The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 381 — Allow Adidas to reintroduce itself
The reported partnership between Adidas and The Whitaker Group may (re)open doors.
Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for rocking with me this morning. Appreciate y’all for rocking with me today.
Haven’t done this in a while!
In my cart 🛒 : The Patta Air Max 1 “Monarch” has been on my list since it dropped in 2021. Missed em then. Got a nice lil bid in for them now. #LilBidGang.
On my radar 👀 : The Kith 990v4 coming up today is LIKE THAT. I’m trying to decide how badly I want these. Right now, the answer is “very.” That Moonrock colorway gets me every time.
HOUSEKEEPING: No KYW next Monday. I’ll be handling some family stuff over the weekend. The newsletter will be back on Friday.
Let’s dig in.
TWG x ADI
James Whitner and the Whitaker Group have reportedly inked a new multi-shoe partnership with Adidas, according to Snobette News’ Lois Sakany and Kari “Sneaker Phetish” Daniels.
The details: The deal's specifics are unclear, but the two sides will reportedly begin working on together in 2025.
The big question for me is less about what the partnership will produce and more about who, exactly, the partnership is with. Which Whitaker Group brand will the product launch under?
There are three choices: Social Status, A Ma Maniére and APB. It formerly had New Jersey-based Prosper, but the operation will shut down in 2025.
If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on a Social Status partnership here.
A Ma Maniére has an exclusive deal with Nike and Jordan Brand. Sakany notes that AMM promoted the Whitaker Group’s previous New Balance 1906u launch but was subsequently removed from the brand’s Instagram account.
APB is a possibility, but it’s more of a skater brand. That’s hyper-specific and doesn’t perfectly align with Adidas’ current terrace vibe.
Social Status is the most flexible of the brands. The lower price points create less of a barrier to entry, too. It’s also been the fulcrum for other TWG collaborations alongside New Balance, Asics and even Adi with the Ultra 4D.
Between the lines: I’d be lying if I’d said I don’t wonder if this new deal is a reaction to The Whitaker Group’s recent scandal. The brand has been cleared legally, but Nike doesn’t take kindly to stories like that. We’ve seen brands have accounts taken for far less.
Does that mean that will happen to any of the Whitaker Group brands? I’d say no. The operation has been far too successful for Nike to back out of its partnership because of one strike — even if it was a really bad one. There are no signs that the brand’s Nike deal is in trouble.
That said, if there were a crack in the foundation, a new partnership with Adidas would be a fantastic way to keep things as steady as possible.
The big picture: This is a very nice thing for the Whitaker Group. It adds another key cog to the machine. But if we’re being honest, Adidas needs this deal far more than TWG does.
The brand is recovering better than most people thought it’d be. It’s expecting its full-year operating profit to hit $1.1 billion this year, nearly $400 million more than expected at the top of the year.
However, the brand has long sought to regain its foothold in North America.
Yeezy was Adidas’ anchor in North America, a critical region for success for any global footwear brand. Once it cut ties with Kanye West, its regional sales dipped by 25 percent.
Bjorn Gulden knows that Adidas needs to find a new slant in the region. It was one of his priorities for Puma when he was CEO there, and it catapulted the brand into one of its most successful eras. He thinks the same strategy can work for Adidas. Back in July, he said the brand needs to be “more American” to have success in America.
His instincts are right. North America is an essential region for every global footwear brand. But, for Adidas, it’s crucially its second-largest market behind Europe. Having a strong presence in the region is a must.
A Whitaker Group partnership, plus the brand’s success with Adidas Basketball and the AE1, could help it regain its former foothold in the region.
No guarantees, obviously. But this partnership is worth a shot.
A women’s sports win for Nike
Nike held its Q1 earnings call for the 2025 fiscal year on Thursday.
The call was odd. Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend hosted the call, which is very atypical. But Elliott Hill won’t start until October 14 and Phil Donahoe was probably on a beach lamping somewhere. Who could blame him? I’d do the same after getting canned.
Anyway, there was plenty of interesting news in the call, including a big win in women’s sports.
The news: According to Friend, Sabrina Ionescu’s signature basketball sneaker line grew “roughly five times” year over year.
Alongside that, the Kobe line nearly quadrupled. This is not shocking, considering how Nike leaned in hard with its Kobe brand.
However, CNBC's Alex Sherman writes that despite the growth of Nike’s two booming signature basketball models, they still underperformed and fell behind Adidas’ AE1.
Last line aside: It’s still pretty impressive that the Sabrina line is performing well amid the rest of the chaos around the brand.
Nike has something real cooking with the Sabrina 1. It was reportedly the best-selling model on Nike By You, according to The Boardroom’s Nick DePaula. There were a ton of NBAers wearing the shoe, too, which likely gave the model more crossover appeal.
It’s good, simple, and cheap. Plus, Sabrina is a relatively popular player in the landscape of the WNBA.
The bottom line: We’ve always known how powerful of a force Nike could be in women’s sports if it just tapped in. The Sabrina line is proof of concept. If you build it, they will come.
Now let’s get those A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark joints cooking, ASAP.
Presentation matters
I’ve gotten over the last few days about the A Ma Maniére Air Max 95s.
The shoes went from being one of the most anticipated pieces from the brand’s “While You Were Sleeping” collection to one that folks in my circle — and maybe yours, too! — are thinking about passing on now.
Here’s why: A single picture changed everything. This look at the WYWS Air Max 95 isn’t flattering at all.
The people have notes.
What I’m hearing:
The biggest gripe is the materials. The OG pictures make the materials look like suede or nubuck. Leather just looks weird on the 95.
The photo also isn’t flattering. The background is distracting. Obviously, this isn’t an official image so it’ll likely look better when we get those. But this is a rough view.
My DMs are an extremely small sample, obviously. But it was just so fascinating to me that one photo changed so much with this shoe.
What do you all think? Are these still a go or are we passing after seeing this?
Presentation matters Pt. 2
Above is an example of how a presentation can ruin something great. Below is an example of how it can sell it.
I don’t have $4,000 to spend on a Supreme weight bench, but after watching this video featuring Tamara Walcott? I totally wish I did.
What a fantastic spot. Supreme has been on one with the visuals lately.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
Adidas Samba “Made in Italy” — Monday, October 7
Nike Air Max 1 “Low Poly” — Tuesday, October 8
Nike Ja 2 “Purple Sky” — Tuesday, October 8
Packer x Reebok Premier Road Modern — Wednesday, October 9
Jordan Tatum 3 “Welcome to the Garden” — Thursday, October 10
Jordan 1 Low “Howard University” — Saturday, October 12
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you! Have a fantastic week.
If you’ve got any questions, comments or concerns, hit me via email at mikedsykes@gmail.com or shoot me a message here via Substack.
Until next time. Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
Monarchs!! So, so good.