The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 336 — A new way to be old 👴
Taking a look at Nike's Reimagined Jordan line and its future.
Good morning, good people! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate y’all.
Let’s try something with the intro for Mondays! I’m stealing a bit from the homie Cassidy Edwards and her amazing newsletter “Yo! You’re on Mute”, which I love and you should subscribe to.
In my cart 🛒 I’ve been plotting on the Pegasus 2k5 for a minute. I got the Valentine’s Day pair. Do I need the black and white? My heart says yes. My head says maybe?
On my radar 👀 This beautiful pair of 9060s from Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. I must have them. Do they look exactly like the JFG intros? Yes. Do I care? Nope.
HOUSEKEEPING: KYW will be out this Friday. I’ll be out traveling with USA Today for work things. I’ll be back for Monday.
Let’s jump in.
Is Reimagined the new retro?
We’re finally getting a little more insight into Nike’s “Reimagined” Air Jordan line thanks to the AJ1 connoisseur himself, Mr. Unloved 1s. It turns out it might not be what we thought it was.
The news: In a DM to Nike’s customer service Twitter account, he asked which Jordans are part of the Reimagined line so far. The answer was kind of surprising:
The Lost & Found Air Jordan 1, the Patent Bred Air Jordan 1, the White Cement Air Jordan 3, the Royal Air Jordan 1, the Bred Air Jordan 4 and the DMP Air Jordan 11 were included.
This is a customer service account. I’m unsure how connected it would be to how sneaker releases are categorized, so I take this list with a grain of salt. But I’m surprised that the DMP Jordan 11s were included here.
That, in particular, makes me think about Jordan’s Reimagined line much differently.
When the Reimagined line was pitched to us back in 2022, the goal seemed to be to rebuild old models in new ways with new materials. A spin on classics. I thought maybe we'd see some innovation there.
There’s been some of that as far as material changes go. We saw it on this recent AJ4, for example, with the leather material change. The same goes for the Royal AJ1.
But what’s become pretty clear to me is that, largely, these are the same sneakers we’ve seen before. The DMP 11 didn’t change. The White Cement AJ3 didn’t change. The Patent Bred AJ1 didn’t change.
To make a long story short, it’s all seems to be retro under a different name. And, if this is the case, are the Military Blue AJ4s “reimagined,” too? What about the Fire Red 6s? We just don’t know.
That’s a problem: These are all models that I love and would be happy to have. I’ve purchased a few. But, from a big-picture standpoint, this reimagined cycle perfectly captures the essence of the creativity problem that's been plaguing Nike for the last few years.
The company found a new way to hit refresh on old models. Again.
Retro will always have a presence at Nike, but it can’t truly be “retro” if you don’t let it breathe.
The company is re-releasing models that we just saw last decade and telling us there’s a new spin on them.
That’s just not that interesting. There’s no innovative spin here. It’s just another cyclical idea in a space where cyclical ideas seem to be the norm.
I’m not going to hate on the Reimagined program. If Nike wants to give us these Jordan models again, I’ll gladly take some of them.
But this is much less exciting than what could've been.
The Trump shoes were a scam
The more that comes out about the former president’s dive into sneaker culture, the funnier it gets.
What’s happening: As it turns out, Donald Trump’s “Never Surrender” high-top sneakers sold at SneakerCon were just customizations of a shoe you can purchase for $300 less than he sold them for.
The details: The same pair of shoes are available online today for just $99. The only difference is that there is no “T” logo.
This indicates that the pairs sold at SneakerCon were simply “made-to-order” customizations.
That “T” logo is worth $300. At least, that’s what Donnie Boy’s price point indicates to us. Hilarious.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even an untrained eye could look at the shoes and tell they looked like something you’d purchase from Temu. Complex’s Matt Welty guessed the deal when they were first announced.
Zoom out: To me, this shows us just how susceptible and gullible consumers can be. I include myself in that. All it takes is for someone to slap a logo or a slogan onto whatever for people to be willing to spend hundreds of dollars on it. That’s silly.
It’s not just Trump folks, by the way. This is essentially the same thing Travis Scott did with the “Utopia” Air Force 1 that dropped late last year. He just had a Nike stamp and not…whatever Trump used here.
I hope people think before they leap the next time this guy — or anyone else, really — tries to run a game like this again.
Running it back in black
A Ma Maniére is running the Air Jordan 3 back in July, according to sneaker leaker zSneakerheadz. This time, it’s reportedly coming in black.
I want to be surprised that Jordan Brand is returning to the AJ3 well with A Ma Maniére here, but as we discussed above that’s essentially what the strategy has been over the last few years.
Still, this surprises me.
The original A Ma Maniére Air Jordan 3 is probably the most prominent non-Off-White and non-Travis Scott collaboration Nike has done in the last five years.
People are going to expect these shoes to live up to that. If they don’t, it could be perceived as a big negative.
Don’t judge yet: Whether you feel good or bad about it, remember that the leak is just that — a leak. We’ve only got a mock-up so far. It’s far too early to have an opinion on them.
I just know A Ma Maniére better not mess this up.
Buying the B
Speaking of the Reimagined Air Jordan line, after the Black Cement 4s dropped last month there was a story circulating online about a pair with an upside-down tongue tag. Remember that? Fun times, right?
A look:
I’ll be honest. I kind of ignored this when it happened because, well, it just wasn’t that interesting. I mean, sure. This was a unique defect. But it was still a defect. I thought we were all just laughing and keeping it pushing.
As it turns out: The dude who bought these is laughing straight to the bank. Somebody bought these from him for $17,000. SEVEN. TEEN. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.
Nah, man. Some people do not deserve money. I’m sorry.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
Nike LeBron 4 “Fruity Pebbles” — Monday, March 4
Air Jordan 1 “Dusted Clay” — Wednesday, March 8
New Balance x Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 9060 — Thursday, March 7
Nike Zoom Vomero 5 “Blue Gaze” — Friday, March 8
Air Jordan 4 “Metallic Gold” — Saturday, March 9
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with KYW today. I appreciate your time. Hope you enjoyed the newsletter!
Quick question for you before we go:
Until next time, folks. Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯