. My guy Patrick came through with the Bacons and y’all already know the vibe with these.
Then the homie Innanet James popped out in these Supreme 98’s bro. MAN.



The homie Tej popped out in the Air Max 90’s and brought us an incredible story with em, too.


The homie Daniel kills it with this lace swap on the AJ1 Craft. What a great sneaker man.
The homie Monica popped out in the Biohack AJ1’s and this is such a look.
My guy Patrick’s wife destroys us ALL with these Tiffany Dunks. Yo. I’m so jealous.
Then the homie Shamar sends us packing with these WHAT THE KD’s. SO SICK.
Y’all brought us back with a vengeance. I LOVE IT.
Thank y’all so much for rocking with yerboi today! Y’all are the absolute best.
I’ll holla at y’all on Monday, family. Til then, peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes💯
I'm interested to see the Drake shoe with come color blocking / texture to it. I think it's an interesting silhouette.
Gotta question for you - can folks without twitter participate in the #TheKicksWeWear ?