The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 254 — 🏆 It's the final countdown
Sneaker of the year conversations are getting serious so let's talk about how to talk about the options
Goooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me this morning. I appreciate you.
HOUSEKEEPING: KYW is out until November after this morning’s send. Just a quick mental breather and some family stuff I’d like to dive into. I’ll miss y’all, but I’ll be back soon.
Alright, let’s talk shop.
What you need to consider for Sneaker of the Year
We are midway through October and heading into the holiday season, which means one thing: The Sneaker of the Year conversation is just truly beginning.
So before then: I thought it’d be good to discuss what truly makes a sneaker, well, the sneaker of the year. At least to me, anyway. I think there are standards that a shoe needs to meet to even be considered.
I wanted to go over mine as well as some other things that need to be taken into consideration. So let’s do it.
My standards: To me, there are 3 core things that make or break a sneaker of the year case.
Hype: I know, I know. We hate it. But it matters in today’s sneaker world. It’s probably the least important thing out of the 3 to me, but it matters. People have to actually want the sneaker in some capacity. That’s all it really boils down to.
Aesthetics: Does the shoe look good? If the shoe ain’t fly, I ain’t wearing it. And if I ain’t wearing it, how can it be my SOY?
Rollout/accessibility: This is the most important factor in sneaker culture for 2022. Can you actually buy the shoes? Did you have a retail shot? Like, a real legit shot? A sneaker cannot be the Sneaker of the Year if nobody has that sneaker. It’s simple.
Those are core principles that I think should be applied to every sneaker. And we can surround that core with other standards, too. For example, maybe a personal connection to a sneaker might move it up in your rankings. Or maybe there was something about the rollout and campaign that moved you. Maybe it came with a great story. All of those things apply.
But the most important thing to remember is…This is all subjective! When you’re talking to people about what the best shoes of the year are, your opinion is not the end-all. What matters to me might not matter as much to the next person. That’s just how it goes.
When we have these conversations, we have to make sure we respect that. It’s not like any of us are out here hosting the sneaker Grammys. It ain’t that serious. It’s all fun!
What makes these conversations great is that they reflect our different tastes. They show our different sensibilities and what makes this culture special. I think that’s cool. I can’t wait to discuss this all further when December gets here.
My pick so far: With that being said…give me the CNCPTS Air Max 1 for SoY so far.
Here’s why: The rollout is still probably the best one I’ve seen for a hyped drop all year. Using different sites to host the launch always gets the job done. On top of that, the creativity of launching a collection of Air Max 1s with the different sets of materials they did was amazing. The velvet laces? Chef’s kiss.
Out of the 3 pairs, if I had to choose, it’d be the Mellow joints. But don’t ask me about it next week.
Oh yeah: Check out this best and worst sneakers list from earlier this year. I think it’s holding up pretty well!
The Lost & Found 1s are coming with so much chaos
Told y’all things were about to get busy with these sneakers. There was good and bad news that raised my eyebrows on these kicks this week.
First, the good news: We talked about how it’s been rumored that a ton of pairs of these will be out there available to retailers. We got a bit more context on what that might look like.
The homie Unbreakable Kicks posted a reported text exchange between he and a Finish Line employee revealing the company is already receiving pairs.
That’s not the big news, though. The big deal was that they’d apparently received more pairs of these than they did the Fire Red Jordan 3s. That was a massive release.
So it appears that we might actually, indeed, be in line for a sizeable drop with these. Retailers may be getting them if they’re already at Finish Line. That’s great.
But…the bad news: Apparently, some shops are already out there backdooring pairs they’re getting? That’s according to this tweet from Tradeblock.
Before you get angry: If this is, indeed, pairs being backdoored to resellers from whatever retailer this is, it’s wack. It’s wack as hell. But it’s also not something we necessarily should be concerned about if the release is as massive as we think. There will still be pairs available that you’ll have a fair shot at.
This is just one picture of one retailer. Everyone isn’t going to do this. It’s dangerous. If a store is caught, they risk access to future Nike products.
The bottom line: It’s still wait and see with the Lost & Found 1. But things are trending up for us as the StockX price is trending down. I’m here for it.
Atmos just launched a cool women’s space
There’s no question that, when it comes to the sneaker industry, women have been underserved and ignored. Many brands in recent years have talked a big game when it comes to changing that. But many of those same brands haven’t necessarily backed it up.
What’s happening: Atmos is trying. The company just launched a “Women’s Experience” space on the second floor of its Philadelphia flagship location launching this week, Footwear News’ Peter Verry writes.
It’s a 1,400-foot space dedicated to the company’s female consumer base.
It’ll include women’s specific products from brands like Jordan, Nike, Bape and more as well as from brands based in the community.
Atmos is also launching its own women’s label — Atmos Pink (I hate this name) — and a women-centric webstore.
This is good: It’s good to see a storied sneaker brand like Atmos specifically targeting its female base and making an effort to continue to build a community there.
There are still things that need to be checked off. For example, hopefully, the sizing is inclusive. And, hopefully, the space is inclusive for all women and not just some. Time will tell how those things play out.
By the way…If you’re a woman reading this and plan on hitting the space up this weekend, I’d love to hear from you! I’d even love to have you document your experience here in the newsletter. Email me at mikedsykes@gmail.com if you’re up to it.
My obsession: Literal horseshoes. Because wtf
So in today’s WTF sneaker news, there are horseshoes. And, no. I don’t mean your regular horseshoes. I mean, like, horse sneakers. ACTUAL SNEAKERS, Y’ALL.
LOOK AT THIS.
The skinny: So, apparently, Kentucky-based sneaker artist Marcus Floyd started the Horse Kicks company. He attended the Shoe Surgeon academy and studied the deconstruction and reconstruction of kicks. The horseshoe you see above? That’s a literal Fragment Air Jordan 1 morphed into a horseshoe.
I have so many questions. The first, and most important, of which is why is this horse actually flyer than me? Life ain’t fair, dog. I mean, horse.
This is so wild.
#TheKicksWeWear
LESSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
First, the homie Matt got us popping with these LOVELY 550s. Can’t get enough of these joints.
The homie Court continued to bring the fire with these dazzling Huaraches. Love to see it.
My guy Tej pulled up on the Raptors with these AJ1 lows and a fire sock combo. SHEESH.
The homie Marc popped out with the Protection Pack 2002r on foot bringing the HEAT in Houston.
My dude Maceo wore my personal sneaker of the year with the Mellow CNCPTS Air Max 1. Love to see it.
The homie Mr. Unloved 1s pulled out the ALL the angles on the Air Ship for us. SO GOOD.
The homie Random popped out in the Galaxy Zoom Rookies. Listen. THIS is how you show Penny love, y’all. MY WORD.
Then the homie Nick took us home with the CNCPTS Holy Grail Dunks. WOW. Just wow.
SMOKED DAT. Wow.
Thank you so much for rocking with yerboi. I appreciate you. Have a nice few weeks away.
Until then. Peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯