The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 242 —💰 Lace on lace crime
Crime in sneakers is getting more daring and dangerous. Can anything be done about it?
Goooooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me on this glorious Friday morning.
Hope you had a fantastic Labor Day weekend and got to take some well-deserved time off. You earned that. We all work a little too much without having enough fun. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, folks.
Let’s jump in.
Somebody hit a lick in Memphis
A group of people ransacking a caravan of trailers in the back of a warehouse for nearly $1 million in valuables sounds like the plot of a 2022 Ocean’s 11 reboot. But this actually happened. Over some sneakers.
The news: On Tuesday, a group broke into 20 trailers containing upcoming releases from Nike, according to Fox 13 in Memphis.
The value of the stolen goods amounted to $800,000, according to authorities.
Among the stolen items were the Midnight Navy 4s, Cherry 11s and Metallic Silver 6s.
This wasn’t a normally robbery. This was a well-planned, thought-out heist — something we normally see with high-priced luxury items. Sneakers fall in that category now.
Let’s be real: Sneakers are more of an asset class than a fashion statement now. We talk about it ad nauseum here. Bloomberg publishes a big piece on it at least twice a year.
Because of that rise in value, the likelihood of crimes like this has risen. We’ve seen a handful in the last calendar year alone.
Last winter, 3 individuals were arrested after trying to pull a heist on a Miami sneaker boutique.
There was also the A Ma Maniére robbery where someone broke the wall with a sledgehammer for the Jordan 2s.
We’re even seeing massive white-collar crimes surrounding sneakers like the Zadeh Kicks scandal.
This is what sneaker crime looks like now. It’s not just the armed robbery for a single pair of shoes anymore. It’s much bigger.
The why: It’s no longer just about the status wearing kicks grants you. The flex is still part of it, but more than that, these kicks are a come-up now.
People are so desperate to flex they’re willing to spend a few hundred dollars or more on a pair of kicks just to say they did it. A few of those pairs can net you an easy $600-$1000.
There’s also a new, rich audience participating in this stuff. Rich people who have nothing else to spend on are collecting sneakers, Pokémon cards and other items many might consider trivial.
Add all that together with a little bit of desperation, you can see why someone might be willing to pull of a heist for some unreleased pairs of sneakers. The question is, how does this change?
The answer is it won’t. At least not as long as the supply of these sneakers is so limited. Companies like Nike, Adidas and the rest market these limited products in a manner that keeps the flex economy rolling.
It makes money and provides a halo for their other more affordable and more available products that look similar, but won’t make people feel as good about themselves. And that won’t stop anytime soon.
So get used to this. And be careful out there. Some folks are willing to do anything for a come-up.
How much of Yeezy is Yeezy’s?
Kanye West has made a lot of demands to Adidas over the last few weeks as he tries his absolute hardest to get out of his deal. But as he’s made these demands, West has revealed to us just how complicated his relationship with Adidas is.
The backdrop: West offered up a list of demands to Adidas that included:
Terminating his contract
Granting him Yeezy’s Intellectual Property
Paying him another $2 billion on top of his already massive royalty.
Allowing him to own and operate Yeezy himself moving forward with him deciding how Adidas contributes and Adidas still paying for manufacturing.
That’s…a lot. And much of it — if not all of it — will never actually happen. But it made me ask a crucial question as we continue to head toward this split. And that question is, what parts of Yeezy are Kanye’s? What parts are not?
Let’s see: In doing a little digging around the internet, I stumbled upon some answers.
First, it seems, West actually does own 100% of Yeezy as a brand. That’s how he’s able to move it around freely between Adidas and GAP (and also from Nike to Adidas). But when it comes to sneakers and products? That’s Adidas IP.
This graf from Forbes’ valuation of West’s assets spells it out a bit.
Yeezy is a complicated asset. West owns 100% of it. But it’s functionally tied—at least for five-plus years based on the documents we saw—to Adidas, which produces, markets and distributes the shoes.
Sole Retriever dug even deeper, diving into US Patent and Trademark Office data. They uncovered that Adidas owns the trademark on most Yeezy footwear produced aside from his Yeezy Slides.
That makes sense: Adidas is creating, marketing and distributing West’s shoes using their own proprietary materials. They’re based on his designs, yes. But that’s why West gets the sneaker industry’s biggest royalty. They’re still Adidas’ products.
Why this matters: If we’re headed toward a split as West wants, these sneakers are not coming with him. And we may never see them again.
What’s next: West says he might buy San Antonio Shoemakers for manufacturing. When this goes beyond an Instagram post, we’ll talk more seriously about it.
Reebok’s got a new lead from an old regime
In the midst of its massive rebuild, Reebok is tapping Todd Krinsky as its new CEO moving forward into 2023.
The lay of the land:
Krinsky is replacing Matt O’Toole, who is shifting to the executive vice chair position with Authentic Brands Group, per Footwear News.
Until he shifts over, he’ll work with Krinsky to ensure a smooth transition.
Krinsky has a ton of experience with Reebok and it’s history — he’s been an employee with the brand for 30 years.
My take: That last bullet is why I don’t really understand this move.
I do think it’s important for Reebok to tap into its history and Krinsky will do that. He’s been a staple since the golden era in the 90s. He rejuvenated Reebok’s Classics line through the Club C and other retro models like it.
But he’s also been there through this decades-long pitfall. And I just wonder if it’d be better to grab someone with a different perspective and new energy to lead the way from here on out.
Reebok is a company with lots of untapped potential that I’m hoping is actualized someday. Hopefully, Krinsky can do it. Because the more competition throughout the industry, the better.
My obsession: It’s NBA 2K Day, y’all!
I’m not going to lie to y’all, man. I still play NBA 2K — like, daily. I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to the game at this point, which isn’t great. It’s expensive as hell, but it’s fun. I enjoy it.
What’s happening: The new version of the game is out today and I’ve been obsessed with the MyCareer builder. And I’m trying to see what sort of fit I’m about to get off on my guy.
So. Many. Choices.
Patta? New Balance? You had me at hello, 2K. Just get Crocs off and we’re cooking with grease.
Update from last week: 63 of y’all voted and 83% of you said to leave the SBs alone so that’s what I’m going to do. Y’all are right. This pink is great.
I’ll send pics when I unDS.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBRATIONS. LET’S GO.
First, the homie Jaden got us started with his signature Jordan 13 look. Love to see it.
The homie Matt showed off the ISPA Link joints and, uh, these actually look pretty fun.
The homie Tej popped out with the handcrafted AJ1 and these joints get better every time I see them.
My guy Warren popped out with the 11 low IEs and I swear this is such a sleeper of a Jordan. They’re so good.
The homie Patrick came through with the Snakeskin Bleached Coral Dunks and WOW these are hot.
My dog B Mart came through with the Paper Boy x Beams New Balance 920 and these joints are HEATERS.
The homie Karli came through with the Avocado Dunks and WOW the detailing on these. Incredible.
Then the Pumpkin Queen sent us home with this INCREDIBLE Dark Beetroot AJ1 mids. THE LACE JEWELS ARE *Chef’s Kiss*
SMOKED IT. Y’all did that man.
Thank you so much for rocking with me today! Appreciate you. Y’all have an excellent weekend out there. Stay healthy. COVID-19 is still out there. Go get that booster and that flu shot while you’re at it.
Til Monday, fam. Peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯