The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 370 — Nike's gain, Adidas' loss? 🧱
Lego is the latest collaborator to switch sides between the brands. How much does it matter?
Goooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you taking the time.
WE’VE GOT A GUEST: On Friday, we’ll have an interview with an upstart footwear brand called Andiem.
I got to speak to the founders about their performance basketball sneakers that they’d put up against anything on the market currently as far as function goes. We talked about their product, the current market as it stands and what makes a good, working basketball shoe. Can’t wait for y’all to read it. Especially all you hoopers out there.
In the meantime, let’s get into today’s news.
The bricks are flipping
Nike and Lego announced a new partnership last week that sounds exciting.
The brands will create “a series of co-branded products, content and experiences” for younger audiences. This one is for the kids, folks.
At some point, we’ll probably be getting those brick Air Jordan 1s and Dunks folks have been itching for. That’s too easy of a win, considering how brickmakers have been dropping non-lego block versions of hyped shoes over the years.
This is a very fun deal. It feels a smart one for both sides, too. Nike taps in with the kids, Lego gets a bit of a bump with teens. You’d think this would be a win-win.
Yes, but: I’m not completely sure that it is.
As my friend Phillip Jackson always says, commerce is culture. These are two of the biggest commercial entities in the world worth billions of dollars. You’d think that joining forces here would be an undoubted layup.
But I have my doubts. We don’t have to look back too far into the past to see why.
The backdrop: Adidas and Lego partnered together in 2020. Want to know how well all of that worked? Just check your social channels now. In the aftermath of Nike and Lego announcing their deal together, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone mentioning the previous Adidas deal.
People didn’t care about it. But it wasn’t for a lack of effort on the part of Adidas and Lego. The two partnered on a number of shoes together including a bunch of ZX styles, some Ultraboost looks and even a Lego brick version of the Superstar.
There were Adidas and Lego events and products that never seemed to capture people as much as you’d think. That’s likely what is informing the new deal between Nike and Legos that pushed it toward creating experiences and content first instead of just Lego-fying (is that a word? It is now) the brand’s most popular shoes like Adidas did.
The other side: The failure of the Adidas-Lego partnership doesn’t mean that a Nike-Lego partnership will fail, too.
Even in its current downswing, Nike is still a more popular brand than Adidas has ever been. That will certainly help it.
You’d also hope that Lego will have learned lessons from its first foray into footwear and that those lessons would be applied here.
There’s hope for this thing, certainly. But I don’t think this is a deal everyone should be praising as much as they are.
The big picture: Casting the Lego deal aside for a second, Nike has taken quite a bit from Adidas over the last year or so.
Nike became the German national team’s official sponsor after it spent 70 years with Adidas.
On a smaller scale, Adidas collaborator in Nigo recently flipped from Adidas to Nike.
Why it matters: Usually, it feels like it’s the other way around. You rarely see folks going from Adidas to Nike — it’s always Nike to Adidas. Think about Kanye West, Jerry Lorenzo, even Edison Chen and CLOT.
It’s usually a case of Nike being done with the collaborative works of certain creatives or companies. Sometimes, that backfires like it did with West. But, usually, the swoosh knows when the well has run dry. They’ve gotten the best out of the partnership and it’s time to move on.
In this case, it feel like the shoe may be on the other foot.
On takes Milan
When most of us were introduced to On, we recognized it as one of the brands that was there for the everyday person during the COVID-19 pandemic. The brand got a big bump from folks who started running as a hobby during quarantine.
But since then, it’s grown out of that shell and jumped on to the runway.
The news: On opened up a flagship store in Milan, giving the running brand an official presence in Italy’s fashion capital.
Milan is one of the most fashion-forward cities in the world. On EMEA GM Bianca Pestalozzi told Footwear News the brand already had a presence among consumers in the city. The flagship location was a matter of giving them a direct-to-consumer option.
“We’ve seen good growth in the levels of brand awareness for On, maybe more so in Milan than in cities like Rome, but we’re definitely seeing a lot of growth and brand momentum in the market,” she said.
The big picture: On is trying to become the premier high fashion sportswear brand.
The Milan store follows the opening of a flagship location in Paris, France, ahead of the Olympic Games.
The brand also has a collaboration with luxury brand Loewe, where it built the Cloudtilt 2.0.
Zendaya, the brand’s most significant collaborator to this point, has a history with brands like Loewe, Versace and more
Be smart: On still offers apparel and footwear for the everyday consumer. That won’t just disappear — even as it continues to make its current jump, the brand hasn’t forgotten how it catapulted to its current state.
But moving forward, we’ll see a lot more of this expansion into the most affluent parts of fashion. It’s working.
So we’re really doing this, huh?
Well, gang. It looks like Nike’s Wu Tang Dunk is really coming. And it seems to be happening pretty soon.
The latest: Official images of the shoes have been released online, and there’s also reportedly a September release date coming with these.
My take: I still can’t believe that these shoes are getting a wider release. I won’t completely rehash the point I previously made here, but it feels like some grails should be left as grails.
Someone who has always wanted these will get them, and I’m happy that that’s the case. But let’s be honest — this isn’t about appeasing those customers. It’s about the brand buying time for itself because it’s run out of ideas.
Either way, it’s happening. So we’d best get ready for it. These retail for $150. Buckle up.
Congrats, Maya Moore
I just had to give a quick shoutout to my GOAT. The Minnesota Lynx officially retired Maya Moore's jersey on Saturday. (I still can’t believe she’s retired!).
Moore is one of the greatest talents the WNBA has ever seen.
She’s got all the awards. Four-time champ. 2014 WNBA MVP. Seven time All-WNBA selection. Six time All-Star.
She also amassed a record of 563-95 over her career, which is just insane, y’all.
Why it matters: There’s a sneaker angle to all this — don’t worry. Moore was gifted with golden Jordans and a sweet jacket for her retirement ceremony.
Moore was the first female athlete ever signed to Jordan Brand when she signed on back in 2011.
She remade the Jordan Wings poster and it’s still one of the most iconic photos in sports I can remember. Nobody was upset that she redid this because she was simply that good. Maya was untouchable.
She got a number of player-exclusive models (including this awesome AJ10 PE) throughout her playing career with Jordan Brand. To honor her, the brand sent her those shoes laced in gold. It’s awesome.
Congrats, Maya. More than well deserved.
READ MORE: Maya Moore, a team player who is one of a kind, from the New York Times.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
Reebok x Aliens BB 4000 II — Monday, August 26
BTW: Really cool story on these from the homie Will Goodman over at GQ! You should check this out.
Air Jordan 17 — Wednesday, August 28
Nike Air Tech Challenge II — Friday, August 30
BAPE x Adidas Dame 9 — Saturday, August 31
Naruto x Asics Gel-NYC — Saturday, August 31
Bad Bunny x Adidas Gazelle Indoor — Sunday, September 1
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you. Have a fantastic week.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, talk to me at mikedsykes@gmail.com or shoot me a message here via Substack.
Until next time, folks! Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
Ayy thanks for the shoutout my man 🤝