The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 236 — 🧱 The Bricks is Brickin'
Let me tell you why that's a good thing for us.
Gooooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me. I appreciate y’all! It’s been a minute but I’m glad to be back chopping it up with you.
MISSED Y’ALL!!!! Welcome to all the new folks who subscribed while I was out. You’re in for some good stuff.
Now, let’s see if I still got the juice.
Lots of shoes are sitting and that’s good for you
We’ve seen so many high heat collabs come down the pipeline over the last month just to sit on virtual shelves. It’s been weird to see.
By the numbers: There’ve been 3 big ones starting with the Joe FreshGoods Vans collab (July 14), the Social Status Penny 1s (July 22) and the latest pair of Union Cortez pieces (August 9).
Sizes are still available for all these pairs. In the case of the Cortez and those Vans, the full slate is still sitting.
Why is this happening: That’s what everyone wants to know. There are a few identifiable answers to this and they’re all intertwined.
First and foremost, inflation.
People have been less willing to spend now that everything costs more. 79% of consumers are concerned about inflation, per a Deloitte consumer survey from July, and that impacts their retail decisions.
Inflation eased up in July with the CPI rising by 8.5%, down from 9.1% in June. But prices on essentials like groceries are still on the rise and those take priority over sneakers.
Second, these are quirky silhouettes.
We’re talking the Penny 1, Vans, and the Cortez, not the Jordan 1. These silhouettes have niche audiences.
Finally, because of that, there’s less resale value.
Resellers create sellouts. They’ll bot dozens of sneakers at a time if they come with big profit margins. But pairs of each of these are going for under MSRP right now.
Add all that up and you get what the people will call a “brick” — sneakers that don’t have resale value that no one seems to want.
Here’s why that’s good: From a consumer perspective, a brick means time and optionality. You don’t have to immediately decide if you like a shoe — you can revisit it.
Under regular circumstances, you’d have to decide immediately — the hottest pairs will sell out while you’re waiting in a Shopify queue Otherwise, you’d be doomed to the resale market where you’ll likely be price gouged. Not with bricks, though. You’re in for a discount here.
The other side: It’s not the best for retailers obviously. Nike and Vans and everyone else want to see immediate sellouts — not only for profit but also for the hype that comes with that. The more exclusive a product feels the more people want it.
Be smart: That ain’t our problem, though. So don’t worry about it.
Is Kanye losing the plot with Yeezy?
Did Kanye West’s rant about Yeezy Day to Complex rub anyone else the wrong way?
What happened: Kanye complained about Adidas launching Yeezy Day “without my approval” in a rant in Complex’s DMs.
He said Adidas hired staff, and brought back styles and colorways without consulting him.
He also seemed to allude that Adidas sabotaged his work with Balenciaga and GAP.
What I don’t get is why any of that matters to Kanye. Yeezy Day was nothing but fan service for people who love him and his brand. Shouldn’t he want that?
West always told us Yeezy was a brand for the people and would be made accessible for everyone someday. He gave us that message as far back as 2015.
Eventually, everybody who wants to get Yeezys will get Yeezys; Adidas has promised me that, because there's so many kids that have wanted them that couldn't get them. I talked to the heads at Adidas, and they said we can make them.
Adidas created an opportunity to finally get everyone Yeezys in the way West always said he’d wanted to. And instead of embracing it, he complained about it. That’s an awful message to send to fans.
Between the lines: It feels like this is about West distancing himself from Adidas. Between this, his complaints about the slides, Balenciaga and him also wearing Nike at times, it feels like the partnership here has run its course
What’s next: Just wait for 2026. West signed a 10-year deal with Adidas in 2016, so unless there’s a way to facilitate a buyout he’s stuck with Adidas until then.
Either way, I think Yeezy and Adidas are done. It feels like the gloves are off here. Let’s just hope the fans don’t turn into a casualty here.
DTC strikes again
When you’re a distributor as big as Nike, cutting out retailers leaves lots of casualties. That’s the base of what their Direct-to-Consumer offensive is — cutting out the middleman retailers they’ve used for years.
Why it’s a big deal: We saw how this impacted Foot Locker when Nike pulled back its products just a tiny bit.
Their shares crashed by 35% following news of Nike’s rollback.
The other side: If that’s the impact it had on a giant like Foot Locker, imagine what it does to Mom & Pop operations. Portland Business Journal’s Demi Lawrence explored that impact through Exclucity and owner Trent Out Loud ($).
Details:
Nike demoted Exclucity’s “Neighborhood” account, which is a brand designation for local stores with deep Nike roots. They get high-heat products.
A demotion means less product. Less product means less loyal Nike customers at your store. Losing product from the industry leader hurts bad.
We’ve seen this before. Over and over again. A Nike account is such a valuable thing. To have it demoted or revoked can mean the literal end of your business.
Reading these stories hurts a bit. Because these businesses and operators are the ones who helped Nike establish such deep roots within their communities. It’s sad to see. But that isn’t going to stop Nike from pivoting — increasing profit margins is what matters most to the company.
The bottom line: These small retailers have to adapt and they have to do it now. . If they don’t, it’s curtains.
My current obsession: The Asics Gel-1130
There are weeks — sometimes months, even — where I’m just completely obsessed with a shoe. I can’t stop Googling it. I probably have it in a few carts across the web. And I wanted to share them with you all to give you a bit of insight into where my vibe currently is with sneakers.
These are my obsessions: Today’s joint is Asics’ Gel-1130.
I know, I know. The Dad vibes are strong with this one. But, y’all — they’re pretty fly! The Naruto collab that exists is what drew me to these — y’all know how I am about Naruto. Couldn’t find my size out there so now I settled for an inline style. I’ll report back on the fit later.
If you’re into these, there’s a NAKED collab that just dropped. It’s really good.
Anyway, let me know if there’s anything out there piquing your interest this week.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBESSSSSS
First, the homey Warren got us popping with the Maui Wowies reporting live from Hawaii. What a flex.
The homie Jaden came through with the Legend Blues and these are absolutely SICK y’all.
The homie Matt hit us with this FANTASTIC Air Max 1 custom. He really did his thing with these.
Then the homie Patrick came through with the Phillies SBs and, yup, I need parts.
My dog Adrian popped out in the Shadow 2.0s for his first day at the office and you absolutely love to see it.
Then the homie Rick Dubb sent us home with my FAVES. Patta really did their thing with this one, man.
DASSIT. Tell Substack to give us some more space, man. I need to get more of y’all fly kicks up in here!
Thank you so much for rocking with me, family. Appreciate y’all. Hope you are having a fantastic summer so far and hope it continues.
Til Monday, fam. Peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯