The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 324 — Fear of Flop 🙏🏾
The Adidas x Fear of God collaboration feels doomed to fail. You hate to see it.
Gooooood morning, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me this morning. I appreciate you.
It’s my birthday weekend, folks! I’m turning 31 years old on Sunday. Yerboi is getting old. This kind of snuck up on me and I’m not that great at doing birthday things for myself. But I promise you I’ll do my best to have a blast this weekend.
Let’s jump in.
A shaky start
The moment we’ve been patiently waiting for has arrived. It’s been years, but Adidas and Jerry Lorenzo are set to unveil Fear of God Athletics on Sunday, Dec. 3. Happy birthday to me.
I can’t say things are off to the greatest start though.
💰💰💰: Excessive. Unbelievable. Exorbitant. Those are the words I’d use to describe Lorenzo’s latest. The price points are unreal.
The prices will range from $190 for a crop top to $700 for a car coat. You can check out the full price range here.
The collection includes sportswear designs created for fashion, but Lorenzo also emphasizes the functional aspect in this case.
Remember: Lorenzo’s stuff has never been cheap and it never will be. Fear of God is very expensive. Even the more affordable Essentials line has price points ranging from $45 for monotone tees to $200 for denim coats.
He told us earlier this year that God “didn’t call us to be low price” and that his ideas are expensive. He meant that. I just wish he’d speak to God one more time about that one. This ain’t it.
Why this matters: Fear of God Athletics is a great idea. It’s Adidas providing its audience with sportswear that not only looks unique but also functions well, too. No other brand will have sportswear that matches the quality of FOG Athletics.
The brand recognizes that, too. Here’s what Adidas Originals VP Torben Schumacher had to say about FOG Athletics’ goals to Vouge.
“It’s our ambition to provide a clear performance perspective. And, quite frankly, to shape the look of sports performance gear in the future… to shape that next chapter of athletic sportswear and luxury.”
That’s ambitious. And in a world where performance sportswear isn’t striking the way it once did, it’s a good idea. It’s an opportunity for Adidas to come at Nike’s throne, as Bjorn Gulden warned he would.
But…That’s why it’s so ridiculous that these prices are where they are. In this economy? Lorenzo is shutting people out before the doors even open. The quality of the product doesn’t even matter anymore. People just aren’t feeling this.
Twitter is only a small, small sector of the public. But the adverse reaction to these prices is pretty much the consensus opinion.
Let’s be real: Lorenzo doesn’t know who his audience is. The people wearing Fear of God are not the same people wearing Gucci but that’s how this product is priced.
Even if FOG could match that same sort of luxurious quality, nobody is paying that much money for a name that means nothing to them.
There’s nothing distinguishable about Fear of God’s products. They’re good, sure. But what’s the staple? What’s the aesthetic? Dune? I mean, come on, people.
Those distinguishable qualities are what make an item worth paying a bit more for. You’ll buy Ralph Lauren because it’s Ralph Lauren. You’ll buy Gucci because it’s Gucci. But why would you spend $245 on a hoodie when you could buy one of the same quality at, say, Gap for much less? It doesn’t make sense.
The big picture: This feels like a missed opportunity. FOG Athletics didn’t have to be another Essentials arm, but Adidas could’ve scored big with the everyday consumer here by making a product more attainable for those folks. The brand desperately needs that after the Yeezy fallout. Given time, I think this could’ve potentially had a similar impact.
Maybe it still will be. I don’t know. We’ll see. All I do know is that I likely won’t be testing it out myself.
Foot Locker is moving on
Foot Locker is making good on its promise to diversify the brands populating its shelves outside of Nike.
Be smart: Of course, the brand doesn’t have much choice considering how Nike has peeled itself back over the last few years. But, still, it’s nice to see Foot Locker’s horizons expanding a bit.
The numbers: CEO Mary Dillon made it a company goal to have more than 40 percent of the shoes it sells come from non-Nike brands, Footwear News’ Shoshy Ciment writes. The brand is doing exactly that.
According to the company’s third quarter earnings report, that number this year has increased to 36 percent.
That’s up from 32 percent around the same time in 2022.
That’s a good thing: Foot Locker isn’t just resting on its laurels when it comes to Nike anymore. For so long it’s felt like Foot Locker has been Nike-or-bust, which led to a deep dependence on the Swoosh and lower-quality products on FTL’s shelves.
It felt like the brand had given less thought to what it stocks over the years because of how heavily it leaned on that relationship. There was nothing special there that you couldn’t buy online. There was no reason to go to the store.
Now, with new options, you might be interested in at least stopping in for a second to see what you can find.
Here we are now: Foot Locker is building out options. It’s Asics. It’s New Balance. It’s On. It’s Ugg. It’s Hoka. It’s even Crocs. There’s a legitimate selection developing.
The more, the better. That’s how I see it.
The Rich Paul connect for New Balance is working
The Rich Paul takeover at New Balance is a very real thing, folks.
Not only does this superstar agent have an athletic apparel brand with the company, but he’s scored a number of his clients deals with NB.
The hook: This week, Cleveland Cavaliers star Darius Garland joined the brand, per ESPN’s Nick DePaula. He’ll be one of the stars wearing New Balance’s Two Wxy v4.
A macro view: Garland is now one of many Klutch Sports athletes to hop on the New Balance bandwagon.
On the NBA side that list includes Zach LaVine, Tyrese Maxey, Dejounte Murray and Darius Bazely. Kawhi Leonard and Jamal Murray are the only NBA players on NB’s roster who aren’t with Klutch.
On the NFL side, there’s also Chase Young and Will Anderson Jr., who are both signed to New Balance’s Klutch Athletics arm.
Stanford’s Cameron Brink is also Klutch Athletics’ first NIL client.
Say what you want about Rich Paul. He’s always getting his folks paid. I can’t knock it.
JFG is back with Belly
We finally got a full look at the upcoming 990v4 drop coming from Joe FreshGoods via the man himself and, of course, the sneakers are fantastic.
A look: Here’s the Intro (white & black), Outro (black & white) and Keisha Blue pairs of the 990v4 coming from the collection. Ain’t they lovely, folks?
The hook: For me, it’s not even about how good the shoes are. They’re great. But that’s only half of the appeal. The film Belly being the inspiration hooked me.
For those who don’t know: Belly is one of the quintessential films that perfectly encapsulates the boom of hip-hop culture in the ninties. The film — which came out in 1998 — was directed by Hype Williams, arguably the greatest music video director of all time.
The movie isn’t good to be completely honest with you. But it’s one of those joints you had to be there for. If you know, you know. It was immaculately shot. The intro is still one of the greatest pieces of media I’ve ever seen. The influence is still visible in film today.
For these shoes to be rooted in this film? That and the Murder Inc. XXL cover we discussed before? Yeah, man. Sign me up. I will take any of these three pairs.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBRATIONS!!! LET’S GET IT!!!
First, the homie J Braze came through with these CLASSIC AJ5s. Sick.
The homie Candace came through with the Gratitudes AND some cozy joints. I am jealous, y’all. Idk which one I want more.
The homie Madison came through with the Lucky Greens. Man, Celtics colors look great on AJ3s.
The homie Nick pulled out the AMM 1s to celebrate a new job offer. We absolutely love to see it! Congrats, big homie!
Then the homie Nate sent us home with the Vibrations of Naija AJ1s. THESE ARE INCREDIBLEEEEEEEE.
SMOKED THAT. Sheesh, y’all. Keep doing the damn thing, man.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading today. I appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend! I hope you all do something fun and stay warm.
Let’s chat again next Friday! I’ll have your KYW Gift Guide ready to go! Can’t wait. Until then, fam. Peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯