The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 282 — SNKRS got us in a chokehold 🤦🏾♂️
When are we going to tap out?
Gooooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me this morning. Appreciate you.
Remember! Mailbag is coming soon! Shoot me your questions here! I’ve already got some really good ones. Thank y’all for jumping in like this. You’re the best.
Let’s dive in.
SNKRS - 100. Us - 0
The SNKRS app had its way with us on Thursday, huh? Between the pump fake of the Lost & Found Air Jordan 1 drop, the actual L&F drop and the Run The Jewels Dunk shock drop, the Ls were in abundance.
The timeline timeline:
First, the pump fake. Every sneaker leaker out there fed information onto the internet that the drop was coming at 11:40 a.m. ET and there were 240,000 pairs coming. But the drop didn’t happen.
Next, it happens. At 1:40 p.m. the drop comes and — stop me if this sounds familiar — there were checkout errors, erroneous logouts and long loading screens. A classic SNKRS first come, first serve drop on a massive scale.
Finally, the RTJ drop. This kind of went by the wayside, but for those who were actually waiting on the sneakers, they came in yet another shock drop.
But this time Nike used a SNKRS Cam drop that absolutely no one was prepared for. So everyone was at a disadvantage. It went how you’d expect
Let’s be honest: Just in case you forgot, folks, the game is still rigged. Remember, this is a zero-sum game. Some will win, sure. But somebody has to lose. It’s normally you.
When you log into SNKRS, you’re basically playing a virtual slot machine for the chance to actually spend your money. Nike has gamified the shopping experience.
Enter for a chance to win this shoe that everyone wants. You can wear them and flex or you can sell them and get a payday. Your choice.
If you win you’ll feel special. That’s what that Got ‘Em screen is. You know it well. It’s the dopamine hit.
If you don’t? Try again next time. There’s always next week. Or the week after that. Just keep on consuming. Nike — and every other brand — won’t stop producing.
The worst part? You don’t even get the tools to win. We get “transparency” but it’s truly just corporate speak. It’s telling us how “exclusive access” works without telling us a damn thing about what we have access to.
The most information you’ll get about a specific drop will typically be the time — that’s all. But it’s not enough. It’s never going to be enough.
The core: This entire debacle brought me back to October 2021. Complex’s Brendan Dunne reported on an internal Nike meeting where the brand expressed concern about high heat product killing the culture.
The meeting reportedly included a presentation that revealed concern from Nike execs about waning interest from sneakerheads.
“We are at risk of losing our most sneaker-obsessed consumer,” one slide reads. It goes on to say that these shoppers are becoming disenfranchised and moving elsewhere as they view Nike’s limited releases as part of a hype machine. “High heat, hype is ‘killing the culture’ and consumers are migrating towards New Balance and smaller, independent brands,” the slide reads.
That was in 2021. It’s 2023 and nothing has changed. People are still upset. That’s because, fundamentally, the predatory system that is the SNKRS app still has not changed at its core.
Sure, Nike has dressed it up and made it more palatable. The app is at least fun now. You’ve got cool SNKRS Live streams and community driven content that makes you feel good. But that’s all it is — a feeling. It’s fleeting. It’s there to make you forget.
The big picture: It’s not that big of a deal that Nike pump faked us on the Lost & Found drop. It’s not even that big of a deal that you didn’t get them. What is a big deal, though, is that we all just keep allowing brands to put us through this over and over and over again to the point where we’re literally stressing out over keeping money in our pockets. That’s not right.
The only way it stops is if we stop it. All together. All at once. So let’s work on that, shall we?
On to greener pastures
Melody Ehsani is stepping down from her role as creative director of Foot Locker Women.
What happened: Ehsani posted a statement on Instagram announcing her resignation.
I am grateful for this chapter as my role as the creative director with Foot Locker comes to a close to refocus on other creative endeavors and forge new paths. Foot Locker will always be family, and I am excited to continue my journey with them on other projects in the near future.
The backdrop: Ehsani started in the role just a little over two years ago in March of 2021.She’s done some pretty good work with the brand in the time since.
Ehsani having this role at all was a huge deal. She was the first creative director on the women’s side Foot Locker has ever had.
She dropped a number of women’s apparel collections and has even curated her own “Picked by ME” collections to shine a spotlight on women’s kicks.
Why this is a big deal: As one of the leading creatives in the sneaker space, it was awesome to see this woman putting dope things together strictly for women with a legacy brand in sneakers. She made history. Her leaving that role is a loss, not only for Foot Locker, but for the culture.
The big picture: We’re not losing Melody, though. Her departure follows news from last week on a new creative endeavor Ehsani is part of.
Ehsani joined the Proto Collective — a footwear brand aiming to create what it calls a “sustainable supply chain” within the Americas, per Footwear News.
The brand is launching its first sneaker — The Iris — soon. It’s gorgeous, but it’s also retailing at $320. Sheesh.
Ehsani leaving Foot Locker might feel like a loss, but she’s still out here doing good work. That’s why this is still a win for us.
New Balance jumps on the sticks
The Esports industry is facing grander questions about the rapid growth the industry has seen over the last couple of years just like the sneaker industry is.
But…Those questions apparently are not enough to stop New Balance from testing the waters.
What happened: New Balance struck a deal with gaming developer Rival to extend its reach into the gaming world.
Rival is launching a Rocket League tournament this spring. The prize pack from the tournament will include sneakers and apparel from New Balance.
What they’re saying: “New Balance sees significant opportunities to increase engagement and create meaningful consumer connectivity by uniting our fans through the Rival gaming experience,” NB Chief Marketing Officer Chris Davis said in a statement, via Esports Insider.
The butterfly effect: Just like when New Balance jumped back into basketball, this is New Balance testing the waters on a new industry as it looks for crossover. The brand is gauging interest in its product through a small prize pack.
If it doesn’t work? Ok. Cool. Gave it a shot. If it does, the brand can dive deeper into its partnership with Rival, who worked with partners in sports like Major League Soccer, the Sacramento Kings and more. The company knows how to make these crossover partnerships thrive.
Hopefully, somewhere along this road, this leads to more New Balance sneakers on NBA 2k. Please. I’m begging.
Jerry Lorenzo and Adidas feel a bit dated
Ok. So we’ve finally got a real look at Jerry Lorenzo’s first sneaker with Adidas. Fear of God hosted a show at Hollywood Bowl and brought out all his homies — including Kanye West himself.
And we finally got a look at his first Adidas FOG sneaker. It’s a legitimate basketball sneaker and it doesn’t look bad at all.
But it still feels a bit dated.
I’m pretty sure I said that about the previous sample that we saw. The same applies here. This looks like an Adidas Y-3 and Yeezy circa 2016 fusion.
That doesn’t matter, though. What matters is the actual perception these carry, and the reaction was pretty positive. Chalk this up as a W for Adidas.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW WHAT IT IS.
The homie Robbie kicked things off with a double double — the Union AJ1 KO and the Kobes!
Then the homie JD popped in with the Strawberry Cough Dunks for 4/20. SHEEEEESH.
My dog Mucci came through with the A Ma Maniére AJ1. What a beautiful shoe, man.
The homie Dandin popped in with the Aloha Dunks. Absolute classics.
My guy Sumeet FINALLY copped the Toyoda Gosei Gel Sonomas. I wish y’all knew how long my dog been eyeing these.
And then my dog Preet sent us home with the BRED AJ4. GOAT type beat. SHEESH.
SMOKED THAT. WOW.
Thank you so much for rocking with me today, fam! Appreciate y’all. You’re the best. Have a fantastic weekend.
Let’s chat again next week. Til then. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯
The lost and found drop yesterday was a disaster when you consider the payment problems were only for that one shoe. You could smoothly buy any pair on there at the same time. I’m not sure what the point is anymore for Nike and their silliness. They could easily make millions of Lost and Found but they don’t because....???? I mean my goodness if there is one shoe they should have made millions of, it should have been this one. I’m 45 years old, been into sneakers since 1989 and I just don’t care about chasing pairs from Nike any longer.
I have to say this year has been the first year I started buying new balances . Just feeling like Nike has lost its way. I have never gotten a big W on the SNKRS app . Always had to pay way over priced for Travis droops , lost and founds etc . Had the whole issue yesterday . Also I noticed many high school age kids could care less about Jordan’s more and more