The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 393 — Nostalgia won
The Black Cement III got me, folks. Maybe it got you, too.
Goooood morning, folks. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you giving me a bit of your time. You’re the best.
HOLIDAY THINGS: No newsletter on Friday. Do me a big favor and enjoy the time with your friends and family.
We’ve also got some holiday content coming up.
KYW Gift Guide is coming on December 6. We’re shopping for the sneakerhead in your life without buying them sneakers.
Best Everything of 2024 is coming on December 13. That’s where we’ll have our sneaker of the year chat.
The 2025 lookahead will come on Monday, December 16. This will be KYW’s last send of 2024! It’s been a great year. Looking forward to tackling 2025 with y’all, too.
Let’s get down to today’s business with that out the way.
Couldn’t help myself
It’s so funny. We’ve been yapping over these last few months about how Nike has nothing new or interesting going on. The fastball isn’t there anymore. It’s no longer cutting-edge. Nike and Jordan have simply leaned on what’s worked skated by.
Those criticisms aren’t unfair. They’re true!
And, yet, still, when the Black Cement 3 dropped, we all showed up and bought them.
I don’t know how many pairs were out there. I don’t know how many retailers had them. All I know is that they’re sold out everywhere I’ve checked today. Despite all the complaints about quality control, light elephant print, shoe shape, leather quality and everything else, the shoes sold out.
I got a pair myself.
I feel pretty ridiculous about it. I was so on the fence about buying these. Spending $220 on a shoe that I’ve seen so many people have complaints about feels silly. Not being able to buy these when I was younger is not an excuse to make silly purchases, no matter how much I’ve convinced myself that it is.
But I bought them happily. I keep asking myself why, despite my reservations.
My take: The answer I keep coming to is a simple one. It’s Nike’s greatest weapon. Nostalgia.
Nostalgia wins. It’s the thing that Nike has that no other brand does. The history. The prestige. Especially with a drop like this one.
These joints are classics. The Black Cement 3 is arguably the greatest Jordan ever. It’s aged so well since 1988.
There’s also the “I couldn’t get these before so I’ll get them now” crowd. Count me in that group. We didn’t have the money to do so in 2011 or 2018. Now, we do. So we buy these retros to fill those gaps.
Nostalgia has always been one of Nike’s greatest salesmen. It’s not shocking that it worked again here.
But, today, I guess I just find myself in awe of how powerful it still is despite everything going on around Nike.
Shareholders have called the brand stale and complained about repeating styles.
Consumers aren’t that into retro anymore. Some people are just aging out of this stuff. Others are just into wearing different things and shopping different brands.
When it boiled down to it, none of that mattered. We all still bought a shoe with its best days long behind it.
The big picture: We’re the problem here, folks.
Circling back to the original point, we’ve all criticized Nike for being stale and continuing to give us the same things repeatedly. But we keep buying those things. And they won’t stop giving them to us if we don’t stop accepting it.
The only way to break that cycle is to abandon nostalgia. Kick those warm, fuzzy feelings you get to the side. Demand new. Demand creativity.
I’ll get to it…right after the BC3s hit my doorstep. I promise.
Speaking of Jordan Brand…
There’s a new kid on the block. Jordan Brand has officially signed Trae Young. Jordan announced the Hawks point guard as its latest addition with a post on Instagram.
“The air just got colder.” That’s a good tag line. Really good. It’s playing perfectly on that “Ice Trae” nickname.
The background: Young has been a sneaker-free agent since September, according to Sole Retriever. He’d been seen wearing Anta, Jordan Brand, Nike and more on the court over the last few weeks as a sneaker free agent.
Young had three signature sneakers with Adidas and was set to drop a fourth if he’d continued with the three stripes. He signed a four-year deal with Adidas back in 2020.
The big picture: Shoutout to Trae Young for getting to the bag. But, if I’m being honest, I don’t know that this is a great move. Or, rather, I don’t know how much of a difference it makes.
Young’s Adidas tenure didn’t work because he’d ended up being overshadowed by other stars on the roster. Anthony Edwards, Damian Lillard and James Harden were the priorities. Even Donovan Mitchell’s signature line seemed a bigger priority than Young’s.
If Jordan Brand brings Young on to do the signature shoe thing, they’ll just run into the same problem.
He joins a stacked roster with Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson (when healthy) at the top.
We don’t know whether he’s in line to get another signature shoe yet. But the best move to make here, in my view, is to keep young as a face of whatever mainline Jordan sneaker is coming down the pipeline. Make him the face of the Jordan 39. If his Hawks get better and his star rises again? Maybe there’s a conversation to be had. That’s the sort of low-risk, high-reward strategy that could work here.
Bringing back the Shox
On Friday, Kendrick Lamar took over the weekend with his new GNX album (or a mixtape? Idk).
The project is incredible. It samples several records throughout the album and taps into Kendrick'’s roots on the West Coast with old-school funk rhythms. If you haven’t peeped it yet, you absolutely should.
But the thing we’re here to talk about isn’t the project — it’s the preview.
Moments before GNX dropped, Kendrick dropped a snippet of a song that wasn’t actually on the project.
Watch closely: In the video, Dot is wearing Nike Shox. Again. This time, it’s the R4 in the royal blue colorway, matching the Dodger Blue hat he’s rocking.
Remember: Kendrick wore Shox at the Pop Out show in LA over the summer. Dot and Vince Carter are the only two dudes I know still pushing these classics. You love to see it.
I don’t know if we need another Kendrick Lamar sneaker deal — at least not with Nike. That’s been explored already, and if I’m being honest, it wasn’t that great.
But I’ve been enjoying this Shox renaissance sparked by the rapper. Let’s keep this party going.
JFG 992 confirmed
For all you New Balance fiends who’ve been clamoring for the 992 to return, rejoice. It looks like 2025 is your year.
Joe FreshGoods is coming with another 992 collaboration in 2025. He posted this picture in a photo dump on his Instagram a few days back.
What are those: That’s the tongue top for the New Balance 992. You can also see some laces in the lower right part of the photo, a U992 size guide at the top and a 992 tongue apply on the left.
The 992 is coming, folks.
A look back: We got a big hint that we got back in the Prom to Paris video this summer. The Illinois tags on the car in the video had “992 2025” on them.
No idea what the theme here will be. But, knowing Joe, you can bet it’ll be a good one.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
Nike Shox R4 “Metallic Silver” — Thursday, November 26
Travis Scott x Jordan Brand Jumpman Jack “Mocha” — Thursday, November 26
DTLR x New Balance 2002r “Tinsel” — Friday, November 27
New Balance 1000 “Dark Olivine” — Saturday, November 28
Adidas AE 1 Low “Iron Sharpens Iron” — Sunday, November 29
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you giving me a bit of your time.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to hit me via email at mikedsykes@gmail.com or give me a shout via Substack here.
Have a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate. Peace and love. Be safe. Be easy. Be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
I did pass on the BC3s, but I bought a bunch of action figures (lol) this morning, so not pretending I'm immune to nostalgia either. I have so many 3s that I feel weird not owning the BCs too (I also missed them in '18), but I have BC4s so I'll live.