Gooooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate you.
Yerboi finally got exclusive access on the SNKRS app. Looks like at least one previous L I took wasn’t in vain. Shouts to the sneaker gods, I guess?
Let’s talk about Puma first.
Rihanna is back, folks
After a 6 year hiatus away from the brand — and the sneaker world overall — Rihanna has brought her Fenty brand back to Puma.
The backdrop: Rih quietly stepped away from the sportswear brand after being hired as the global ambassador for its Women’s Training category and the creative director for the entire Women’s Division in December 2014.
The two sides collaborated on quite a lot during that time.
She launched the Creeper in 2015, which might be my favorite women’s exclusive shoe to date.
She also launched Fenty x Puma apparel along with a few fashion shows between Paris and New York.
But it was pretty clear that she had much bigger ambitions on the business side of her career than just sneakers. She quietly bounced in 2017 and branched Fenty out.
The aftermath: She launched Fenty Beauty in 2017. She followed that up with Savage x Fenty in 2018. By 2019, she had a Fenty fashion label with LVMH. After a fast start, things slowed down in 2021. Fenty and LVMH announced the indefinite suspension of the label.
Though Fenty is still part of LVMH and could come back at any moment, it’s safe to consider their first collaboration together a failure.
The reason is pretty simple. The brand launched Rihanna’s luxury line in 2019. In 2020, the pandemic began. Luxury fashion didn’t work. Fenty couldn’t work. Not at that time.
Now, we’re back at the beginning with Puma. Some would see making a jump from a luxury operation like LVMH to Puma as a downgrade, but that’s not what this is at all. It’s a more practical pivot.
Here’s why: Even with the footwear market slowing down, it makes perfect sense for Rihanna to return to Puma. Not just for the sneakers, but to restart her dive into apparel.
Puma gives Fenty another apparel option. A much safer one that doesn’t depend on high net-worth consumers to drive it.
It brings Rihanna back into familiar territory with a brand that she knows and an audience that has been clamoring for, well, everything from her. From a new album to the return of the Fenty Creeper. This should be a layup.
Plus, both sides are in different spaces than they were before. Puma has become more entrenched in the footwear space. Rihanna is a bigger star (and probably getting paid much, much more on her new Puma deal).
The big picture: This is such a savvy move from Rihanna — an easy one, but one that not many folks would make. Salute to Rih for making the jump.
Now, please. Give us new Creepers.
Playing by new rules
Nike just made some major adjustments to its rules for retailers that receive high-heat products from the brand, according to Complex’s Brendan Dunne.
The details: The rules are part of Nike’s product launch policy for North American retailers. Documents sent to Complex shared the details. There were about a dozen rules included and most of them seem to target resellers.
The talking points:
No FCFS: High heat drops are no longer allowed to be first come, first serve.
Drawings are preferred: Nike clarified that random drawings are the desired release method for these drops and the time period must be no less than 1 hour. Stores also can’t charge for entries.
No resellers: Stores are barred from selling products to anyone who isn’t purchasing them for personal use.
Bot protection: Nike is requiring stores to have bot protection that meets a standard Nike sets, which includes blocking suspicious purchases from individual accounts and profiles.
Purchase limits: Stores are also required to set quantity limits on how much a customer can actually purchase on certain drops.
If the retailers don’t follow these rules, they risk losing future orders and, potentially, their accounts with Nike altogether. That’s not a position anyone wants to be in.
The big picture: Just like when Nike updated its terms of sale last October, this is another moment where the brand is working to restore consumer trust after the last few years of reseller-mania. That’s what I’m calling 2020 through 2022 from now on.
These rules will be beneficial for the regular, everyday consumer. It’ll give folks like you a better and more secure chance to cop when high-heat drops come around.
All in all, that’s a good thing.
The sneaker leaks are out of hand
Fam. We just got exclusive access for the Reimagined version of the Air Jordan 3. Why in the world are the sneaker leakers out here already telling us the Reimagined version of the Air Jordan 4 is coming a literal calendar year from now?
Yes, this is a thing: Trusted sneaker leaker zSneakerheadz tweeted out images of the shoe on Thursday.
Man. I’m sorry. I know this is what gets them and other online leakers by, but I don’t really want to see or hear about these right now.
This sneaker is a calendar year away. We don’t know what it actually looks like — we just have this mock-up. It could be close. Might not be, though.
There’s also no tangible benefit to us knowing that these are coming right now. There’s nothing we can do to prepare for a launch coming in a year.
It also muddles the rollout and story that could potentially come with the sneakers.
I know we can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube with how these leaks work and everything. But, man. It’d be nice if there was just a bit more chill. Let the people be surprised for once.
Tiffany saved the good AF1s for F&F
First of all, it’s cool as hell that Carmelo Anthony gets to be the face of Nike’s campaign with Tiffany on the Air Force 1 — no matter how boring you think it is.
Also, for what it’s worth, this new F&F pair isn’t quite as boring as the blue-on-black joints.
That’s nice, man. Really nice. This is what I meant when I said I wanted more color to pop with the initial drop. That Tiffany blue is clean.
We’ll never get these. And they probably cost at least 10 stacks. But it’s at least good to know they exist? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
#TheKicksWeWear
LET’S GET IIIIIIIIIT
The homie D got us popping with these super dope 998s. Underrated silhouette.
The homie Hudson Hawk popped out in the UNC 6s for Creed III. Definitely red carpet material.
The homie Anj popped out in these GORGEOUS Adi Golf joints. WOW these are good.
The homie Storm came through in the UNDFTD AF1s and, MAN, would y’all look at those colors?
My dog Rick Dubb came through with the PSG 1s and all I can see is money bags.
The homie Don Honcho popped out with this lovely 9060 and — he’s absolutely right — this is good enough to be a collab.
The homie Brittanie popped out in the Mars For Her AJ5s and WOW. These joints are LIKE THAT.
Then the homie Geoff sent us home showing off these CRISPY AJ3s. I cannot wait to get my hands on these, man.
SMOKED IT. We absolutely love to see it.
Thank you so much for rocking with me, family! Appreciate you. Hope you have a fantastic weekend.
Let’s chat again on Monday. Until then, peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes💯