The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 276 — There are no right answers for Adidas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There's never going to be a good solution post-Yeezy for Adidas
Gooooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me on this fine Friday.
Don’t forget to drop your questions for the mailbag in the March mailbox! Say that 3 times fast, amirite?
Let’s jump in.
I do not envy Adidas
There are truly solutions for Adidas’ Yeezy problem.
What’s happening: Company CEO Bjorn Gulden detailed everything the brand’s next possible moves regarding its untouched Yeezy inventory following its breakup with Kanye West. The outlook is bleak.
The brand could see a massive 700 million euro operating loss by the year’s end, per the Associated Press, which would be its biggest in 3 decades.
The problem it needs to solve to avoid that is figuring out what to do with $1.3 billion in manufactured Yeezy products.
Gulden lined up what amounted to 3 options on the earnings call.
Burn it: The brand could destroy its Yeezy inventory, but it’s worried about the sustainability aspect of things. Just flatout wasting product isn’t a great look. Recycling it could potentially be an option, but that’s a lot of material.
Sell it: Gulden says Adidas has received offers for the product, but it’d also result in West receiving a royalty, which seems to be something the brand is trying to avoid.
Donate it: Gulden pitched donating the product to countries in need of aid the same way they do the apparel for, say, the team that loses the Super Bowl. But Gulden also worried that it’d “come back” in the resale market.
If I had to bet: I think Adidas will end up selling this stuff. Gulden floated the idea of selling and donating the products, saying “I can promise you that the people that have been hurt by this will also get something good out of it and get donations and proceeds in different ways, shapes or forms.” He seems to be into it.
I will say, though, this left me with more questions than answers.
Who would the parties that reap the benefits be? What charities would any proceeds go to? And what percentages are we talking?
Also, wouldn’t West still get royalty from this? Gulden says Adidas isn’t rebranding the leftovers to sell them. So you’d think — if money is involved — Kanye would still get a piece.
Between the lines: Laying out all of this shows us exactly why the Kanye West return rumors continue to persist. But — I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — that’s out of the question.
Adidas is still investigating West for workplace abuses. It’s hard to imagine the two sides re-igniting things under these circumstances.
There are no easy answers here. No matter what Adidas does with this, someone is going to be upset. At this point, it just feels like the brand just has to choose which interested parties it values most.
And, well, good luck with that.
4th time is the charm…hopefully
Nike has a new Chief of Diversity. The brand is hiring James Loduca, who previously served as Twitter’s VP of diversity and inclusion. Loduca announced the hire himself via a post on LinkedIn.
His background: He worked at Twitter from 2019 until January 2023, where he ultimately finished as the company’s Vice President of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.
Under Loduca, Twitter pledged to have at least 25% of its workforce come from underrepresented communities.
There was some progress made — particularly when it came to hiring women at Twitter. Nearly 46% of Twitter’s workforce under Loduca was female, though it was still 38% white.
The skinny: This is an important hire hire. Loduca is the 4th person to step into this role at Nike since 2020. He follows Jarvis Sam, who left the job after 6 months.
Loduca has some huge shoes to fill. Nike set some lofty diversity goals for 2025 and has made progress toward those goals since 2021, according to last year’s Impact report.
For example, it has reached the goal of having 50% representation of women in its global workforce overall.
But it’s just 2% shy of a 45% benchmark for having women in leadership positions and about 1% shy of having minorities represent 35% of its U.S. workforce.
The bottom line: Nike hasn’t been able to find anyone willing to keep the party going. The company is hoping Loduca is the guy.
Let’s check back in another 6 months and see.
“Serial Copyist” is a new one for Nike
Nike responded to Kool Kiy’s counterclaim in its pending trademark lawsuit against the brand, Complex reports.
Flashback:
Nike is suing Kool Kiy for violating trademarks on 3 models — the Jordan 1 high, the Jordan 1 low and the Nike Dunk.
Kiy responded with a countersuit, saying that Nike’s trademarks on the models were “invalid and unenforceable.” He also noted that his brand altered the designs enough with different materials for them not to infringe.
Nike has responded: Uh, you know what? Just play the Ether music and read this.
“Kiy is not a ‘cutting-edge design house. There is nothing creative or ‘cutting-edge’ about stealing Nike’s designs and replacing the Swoosh with Kiy’s logo. Rather, Kiy is a serial copyist who has profited from its intentional theft of some of Nike’s most iconic silhouettes.”
That has to sting. Not only is Nike questioning Kool Kiy’s designs here, but they’re also questioning the brand’s integrity. Ouch.
What’s next: Both sides have until March 27 to map out their respective positions before the case moves forward.
You don’t have to be Ronnie Fieg
So I saw this tweet from Ronnie Fieg about how hard he worked to make Kith what it is today. He talked about working toward 100,000 hours to make his dream a reality. And, yes, that’s admirable.
But I hate this tweet though, man.
All I can think about was how miserable this all sounds. For 15 years, this man took no time at all to enjoy the fruits of his labor with the people he loves? That’s rough.
Sacrificing time with loved ones for work sucks. As someone who has done that (and even continues to do that at times!), it’s awful.
That time put in also doesn’t guarantee success. Sure, Ronnie’s story worked out. But we’ve seen the opposite end of the spectrum, too. There are billionaires who put in no time at all and still make billions.
The bottom line: Rise & grind culture sucks. It’s good to be enthusiastic. It’s good to be passionate about your *thing.* But, please, don’t feel like this is the only way you can ever be successful. I promise, it’s not.
#TheKicksWeWear
Firs, the homie Ant popped out in these lovely Playoff 8s. I can’t believe these joints are coming back.
The homie Nate showed some Air Max love with the UNDFTD Air Max 97s. These are a sleeper.
The homie Stokes popped out in the CLASSIC Ten Air Max 97. WOWWWWWWW.
The homie Rick Dubb popped out in the Aqua Noise Patta joints. MY FAVESSSSS.
My guys Yosh and Sumeet popped out with some Dunk and AJ1 heat. We always love to see it. Can’t wait to hang with these dudes soon.
The homei Geoff getting lil bro started early with the Js. You absolutely love to see it.
The homie JerLisa came through with the A Ma Maniére AJ12s. This is easily one of the richest shoes you could ever have. It’s so lux, y’all.
Then the homie Dandin sent us home with the Galaxy Foams. LEGENDARY. Dandin really be killing it, man.
SMOKED EM. Love y’all, man.
Thank you so much for rocking with me today, fam. Appreciate you. Let’s chat again on Monday.
Until then, peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯