The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 199 — Louis Vuitton is not what sneaker culture looks like
Don't be tricked by the flex.
Goooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for giving me a few minutes of your time today.
NEW SPECIAL DELIVERY today at noon! We’re doing the Ishod Wair SB’s and, man, they’re going to go down as one of my faves for 2022. Y’all gotta give them a shot.
Enough of that, though. Let’s dive in.
Culture is meant to be shared, not stolen
The numbers behind the Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1’s are wild, man. Yes, the shoes are just as expensive as you probably thought they were.
By the numbers:
Checked my 11.5 size. We’re looking at a whopping $42,000 as the highest bid right now.
The highest bid I’ve seen so far has been $65,000. It’ll go higher, though. The sale doesn’t end until February 8.
You see what I’m getting at here. Acquiring one of these pairs of shoes is extremely expensive. It takes gobs of cash to cop one of these pairs of sneakers — even at retail where they sell for $2,000.
Here’s my thing: This drop kind of bothers me. It’s not just how expensive these things are. It is the condition under which this sneaker is being presented to us that is the problem.
Virgil Abloh clearly created these joints acknowledging and calling back to what sneaker culture once was. It’s a nod to the designs and customizations by Harlem’s own Dapper Dan popularized back in the 1980’s.
That was a nod that the luxury world once scoffed at. High fashion brands were ready to fight Dan, Supreme and anyone else who dared to use their prints in streetwear. It was a world they didn’t want to be in.
Now, here Louis Vuitton is with Virgil’s sneaker using those same design concepts on an Air Force 1.
The same class of people who shunned this stuff initially are now bidding thousands and thousands of dollars to own it as a flex.
This is good for designers like Virgil and many others who forced their way into these high-brow institutions where they never would’ve been accepted before. But it hasn’t shifted the paradigm at all.
Let me be clear: I’m not the guy who is going to tell you that representation doesn’t matter. It absolutely does. It’s important for the Black and Brown folks who built this culture to participate in it.
But if all their work does is uphold and reinforce same unfair standards and allow these institutions to co-opt culture they once straight up rejected, what’s the point? That’s the real question we need to be asking ourselves with this.
The truth is this doesn’t serve us. And anything that doesn’t serve us, we really shouldn’t give this much attention to.
The Retro Bron era is here
It’s 2022 and Nike is still going all-in on retro’ing LeBron James’ sneaker line. In face, you could argue they’re going harder than ever before.
So far we’ve got:
The South Coast 9, the “Watch the Throne” 9, and we’re reportedly getting a look at the “Big Bang” 9 very soon. And it’s only January.
But that’s not all. There’s also reportedly a LeBron 2 retro coming later in the year. It’ll be the first time this model gets a retro look.
This isn’t surprising. This is a natural progression for LeBron’s sneaker line and is, generally, how Nike handles its most popular signature sneaker models.
Plus, we got a whiff that they’d be leaning heavily in Bron retros when we got 7’s and 8’s last year and the LeBron Watch returned. Remember when Nike took that poll of the best LeBron’s ever? They’re using that data to gauge what you all want. This is how they’ll move forward with the retros.
The most interesting part to me is we’ll see how quickly LeBron’s retro line can catch on. I’m on the record in saying it hasn’t been the most aesthetically pleasing to me outside of the models they’ve already retro’d — the 7’s, 8’s and 9’s. That’s not an unpopular opinion.
Will that flip as more come? We’ll see. But if anyone can change people’s opinions on aesthetics, it’s Nike. So I’d honestly bet on it happening here.
Not with me tho. I’m cool.
The end of an era
For so many of us coming up in the sneaker game those trips on the weekend to your local Footaction stores meant the world to you. And it’s been that way for more than four decades.
That’s a thing of the past now. Many stores around the country have already begun to close. And we had a scare on Thursday when we thought the digital store would be closing, too.
The site was originally said to be shutting down at the start of February, but it’ll be around a “a little longer” per Sole Links.
What’s happening: Regardless, the time is coming.
They’d announced on an earnings call in May that they’d be closing all of their stores over the next two calendar years as their leases around the country expired.
Shutting down the web store was also a huge step in cutting that access for people, too. And that’ll happen next month.
What’s next: About a third of the stores will be transitioned into new Foot Locker locations with more of a selection for women and kids, so they’ll still be put to use. Just know it won’t be the same location
So if you’ve got an attachment to a local Footaction, you might want to go support before it’s too late. Honestly, it might already be.
Our first triple collab of 2022?
Rejoice, you collab fiends. We just got a first look at our first triple collab of 2022. Woo. No, the enthusiasm is not there.
It’s a New Balance drop with ALL GONE and PaperBoy.
Never did I think we’d actually see New Balance jumping on the triple collab boat but, honestly, it’s not surprising at all. It worked so well for Nike last year. Why not? This is almost certainly a sign for things to come for other brands across the industry.
My feelings about the triple-up have not changed but, clearly, I’d better get used to this. At least the shoes are good, I guess.
#TheKicksWeWear
First the better Mike came through with the Crimson 4’s. These joints are too clean.
My guy Sumeet really wore the Turdunkens. On a volcano. This is legendary stuff, y’all.
Y’all know how Storm give it up. She came through with the 36’s showing Jayson Tatum some love. Shouts to him for destroying the Wizards
The homie Geoff popped out in the Patchwork 3’s and everytime I see these joints I want to double back for a pair.
The homie Dandin popped out in an absolute classic with the white cement 4’s. SO clean y’all.
My guy Gary came through with the Kith 990’s showing mad love to New Balance. Sheesh these are good.
The homie Rook came through with these icy ass v2’s and I NEED THEM IN MY LIFE.
The homie Nate popped out in the Patta x Nike Aqua Noise joints and, of course, they’re wavy.
My guy Ant popped out showing Kobe love with the Huarache 2k4’s. Shoutout to it man. Rest in peace, Kobe.
And then the homie Cesar sent us home with this Nike SB x Supreme special. MY GOODNESS, CEEZ!
Y’all are too fly, man. I cannot touch y’all.
Thank y’all so much for rocking with yerboi today! I appreciate you! On Monday we’re talking to Sole Retriever and they were kind enough to send y’all a gift. Stay tuned!
Holla at y’all then. In the meantime, peace and love. Be safe. Be easy. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯