The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 205 — Returning to Supremacy
Make Supreme rage against the machine again.
Goooood morning, fam! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for giving me a few minutes of your time today! I appreciate it.
GREAT NEWS! GIVEAWAY DETAILS ARE COMING ON MONDAY! I’ve been super excited about doing this with y’all again and I cannot wait til we hit our benchmark! We’re on the road to 5k, fam! Let’s get it!
Alright. Let’s begin.
Tremaine Emory is Supreme’s key
Supreme has a bit of a problem and they’re hoping No Vacancy Inn and Denim Tears founder Tremaine Emory can be the one to fix it.
What’s the news: Supreme just hired Emory as their creative director after not having one for nearly four years since Angelo Baque stepped down in 2017.
Emory is also the first major hire for Supreme since the company was purchased by VF Corp in 2020.
He starts his work with Supreme immediately, shaping the creative direction of the brand as it moves forward into its corporate future.
And there’s the thing, right? It’s the question everyone keeps asking. Can Supreme maintain the “cool” factor? But I think we should pose that differently.
The question isn’t whether Supreme can maintain its “cool” isn’t really a question. Y’all still go crazy over it. It still resells for insane numbers so, clearly, it’s cool to someone.
The real question is can Supreme regain the grasp it once had on its ethos while also clearly being part of the corporate machine it once raged against?
That’s what they’re bringing Tremaine on to fix. This isn’t just Supreme hiring a guy because they like his skill as a designer. It’s more about the vibe he can bring back to the brand.
No Vacancy Inn was the epitome of a spontaneous brand. They held parties, dropped merch, held art exhibits and pop-ups. Those are the sorts of things we should look for him to bring to Supreme moving forward.
And he’s not going to slouch on the design side either. Supreme will drop some pretty controversial stuff following Emory’s lead, like the Denim Tears x Levis jeans with cotton reefs tackling America’s history with slavery.
There’s really no telling how this is going to go. It’s going to be unconventional. It’s going to be shocking. And it’s not just going to be Supreme slapping a bunch of collab labels on stuff and calling it a day.
The new question: Will Supreme’s corporate overlords at VF Corp be alright with that? This is what they signed up for so you’d think so. But never assume.
That’s the vibe Supreme was built on. That’s what they need to get back to. Tremaine Emory can get them there. Let’s hope they let him.
The problem with Allbirds’ resell to refurbish program
The resale market is always thought about as this place where people go to price gouge you. And that’s mostly true. But it doesn’t always have to be that way.
Allbirds is doing it differently. They just launched a resale platform with Rerun — the secondary market platform — with the intention of refurbishing used sneakers, per Vogue Business.
How it works:
US Customers can trade in “gently used” Allbirds sneakers for $20 store credit at one of three retail stores in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York City.
The used sneakers will be refurbished and then resold on Allbirds’ ReRun platform.
The refurbished shoe price will start at $59.
Let’s lead with love. This is a good thing. The footwear industry needs more programs like this one. It gives people something to do with their unused or unwanted kicks. They don’t just sit and they’re not just wasted.
On the other hand: This program doesn’t get everything right though. Specifically, it doesn’t incentivize the consumer enough to do this which is always a problem when it comes to sustainability.
An Allbirds customer has to really care for this initiative to participate in it. Their only benefit is a $20 store credit that they can only use in 3 stores in 3 different states.
On top of that, they have to use it immediately because it only lasts for a day. And the typical Allbird shoe retails for around $98 to $130. That $20 is a dent, but it’s not significant.
Ultimately, this feels like a test run of a program Allbirds is putting together and trying to perfect. But if you’re doing this, you have to go all in. Commit to it. Otherwise, people will mostly ignore it.
Between the lines: This is something Allbirds is committed to doing — they want to cut their carbon emissions in half as a company and this is a great way to do it. They just need to draw it out better.
They’ll recognize that at some point and, hopefully, beef this up sooner rather than later.
Making the best out of a sticky situation
Y’all know how that saying goes. When life gives you lemons you just have to make lemonade. There’s one about beef stew that’s probably more appropriate here, but you get the point.
John Geiger made lemonade with the lemons Nike gave him from their lawsuit against John Geiger Collection, LLC.
Geiger took the GF-01 and Nike’s lawsuit against him and turned it into an NFT.
The NFT will feature the GF-01 in gold, silver and bronze editions. There will be one version of the gold edition with a Geiger signed copy of the lawsuit.
The purchase dates haven’t been revealed yet, per Footwear News, but there will reportedly be real-world events and products linked to them.
Geiger dropped news of this NFT drop almost a week after his motion to dismiss Nike’s lawsuit against JGC was thrown out by a judge last week. He’s being sued by Nike over the GF-01, which the company claims infringes on the Air Force 1’s trademark despite being made from different materials with tweaks in essential design areas.
This is so petty and it’s pretty funny, honestly. This isn’t just Geiger striking back at Nike. It’s more of him leaning into his product and showing his commitment to fighting this case while making a buck off of it, too.
And he’s going to need them — those lawyer fees add up.
I have no idea what these JFG joints but I would like them
Sooooo it looks like JoeFreshGoods threw us for a loop like I said he would with that 550 tweet. Maybe there’s still a New Balance 550 coming.
But, uh, these are certainly not 550’s. They’re more Dino stompers than OG hoop shoes. And they are beautiful
That is, in fact, a New Balance 9060. And I had no idea what that was before the homie SB Skate on Twitter hipped me. Apparently, this is a model NB has yet to release. We also have a look at JFG in them already.
The Inside Voices 9060. No idea when these are coming or when we’ll get more information on them. Regardless, please take my money JFG.
#TheKicksWeWear
YOU ALREADY KNOW THE VIBES PEOPLE LET’S DO IT!!! There was lots of love for MJ on his birthday today and lots of fire ahead of the NBA All-Star break.
The homie Reeta got us started with these Bel-Air AJ5’s. This colorway will never not be fantastic.
The homie Honco popped out in the Parra SB’s and these are definitely on your boy’s wish list.
Then my dog Jaylen popped out from the office in the Water Be The Guide 2002R’s. Salehe really did that, man.
And, speaking of Tremaine, the homie Russ wore the Denim Tears Chucks to the party. These are SPECIAL.
Then the Jordan love started. The homie Mr. Bandido popped out in the University Blue 1’s. TOO good.
The homie Matt popped out in these incredible AJ3’s to follow that up. Man. Something about that red.
My guy Chazz pulled up in the Mochas giving us the Travis vibes.
And these ain’t J’s but the homie Rick Dubb pulled up in these Chicago Dunks that are just as good.
Then the homie Chad aka Sneaker Galactus pulled up in the Clark Kent 09 All-Star Air Force 1’s. This man STAYS in a classic.
And to close us out the homie JD pulled up in these CLASSIC Chicago 1’s. I mean, these are spectacular. This ain’t fake vintage. It’s real vintage.
Ain’t no coffee stains on them joints. Telling you that right now. Y’all SMOKED that.
Thank y’all so much for rocking with yerboi today! Remember! Giveaway news coming on Monday. I’m so excited and I hope y’all are, too.
Til then, family. Peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯