Gooooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you giving me a bit of your time.
So I just heard Million Dollar Baby by Tommy Richman for the first time. WHY Y’ALL AIN’T TELL ME THIS EXISTED BEFORE TODAY!?!?!? Come on, man. Y’all supposed to be holding me down! Smhhh.
Let’s jump in.
Adidas is cooking with gas
Adidas is starting to him cook again in a way that we haven’t seen it pull off since the peak of Kanye West and Yeezy.
What’s happening: The brand held its Q1 earnings call earlier this week and, while it’s still recovering from the post-Yeezy apocalypse, it’s climbing fast.
The brand reportedly had a 336 million euro operating profit for the first quarter, up 60 million year over year.
The brand increased its full-year projection for its operating profit, shifting the expectation to 700 million euros from 500 million before.
This is the news investors love to hear. The company’s shares skyrocketed to 8.2 percent after the call. This is one of Adidas's brightest moments in nearly half a decade.
Be smart: Is the positive reaction to this news in part because Adidas set company expectations at rock bottom? Absolutely. The company has been working to temper the expectations of investors, consumers, and everyone in between since the Yeezy breakup.
That was for good reason. Adidas is still so far away from its peak. It’s operating profit in 2023 was 268 million euros. In 2019 it reached $2.6 billion. The brand is a long way away from that.
But… Make no mistake about it. The numbers reported here are a major step forward.
The how: Remember that foundational backbone that I said Adidas desperately needed to find after the Yeezy fallout? It’s forming. The brand now has a few calling cards in its pocket again.
Traditional models like the Samba, Campus and Gazelle have done extremely well for the brand in Europe and are starting to take root in North America.
There’s also the AE 1, which has very clearly become a Sneaker of the Year candidate. It’s been years since we’ve seen a basketball shoe that has been completely sold out on any brand’s site—let alone Adidas. You can’t buy these joints off Adidas’ site.
The best part: All of the love and growth those models have received has been organic — especially on the part of the AE 1. Everyone from homies like Nate Frost (who you’ve seen bless TKWW before) to celebrities like Wale rocking these joints. No real paid promotion. No huge campaigns outside what Ant Edwards is already doing. People just really, really like these shoes.
Adidas has been smart enough to consider that. They sent Nate and a few others some AE 1 PEs that will surely keep the party going.
We haven’t seen Adidas making moves like this in years. Yes, the brand is still down right now. But you can bet good money it won’t remain that way for long if it keeps this momentum up.
Nike always wins
Nike finally settled its trademark infringement lawsuit against Bape after a legal battle that took just a little over a year.
A refresher: Nike filed its suit against Bape in January 2023.
At the center of the suit were different variations of the Bape Sta, the Court Sta and the Sk8 Sta.
Nike accused Bape of copying design language from the Dunk and the Air Force 1 to develop those models mentioned above.
The details: The two sides have reached what Nike called an “amicable” solution with this settlement, Complex’s Brendan Dunne reports. But let’s be clear about this: That “amicable” solution reached is very much a pro-Nike one.
As part of the settlement, Bape has agreed to discontinue the Bape Sta Mid, Court Sta and Court Sta high sneakers.
It also agreed to redesign its core staples in the Bape Sta (the brand’s most popular shoe) and the Sk8 Sta.
Those stipulations are rough. But unlike past settlements in Nike’s dominant court run of the 2020s, the brand isn’t seeking damages from Bape or the profits from its products. That’s a big win for Bape here.
If Nike could push the brand to redesign its core sneaker in the Bape Sta, it probably had a pretty solid case against Bape that may have damaged the brand far more in the long run. The cost to continue for Bape simply wouldn’t have been worth it financially.
We’ve seen this repeatedly through the last few years. Getting in lengthy legal battles with Nike is not a winning recipe.
Everyone from Warren Lotas to John Geiger and, now, Bape have found out. Some have taken it on the chin. Others like Omi and Kool Kiy have shown resistance.
The only brand to emerge unscathed has been Adidas. That’s what happens when money stretches long enough to fund legal battles of this magnitude.
In the end, Nike has often gotten what it wants out of these suits. Legal precedents for its designs are being set that will protect the brand’s trademarks for years to come.
The big picture: I’m still not so sure that’s completely a good thing.
On one hand: Nike weeding out fakes and copycats is good. Obviously, I’m a big believer in authenticity in sneakers. If you can’t get the real thing, get something else.
On the other: I think all these legal challenges could potentially lead to Nike stomping on any customs it doesn’t like that may push artistic boundaries while still being done in good faith.
We’ll see how this goes.
Jumpman Jack is resonating
I was a big skeptic of Travis Scott’s ability to sell his own signature model when the Jumpman Jack first surfaced.
Here’s why: The reason is pretty simple. It’s hard to have a product with your name on it. Celebrities of Scott’s ilk have come and gone before.
For every Kanye West and Yeezy, you’ll get a handful Beyoncé and Ivy Parks.
It takes a special mix of celebrity, brand recognition and integrated marketing competence to make it work. If you don’t have that? You’re cooked.
Scott has done well with Jordan and Nike models that already have a name and legacy behind them. But the question for me was whether he could sustain that through a model without any of that. The answer seems to be yes.
The proof: The SNKRS release for Scott’s Jumpman Jack this week predictably sold out. It’s a Travis Scott model with a bunch of hype around it. While we don’t know the stock numbers, I’d bet they were limited.
Even with that, the hype hasn’t faded over the last few days. The sales numbers on StockX are sitting right there with some of Travis’ non-AJ1 models like the Air Max 1, Jordan 6s and Air Trainers.
What’s next: As more colors continue to release and we get more variations of these, I expect the hype to die down. That’ll be the true test in gauging interest in these.
Until then, we can say things are going well so far.
PJ Tucker getting the love he deserves
PJ Tucker isn’t LeBron James. Obviously, he’s carved out a nice enough career in the NBA, but he’s not good enough to be anybody’s signature athlete.
Yes, but: It’s always felt like he deserved recognition for his status as the #SneakerKing of the sports world, or whatever it is people call him these days.
It’s well-documented that Tucker is about that life regarding his kicks. He’s got shoes even the biggest names at Nike don’t have access to.
He also launched The Better Generation, which has been quite refreshing as a sneaker boutique.
The good news: Nike found a solid way to give him a bit of love.
Tucker is dropping his first collab with Nike on a gorgeous pair of Flight 89 lows. I love these so much. They’re pretty.
There will only be a little over 400 pairs of these dropping, so I definitely won’t hold out any hope for these. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for PJ as he plunges into his post-NBA career and inevitably works more with sneakers.
#TheKicksWeWear
First, the homie Adam got us popping off with the Public Enemy x Puma Sky LX. These joints are HEAVY.
My dog Phil came through with the A Cold Wall x Converse boot. My guy still getting fits off down there.
The homie CJ came through in the Haven D Book 1. This is SUCH a fantastic colorway.
My guy Rick Dubb came through with the Kasina Air Max 1s and a special pair of socks to go with them! Absolutley love this. Shoutout to the Dubb family.
The homie Trell Priest came through with the AJ1 Prototype and a MEAN sock combo to go with it.
Then the homie Nate took us home with that INCREDIBLE AE1 Player Exclusive I mentioned earlier. These are so sick, man. This is well deserved. SALUTE. 🫡
Y’all smoked that, man. I love it!
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with the Kicks You Wear today. I appreciate you giving me a bit of your time.
Back on Monday. Until then. Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯