The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 250 — 🤷‍♂️ When it all falls down

Will Adidas really cut ties with Kanye?

Oct 07, 2022

Gooooooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you!

THE KICKS YOU WEAR JUST TURNED 3 YEARS OLD TODAY! How dope is that? This newsletter got me through a tough time at my previous company, the brunt of the pandemic and so much more. Words can’t express how positive of a presence you all have been in my life. Thank you. I love you.

Enough of my babbling. Let’s chat.

Did it finally all fall down?

pair of assorted-colorways adidas shoes — *Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash*

Kanye West has been aggressive in trying to break away from Adidas over the last month or so. Now, it appears, he may actually get his wish.

The news: Adidas is reviewing its relationship with Ye, per a company statement released Thursday.

“After repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation, we have taken the decision to place the partnership under review. We will continue to co-manage the current product during this period.”

Throughout this entire saga, we’d wonder what — if anything — Adidas was doing to satiate Kanye and mend things. Apparently, it tried. Things didn’t work. This is the company’s public response.

It’s not really all that heavy but it is pretty risky. It does nothing but cause even more commotion.

What he’s saying: He swiftly took to Instagram to respond.“F*** ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS,” he said while continuing to claim it stole his designs.

That last part is super ironic considering he’s being accused of the same thing with lesser-known designers.

The timing: It’s no coincidence Adidas is doing this after West appeared in a “White Lives Matter” shirt. For a company that has struggled to maintain a positive relationship with its Black consumers and employees, this isn’t anything to play around with.

West’s actions were foolish, malicious, irresponsible and indefensible — period. We won’t be debating that here. Now his moves might cost him some money. A lot of it.

Where things stand: So, here we are. Adidas seems ready to at least think about cutting ties with West. Here’s what that means.

He loses billionaire status. His Adidas deal is reportedly worth $220 annually, per Forbes, and losing that means no more billionaire Ye.
He loses the best royalty in the sneaker industry.
He may even lose control of the products Adidas has created using his name considering they are registered to Adidas AG with the USPTO.

But…: We need to pump the brakes. Speculation here is fine, but we have to deal with fact. And the facts are Adidas hasn’t done anything yet. It’s only released a statement saying it’s “reviewing” things with West.

Meanwhile, the company is still selling Yeezy products. Stores are still carry them. It hasn’t announced a pause or anything of the sort. Nothing has really changed.

The bottom line: No one can blame Adidas for thinking about moving on with everything West has done over the last month. But it also like to make money and Yeezy is a bonaifde money maker.

So, as far as Adidas cutting ties with him, I’ll believe it when I see it.

I once was lost but now I’m found

The Lost & Found Chicago Air Jordan 1 is coming and it’s undoubtedly going to be the sneaker of the year for so many people. I mean, of course, it is. It’s a Chicago AJ1.

The hook: Apparently, it’s also said to be coming with the “most stock ever” for an Air Jordan 1, according to AJ1 aficionado Mr. Unolved 1s.

Ovrnundr @Ovrnundr

UPDATE: The The Nike Air Jordan 1 High OG “Lost and Found” will have the MOST stock EVER produced for a Jordan 1 📊 Source: @MrUnloved1s

There are still questions to be asked about what, exactly, that means. There’s been a 500,000 number floating around the internet that doesn’t really seem to be connected to anything actually concrete.

Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe it isn’t. But Nike seems to be planning on this being a drop on a larger scale.

It comes in full family sizing, which is a big deal when it comes to the availability of a sneaker.

I haven’t talked about this sneaker much because it doesn’t feel like there are too many solid details surrounding it aside from the backstory about the time it reflects.

I do find it ironic that Nike seems to be honoring Mom & Pop shops with these shoes as they’re cutting a ton of them out with direct-to-consumer initiatives, but that’s a bigger conversation to have down the line.

Regardless, this drop is going to be momentous. Hopefully, we see them everywhere when the time comes.

A visual history of WNBA kicks you need to see

I’ve talked a ton in this newsletter about how rich the WNBA’s signature shoe history is and why it’s ridiculous that we’re just now getting women’s signature models again.

Now you can see my point: The good folks over at Pudding put together a visual history of the WNBA’s signature models and, man, it’s fantastic.

It features the complete list of WNBA signature shoes from the Air Swoopes I to the Stewie 1 along with accompanying graphics
It lays them all out in chronological order, which is really cool because you get to see how the sneakers evolved through the years
It also gives you a brief history of that moment with an accompanying description.

This is well worth your time diving into. Hopefully, over the next few years, that list gets a lot longer with new names added to it.

My obsession: I can’t stop watching the new JFG spot

Joe FreshGoods has done it again, y’all. The Performance Art concept for the 993s coming is just *chef’s kiss*.

JFG @JoeFreshgoods

JFG F/W 22’ PERFORMANCE ART @newbalance

Everything from the music to the folks involved to the color palette is just phenomenal. Goes without saying that I was going for these. But this is the sort of art that I hope to one day be able to create in this space with people who I rock with.

This is what bringing your people with you looks like. I’m inspired.