The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 217 — Dreamville x Jumpman coming soon?
J Cole miiiight be done with Puma. And that's kind of disappointing.
What’s good, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with your boy this morning. Appreciate you!
We’re still on the road to 5k! And substack gave us a referral button so you can REALLY refer your homies now. Isn’t that neat?
Get the fam in on the fun! Let’s jump in.
Puma’s J Cole era might be over
J Cole’s stint as a Puma endorsee with a signature basketball sneaker has been extremely fun and cool and creative. Yet, it might actually be over soon.
What’s happening: J Cole was spotted performing in Jordan’s at Dreamville festival last weekend.
We can only speculate what this means at this point, but typically when an endorsee wears another brand it’s because either their contract is about to end and they need leverage or that contract is just over.
It doesn’t always end that way. Drake wore Adidas and was almost signed with the brand before Kanye and Pusha T ruined that.
I say that to say this picture doesn’t mean J Cole has signed with Jordan Brand. It just means that he’s not in Puma, which is a big deal. Something has happened with their partnership.
As for why things may be going left with Cole and Puma, there are two reasons I can think of: LaMelo Ball and Breanna Stewart.
Don’t forget: Cole’s shoe is a signature basketball shoe. And he’s not a basketball player. But those two are and they have signature shoes coming.
Ball has already shown he can sell sneakers and sell them well. People have been waiting for Stewart’s shoe for what basically a calendar year now. There’s some hype there.
In a world where performance basketball isn’t what it once was, it’s probably best to not have too many signature athletes around. Especially ones who aren’t athletes.
Don’t get it twisted: That doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to do with J Cole. He could have a lifestyle sneaker or some sort of other line with Puma. There are options there. A split while those options are on the table would be disappointing.
One thing I’ve really enjoyed about Puma is how they’ve always gone in the opposite direction and done genuinely weird, cool things in this space. Cole was one of those things. Losing that feels like a reversal.
My thoughts: I hope this is just a negotiating tactic and I hope Cole ends back up at Puma. Because the signature basketball game felt more fun with the Dreamer and the Dreamer 2 in it.
Without them, it’ll be as bland and boring as it usually is.
The resale market is right up Hypebeast’s alley
Hypebeast has been pushing audiences to spend big money on some of the most hyped pieces on essentially every aftermarket platform that traffics this stuff. Now, after seeing the billions flow across the room, they want in.
What’s happening: Hypebeast is reportedly launching its own secondary marketplace for sneakers, per Quartz.
The details:
The editorial eCommerce giant is shifting its focus to developing an in-house platform where users can buy and sell hyped goods.
That includes sneakers, designer clothes, luxury items. You know the drill at this point.
The company is going public to fund its new marketplace. They’re expecting a $180 million infusion of cash from a SPAC deal.
They’ll soon be listed as $HYPE on NASDAQ and shares will be available to be publicly traded.
This isn’t surprising: Hypebeast was already in the eCommerce game — it sold sneakers and luxury apparel through HBX. But the secondary market takes that to a new level. “Less than 30% came from retail through its eCommerce site HBX,” per Quartz. That’s going to change drastically.
In my eyes, there’s both good and bad here for us. Let’s start with:
The good: The more aftermarket spaces available to the consumer, the better. This is another tool in your toolbox to buy and sell and measure the market for your kicks.
The bad: On the other hand, the jury on the customer service aspect here. That institutional trust is just not there, generally, when it comes to secondary marketplaces. That isn’t going to change here. We’ll see how they handle that.
The big picture: In a world where eCommerce and editorial continue to fuse together, this seems to be a trend. Complex opened its own market in 2019. Hypebeast is doing it now. Who’s next? We’ll probably find out soon.
Well, clearly, Drake buried the lead
We spent so much time absolutely roasting Drake’s new Hot Mess Step Air Terra joints that we didn’t even think about the possibilities of what could come from them.
And, apparently, this pair he was spotted in was one of those possibilities.
What are these?: This appears to be Drake’s Hot Step Air Terra in a Zoom Flight 95 inspired colorway. He was spotted at the Raptors game wearing these joints.
Let me just say, man, these look absolutely incredible.
Any nod to 90s basketball in a current generation sneaker is always going to score points with me.
The shoe’s chunky build actually works perfectly with them here. The midsole, the bubbles, the paneling. It’s all just perfect.
The caveat here: We have no idea what these actually are. This could just be a custom pair for Drake or even a 1 of 1 sample that’ll never see the light of day. But, man, these joints would win a lot of people over.
If we’d seen these we would’ve chilled with the K Swiss jokes.
I know this is a sneaker newsletter, but can I talk my shit about these loafers?
Y’all. My Blackstock & Weber loafers finally came in. These joints are PRISTINE. I mean, don’t take my word for it. Just look at them.
I’m going to take this opportunity to shout out the homie Chris Echeverria, the founder of B&W. These joints are fly as hell, man.
This is one of the two pairs of shoes I’ll be wearing on wedding day. The other pair is the Medium Curry Dunk from 2020. Y’all can see the vibe, I’m sure.
Why I’m so excited about these: We’re in the middle of a golden age of loafers for both casual and formal wear, as my guy Clayton Chambers astutely pointed out in this thread last year. These are at the forefront of that golden age. In my opinion, anyway.
Regardless, wedding pictures are going to go crazy. Me and my bride are going to kill it. CAN’T WAIT.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBES! LET’S DO IT!
First the homie Smarty Jones came through with a paint job on the UB 1.0’s. Looks incredible.
Next, the Better Mike popped out with the Be True Air Max Pre-Days. Air Max Month ain’t over yet outchea.
Then the homie Mike Honcho came through with these FIRE Sauconys today. Saucony has been absolutely killing it lately.
My guy Dandin popped out in the Size? Air Max 95s and these joints are an absolute treasure. Extra points for using the hashtag, too!
The homie Nate came through, once again, smoking everything in these incredible Kobes.
Then the homie J Block popped out in these Salomon joints and, clearly, EYE need to get hip.
The homie Greer popped out in these incredible Dunks with the camo vibes.
Then my guy Brett popped out in the Mellow Concepts Air Max 1’s. AMAZING.
Y’all know the vibes with these Concepts joints, man. Killa Kow came through with the Far Outs on and I could not resist.
Then the homie Jordan sent us home with THESE CLASSICS. Can never go wrong with the Chicago 1s dog. You just can’t.
SMOKED IT. Y’all are the flyest sneaker community out. Don’t let nobody tell you otherwise.
Thank you so much for rocking with me, family! Appreciate y’all giving me the time of day. You’re the absolute best.
Go spend some time with the family this weekend. You deserve it. We’ll talk on Monday. Til then, peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯