The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 259 — 🤦🏾♂️The Yeezy Aftermath
I don't think Kanye West works in the sneaker world ever again after this one
Goooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you.
Housekeeping: KYW will be out next Monday. Family stuff. Birthday stuff. No worries, though. We’ll be back at it with some end-of-year content. Gift guides, rankings, all that.
Let’s rock out.
It’s over for Ye
In the midst of Kanye West’s fall from the top of the sneaker world, many people were saying it was hard ever envisioning him working with another brand ever again. I disagreed. Mostly because, well, money.
Obviously, what West did was awful. We don’t really need to relitigate that.
But there’s also no denying that he was a moneymaker for Adidas. And I can easily see some footwear brand out there wanting in on that after he cleanses his image — again. Money speaks louder than anything.
But now…I might be on the other side of that after seeing news of an internal Adidas investigation surrounding West’s treatment of Yeezy employees.
The details: West reportedly used porn and mind games to bully Yeezy employees, according to Rolling Stone’s Matt Sullivan and Cheyenne Roundtree. Yes, you read that correctly.
Rolling Stone said it spoke to over two dozen former Yeezy employees and even obtained a letter from the employees to Adidas detailing all of West’s alleged behavior.
That included showing porn in videos and meetings to bully them into his bidding.
What’s worse is that the employees allege that Adidas actually knew about West’s behavior but neglected to do anything about it.
All of this is alleged. As the results of the investigation trickle in, hopefully, we’ll know more.
But this does track: Remember, two months ago we just saw a video of West showing Adidas executives porn in a meeting about his future with the company. If he’s willing to do that to executives then, of course, he’s willing to do that to employees who work under him.
That’s gross. It’s awful. And, no matter who you are or how much power you hold within an organization, there is no room for that sort of behavior in any workplace.
The big picture: This is why I think it’s over for Kanye West — at least, as far as the footwear industry is concerned.
This behavior is unhinged. It’s not just an impulse thing — it’s also a power thing. It seems pretty clear that whatever operation West is apart of, he literally thinks he can do whatever he wants with no repercussions.
The Adidas stuff over the last few months shows us exactly what “whatever he wants” looks like. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who wants to work with that.
Some will argue that these brands won’t care. That all they’re going to want is the money, at the end of the day. That’s why it’s so believable that Adidas could overlook any alleged abuses from West. As long as he’s quiet and that bottom line looks good, things are great. That’s a fair argument to make because it’s the behavior we’ve grown accustomed to from corporations.
But I’d counter with this: What about Kanye West’s behavior, in general, would make anyone believe that he’s here for just being quiet and collecting checks? That’s not him. There’s literally always something. That’s just who he is. He’s shown is this over and over and over again.
The bottom line: A brand can work with him if they want. Maybe, at some point, someone will. But know this: It definitely won’t be to their benefit. At least that much is clear now. To everyone.
A very cool LeBron story
It always trips me out when I hear the story of how LeBron passed up $110 million from Reebok in his rookie year to sign with Nike. But to actually hear how the story played out adds another layer to it that just makes the move even more incredible.
Current Reebok CEO Todd Krinsky shared how former company head, Paul Fireman, tried to lure James by quite literally putting a $10 million check on the table.
Yet he still passed it up.
Not only did James pass on it. He was unphased by it. They continued on talking about James’ reaction — or the lack of one, really.
"I see LeBron stoic like literally not even phase. He wasn't impressed. But I've only had two athletes in my life that I have worked with that I had this feeling when I saw them first time was like he knew everything that was coming to him and he was ready for it. It was just this confidence. It wasn't arrogance or he was super polite and respectful. You just look at his eye and I'm like this kid is ready for everything and he's not being phased by what's in front of him."
Hindsight is 20/20. Obviously, the move worked out extremely well for James who is now a billionaire and one of two Nike athletes with lifetime contracts. But, man. Can you imagine passing up that much money? Including an immediate (!!!) $10 million signing bonus?
Personally, as your favorite #BrokeBoi, I cannot. Salute LeBron, tho. Way to play the long game. Lemme hold $10 mil plz.
Your kicks are quality
Thank you to the 80 of you who voted in Friday’s quick-hit poll on the quality of the kicks you’ve purchased over the last few years.
Here were the results:
An overwhelming majority of you said your kicks were good to great after purchase, which makes a lot of sense to me.
Here’s the thing: In my experience, there are times when there are major flaws included, but those flaws come few and far between. It seems like that rings true for most of you, too.
Of course, there are the occasional glue stains and things of that nature. They’re annoying, yes. But not significant enough to get a complaint out of me.
On the other hand: The homie Lou Filip made a great point in the comments that I wanted to bring here.
I voted Just OK in the polls as much for deteriorating material quality as anything. Everything looks pretty out the box, and then a thimble of water will morph the whole shape of the shoe. Rip stop nylon or polyester that just splits, not even a seam or a stress point. Stuff like that.
It isn’t always necessarily about how the shoe comes out of the box as much as it is about how it rides. This is where materials come in for me. It’s why the GR Nike Dunks are so hard to wear these days. That leather is…not great.
Let’s put a pin in this: I think this is something worth exploring more as we head into 2023, so we’ll dig into it. If you have any further questions or any other points that need to be made, feel free to hit me up.
Somebody needs to lose these again
I thought we were done with horror stories about the Lost & Found Js. Clearly, I was wrong. Somebody’s pair was absolutely crushed on the way to their crib — quite literally.
Why does it look like Stone Cold Steve Austin stomped a mudhole in these joints? My goodness, man. This ain’t right. Somebody needs to get run the homie here a new pair.
What’s worse: This or the moldy shoe? I have no idea. I’d be devastated with either.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
CPFM x Nike “Flea 1” — Tuesday, November 29
DJ Khaled x Air Jordan 5 “Crimson Bliss” — Monday, November 28
Phillllllthy x Adidas NMD S1 — Wednesday, November 30
Concepts x Nike SB Dunk Low “Orange Lobster” (!!!!!!!!!! OMFG) — Friday, December 2
Air Jordan 12 “Black and Gold” — Saturday, December 3
Be on the lookout: I can’t nail down an exact date for the Salehe Bembury “Sand Be the Time” 990v2, but judging by the promotion of it over the last couple of weeks I’d bet money that it drops sometime this week or next.
We shall see. Keep it locked to Bembury’s Instagram for more information.
Thank you so much for rocking with me. Appreciate y’all. Let’s chat again on Friday.
Until then. Peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes💯