The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 371 — Dunking on the market with Andiem 🏀
Meet Andiem, the performance sneaker brand out there trying to solve all of your ankle problems on the court.
Goooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you taking the time.
I hope you’ve had a fantastic week so far. Got a nice three day weekend coming up! Labor Day weekend always gets me — I love the holiday, but it’s also kind of the unofficial end of summer. I’m not ready, y’all!
Anyway, enough of my complaining. Let’s dive in. We’ve got a guest today!
Meet Andiem
Correction: This post has been edited to reflect the proper spelling of Ezra Smyser’s name
The performance basketball market has suffered over the years because too many brands have tried to do too many things at once.
Every brand wants to make the prettiest shoe while pumping it full of tech to keep the best of the best athletes as sharp as possible on the court. But when you try to do too many things at once at a high level, you usually fail at both.
That’s where upstart performance basketball brand Andiem says it differentiates itself.
The brand launched the Pivot as its first official performance basketball shoe. I spoke with the founders Alex Morel and Ezra Smyser about the shoe, the brand’s goals and the overall state of the performance hoops market today.
From our conversation, it's clear that the brand has one goal: Keeping its customers playing basketball for as long as possible.
It isn’t here to make the prettiest basketball shoe. It wants to make one that works. Andiem chose a lane and it’s not straying away from it.
Now, their goal is to present it to you. Let’s dive in.
The following conversation has been edited for brevity
Let’s start by diving into the brand’s backstory. Where did you guys start?
Alex: Ezra and I both are pretty much lifelong basketball players. Our earliest times playing basketball, we both struggled with ankle injuries. My ankles were just permanently swollen. Ezra needed surgery. We both experienced that firsthand.
Ezra: I think we can take it even a step back. We met on the court on the same freshman floor in college, but we’re both from New York. And both of us had gone to college in the Midwest to get away from New York. We were really hesitant about it — it was like, “I don’t want to this guy.”
Then we played basketball together and found that we both had the same love of hoops. We were always in a competitive battle: Who would be the better player?
Every time we’d reach peak performance, we’d end up with an ankle injury. I’d come down on someone’s foot and twist my ankle. Like Alex said, I had to have surgery after college. We just felt there had to be a better way.
Alex: Our vision for Andiem was to eliminate needless injuries. We felt like the differentiation in the market was really differentiation in marketing and fashion. And there weren’t really differences of perspective in function.
In running, there are so many different points of view. [There are] maximalists like HOKA, barefoot runners, trail runners. Everything in between.
In basketball, it’s like: “Who’s your favorite player? What’s your favorite color?” That’s it. We felt like Andiem could bring a functional perspective and redefine performance.
There are so many different needs in a basketball shoe. What does an ideal performance basketball shoe have and how does the Pivot bring that to the table?
Ezra: We actually think that playing basketball, you can have different fits for different people, but they should all follow the same philosophy. The toes should be wide and natural. In the heel, you should be super locked in.
For me, there were two shoes: One was the Huarache Elite 2 with this really wide base and the Hyperdunk Kobes, which had a really built-up heel. The lock-in was unparalleled.
That’s the philosophy that we’re borrowing from. We’re taking from different places that we’ve seen and trying to make the best performance shoe possible.
What are your thoughts on the overall basketball market? What are the biggest problems it faces?
Alex: A lot of the other brands, we feel like they’re trying to be two things at the same time and that gets in the way of their performance.
I’ve seen reports as high as 80 percent of basketball shoes are never played in. They’re a fashion or trading commodity. And they’re beautiful. And maybe they’re comfortable. But they’re not performance the way we define performance.
We see the market as more of a lifestyle market. Our shoe is more about equipment. Our shoe is a shoe for basketball players, really, at all levels. I think that, when it comes to performance and adding features that change how people play? I don’t think anyone else is doing that the way we are.
Ezra: Interestingly, the Chinese brands are leading in terms of innovation. You’ve seen Way of Wade put out a lot of shoes in the last four years. A lot of them were insane — you probably shouldn’t even play ball in them. But they were learning.
And then they got on to the Way of Wade 10 and that was a very good shoe. Wide forefoot, has an outrigger. They’re starting to innovate and Nike is following. The new Jordan [39] looks more like a Way of Wade shoe. It looks different. It looks nicer. But they were pulling from Way of Wade.
It just really feels like Nike they’ve fallen off in terms of innovation.
I do feel like that fashion vs. function debate has gotten in the way of us getting good shoes. Brands have tried to do two things at once and it hasn’t worked. The fact that you guys have chosen to dive all the way in is refreshing.
When you first started, what’d you think about that dance and how’d you land on being the brand focused on function?
Alex: We landed on that because we felt it was the biggest problem in basketball.
Ankle injuries are responsible for the most missed playing time in the NBA, and those are super freaks. These are the best athletes in the world with the best care, and it’s not making a difference.
We felt that, clearly, what’s out there is not working. There’s a problem. Let’s solve the problem. That’s why we started with the pursuit of the Pivot. We stand out by calling that to attention.
There are no highs available in the market. The market has become so homogenous. Basically, everything is a Kobe. It’s like a Kobe with a little bit of this or a little bit of that. But they’re all just Kobes.
So, from both a need perspective, from the basketball player perspective and from the business perspective, this was a way for us to solve a problem, stand out, kind of all of the above.
Basketball sneakers are a tough market to crack into. When you guys first started this, was there any hesitation? I imagine that that had to be a tough proposition to think about.
Alex: Well, we just felt there was nothing on the market for us. We felt like our basketball careers were going to be prematurely ended because of the lack of basketball shoes that could work for us. And all the trends were pointing in the opposite direction. They were getting lower and lower and smaller and smaller.
Ezra: I think there’s room in the market for a company that’s focused on performance and longevity.
We’re going to be releasing insoles soon. At the end of the day, we want everybody to have the best stuff on the court. The fact that other companies don’t put insoles like that in their shoe is honestly egregious. Every basketball shoe should have that.
How are the NYC try-ons? What feedback have you gotten?
Alex: When people are trying the shoe, I want them to see it before their eyes. Normally, when you land on someone’s foot, they’re like, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. My bad.” I’m like, “I didn’t even feel anything.”
How’d you come up with that strategy of the try-on games? That’s a bit unorthodox, but I also feel like it’s the right thing to do. Especially for a brand like this one where you’re just starting. But it’s also a bit risky.
Alex: It came naturally to us because basketball has been such a big part of our social fiber for so long. We came back from school and, 10 years later, we’re pretty embedded in a bunch of different basketball communities. I’m the commissioner of a pickup run that’s been going on for 10 years. Maybe longer — 11 years?
Ezra: It’s 13 years now.
Alex: 13 years with a brief COVID hiatus. But, through that, I just met a ton of basketballers. I’m always recruiting for my run. I pick up a lot of hoopers that way. We just got comfortable with that and it was always an idea.
Early on, when we launched, we learned that feeling was believing with the Pivot — especially when you’re doing something unbelievable. And so, when we say we’ve solved ankle problems, people say that’s not possible. The try-on runs are the evolution of that where you can see it and feel it in person.
Some of the feedback we get. It’s not for everybody — some people don’t like highs, for example. We can’t be everything for everyone. But we’re trying to solve a specific need.
People who like it say it plays so much lighter than it looks. They immediately feel the support.
Ezra: I think we’re also just fortunate to be in New York. New York is the mecca of basketball. There’s so much basketball in this city and we really just wanted to lean into that and bring in the community.
#TheKicksWeWear
LET’S GET IT!!!!!
First, the homie Saoirse Lannister came through with the KAWS 4s and some fly LeBron 7s for the birthday vibes. HBD, homie! Hope it’s an amazing one.
My dog Rick Dubb came through with the Banned Air Ships. This colorway never gets old, y’all. NEVER.
The homie Sam came through with the W.Y.W.S Air Jordan 3s and these are a vibe. I might slide on a pair soon if y’all keep letting that price drop.
The homie Big Seoul (Not the little, y’all) came through with the Air Max Sunder and listen. We just about to collect these joints like the Infinity Stones. I can’t get enough. Never too much, as the big homie Luther Vandross once said.
Then my dog Young Choi took us out with the Tech Challenge 2s. I LOVE this shoe, man. I really hope I can cop the Hot Lavas today.
Y’all SMOKED that, man. Good stuff. As always.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you! Have fantastic weekend.
Housekeeping: KYW will be out on Monday in recognition of Labor Day. I’ll be back next Friday. Have a fantastic holiday. Please enjoy some time off.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, email me at mikedsykes@gmail.com or message me via Substack.
Until next time, folks. Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯