The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 407 — A new STAPLE 🐦
A conversation with Jeff Staple about his new collaboration with Brooks.
Goooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for reading today. I appreciate you coming through.
Made a quick trek up to New York this week. Was it hectic? Absolutely. My 4 a.m. train ride back to D.C. was…probably something I’ll never do again. But who am I to pass up a $30 train ticket? Regardless, it was a good time. Got to link up with a few of you out there. Thanks for showing me a good time.
Alright. Let’s get into it.
Jeff Staple taps in with Brooks
A few weeks ago, I wrote in the newsletter about Jeff Staple’s upcoming Brooks collaboration on the Adrenaline GTS 4.
The idea behind the collaboration was for Brooks to make its first foray into lifestyle. But a lot of us — including myself! — didn’t understand it.
It’s a reasonable partnership to question.
Brooks has never seemed interested in launching a lifestyle model. To its credit, really, it’s been laser-focused on function and performance.
Staple also seemed like a strange partner for this. He’s a creator in the sneakerhead space who’s been around for almost three decades. You wouldn’t think he’d be all that interested in working with a brand that doesn’t have experience in his specialization.
As a sneakerhead, I’m a natural cynic. I think most sneakerheads are. We’re really sensitive about “the culture” and preserving it.
Plus, I’m a journalist. I’m always curious. And I had questions about this. So, when Staple’s team reached out to me with the opportunity to speak with him about the partnership to allow him to explain the collab for the shoe’s release on March 13, I jumped at it.
We also talked briefly about the Pigeon Dunk release and why he’s even still doing this after 25 years.
What follows is that conversation. Enjoy.
The pigeon spreads his wings
Sykes: So many of my readers have a simple question about this collab. “Why Brooks?” What attracted you here?
Jeff Staple: That’s such a great question. That is often how I think about collaborations when I begin to embark on them. I try to see them from left, right, up, down, north, south, east, west in terms of people’s perspective on it.
The truth of the matter is at the end of the day you cannot control everyone’s opinion. Everyone is going to have one. And, this day in age with social media, everyone is going to voice it. You can’t really take it to that extent. You’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, if you as the creator has a connection with that opportunity or brand and if you can stand on your soapbox and explain why that is then you should go ahead and do it.
Sykes: What was your connection to Brooks?
At the end of the day what it came down to was that I’ve been running in Brooks for over a decade. I’ve only worn Brooks when I went running for a long time.
The second I stop running, I’d take the Brooks off and put something more lifestyle on. But Brooks, actually, on their own in the past decade has started to make some interesting things.
They made a Boston Marathon collab with Dunkin Donuts. And I was like, “Oh, shit, they’re starting to get it.” I don’t think they meant to get it. But they were hitting our demographic [as sneakerheads]. I started to wear them out as a lifestyle element and I would tag them on Instagram and then we actually started to go back and forth on the DMs. This was eight years ago now.
The idea there was let’s start having a conversation to see what we can do together with me and my team. It took a long time because of how steadfast Brooks is to their mission and how dedicated they are to making runners happy. For many years, they didn’t see any reason to enter into lifestyle sneakerhead markets. Obviously, we finally got there.
Sykes: Did you feel any added pressure to get this ride given how steadfast Brooks has been in performance?
Staple: There wasn’t pressure in the whole first 90 percent of the collaboration. I think that comes with experience and having the book of work I have.
I do remember when I first came out as a young buck just trying to make sense of the world with my art, I would go into these meetings with pressure really high. It’s so important to my career. And, also, to my bank account, frankly.
Now that I am 25 years in the game, I did go into the meeting kind of like, “Y’all need me more than I need you.” I don’t really need this. I’m good either way, really.
I think I went into it with no pressure. But the pressure did come during Paris Fashion Week when we launched. Because, now, Brooks and I are arm and arm, and we’re doing this together. But the pressure came with y’all. The culture.
Sykes: Can you explain that?
Staple: Now it’s time for the culture to come in and be like… They might say, “Yo, Jeff. This is the wackest thing you’ve done. This is lame.” And that’s the part I have no control over.
I can only do my best to present a great product and great storytelling and hope that the culture wants to chew on it and eat the food I’m preparing. If they don’t and they give me two thumbs down, I have egg on my face with everybody. That was the part where I did feel the pressure.
Sykes: Was there a creative through line for you that you found in your decision-making process that made you more comfortable with this?
Staple: Everything I do is an added layer to an onion. It is telling a legacy story.
While none of the projects are identical, they should have a through-line that leads to the past project, right? It was just the 20th anniversary since the Pigeon Dunks dropped. People were really giving me my flowers on it. It was great.
Somebody in the comments noted that we’d worked with this company, Cole Haan — for a very work-driven sort of person. Somebody said, “If it wasn’t for the Pigeon Dunk, I wouldn’t be wearing the Cole Haan Staples that I’m wearing today at work.” And I was like that’s so dope. Because that is the through line. Now I’m hoping someone a year from now will be like, “I ran the Boston Marathon in Staple Brooks.”
Sykes: What was that creative process like for you? Was it any different from, say, working with Puma or even when you were designing the Pigeon Dunk?
Staple: A couple things. First thing I’ve got to say is that working with the team at Brooks has been very refreshing because of how wide-eyed they are on the entire process.
Brands like Puma and Nike and New Balance; they have not only people dedicated to sneaker culture, but they have entire departments. They may even have entire buildings.
Brooks does not. They don’t have a single employee that’s like, “All I do is lifestyle stuff.” So they were very very open-minded. It was very refreshing to almost educate them on how this works and allow us to work together to figure out the best processes.
The second thing that was really eye-opening to me and was really impressive was the fact that we brought out a shoe from the archives that’s a 2002 sneaker.
A lot of the other brands we work with that we work on heritage product with, it’s a color slap or material slap and that’s it. So we were like, “OK. We want to do the 2002 Adrenaline GTS. The Adrenaline 4.” They were like, “OK. We’re going to have to go through run-test processes like we do with modern shoes.” I was like “Wait, what?” No you don’t. It’s a retro. No one thinks they’re wearing Air Jordan 1s to win the Slam Dunk contest in 2025, right?
They’re like, “No. We do.” I’m like, “Why?” They’re like, “We’re a running company.” They cannot allow products with the Brooks name out there that can’t be run in. That would dismantle the whole empire.
Sykes: It’s awesome they held true to their values. As a creative, I’m sure that’s something you can appreciate. But did that make the process more difficult?
Staple: Inevitably, in every project, there’s going to be a speed bump. Usually, they come from legal, so you’ve got to figure out how to navigate it.
But the fact that it came from the product engineering team? Yes, it’s a speed bump. But bravo. This is dope. This is a good one that we can get behind.
They felt a little bad about it. It’s like, “Sorry, we’ve just got to do it this way.” But then I was like, “Nah, you know what? If I tell the story authentically, people will actually applaud you for this.”
Sykes: Circling back, you mentioned that this is the 20th anniversary of the Pigeon Dunk. I can’t believe it’s been that long.
I’m so curious about what keeps you going with this? If you give someone half of your resume, they might’ve retired 10 years ago.
Staple: My wife reminds me of this all the time, so I’ll answer you the same way I answer her.
I just don’t have any creative or writer’s block, as they call it, where I’m tapped out on ideas. I have so many ideas that I want to see fulfilled. I really do feel like I’m in service to the culture. I’m here because of the culture — because of the people who came before me. Whether it’s Triple 5 Soul or Phat Farm or Stussy. Even James [Jebbia], the founder of Supreme. Union. Those are the first guys that were doing this. Frankly, they were the guys who made me who I am. Union placed the second order of Staple ever.
To me, that legacy is like, now, it’s up to me to do something for the next generation. So that 10 years from now, they’ll be like, “Yo, when Jeff Staple did this, that’s why I’m able to feed my family now.” That’s why I don’t want to stop. I really feel like I’m in service.
Frankly, even beyond that, I have a competitive edge and spirit, too. When I see young cats doing their thing or other peers in the industry, we’re still mad competitive. We still like to talk shit. Salehe and I have this group chat where we’re showing prototypes off. We just love battling each other.
I’m still loving it. Maybe there will be a day when I’m tapped out idea-wise or energetically. But I still feel like I’m a young buck on the 10-yard line just out there doing this thing.
Sykes: It definitely doesn’t sound like you’re slowing down at any point in the near future. Do you ever see that day coming when you can pass the baton?
Staple: Currently, if you’re asking me today, the answer is no. But I’m not one to think too much into the future. You can’t control it. You never know if tomorrow is your last day on the planet.
Are you happy today? Can you plan for tomorrow? And that’s it, man. Wednesday? Nobody knows about Wednesday. Forget Wednesday. I might plan for Tuesday.
AI hits the links
No, I’m not talking about that AI. I’m talking about thee AI — Allen Iverson. The Answer.
Reebok is turning Iverson’s OG basketball sneaker, The Question, into a golf shoe. The company did the same with the old Reebok Pump and the Nano.
A look:
I kind of…don’t hate this?
It’s weird. It’s definitely not my vibe. But, as we talked about earlier this year, the weird shoes are kind of in these days.
This falls into the same bucket as a New Balance 1906L loafer or a hard-bottomed Adidas Superstar. It’s a weird fusion we’ll probably roast in another 5 years. But it kind of works.
It also has a function to it, which I do like. It’s a fun change, but it’s also a meaningful one.
Let me be clear: Is this something I’d buy? Nah. Not really. But I think this is a fun idea totally worth exploring for a brand like Reebok that doesn’t really have much to lose.
#TheKicksWeWear
LET’S GET IT!!!!
First the homie Dalton got us poppin’ with a couple kicks. He brought out some Boks and then hit us with some mismatch Maxes. Love the vibe here.
The homie Mike came through with ALL the LaMelo joints. The TMNT vibes are immaculate.
The homie Mark popped out in the Aged Well JFGs. I like the green laces, myself! This is a good look.
The homie Jess came through with the Midnight in Tokyo Stewie 3s. That sock combo? Chef’s kiss, man.
The homie Rohan came through with the T90s. These are SO fly dog. Great pull.
Then the homie Alex and his little one took us home with a BUNCH of heat. Supreme Dunks, Grateful Dead Dunks and, best of all, THE ADORABLE BABY TRAVIS JOINTS.
My heart. It’s so warm rn.
Thanks so much for rocking with me today, fam. Appreciate you. Hope you have a fantastic weekend.
Give me a shout via email at mikedsykes@gmail.com or shoot me a message via Substack if you’ve got any questions, comments or concerns.
Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
Brooks insisting on run-testing their Staple collab on a 20+ year old retro actually makes me interested in the shoe now, and I am by no means a Brooks person.
Great interview with Jeff! Biggest takeaway for me is that all of the sneaker creatives are a whole family, especially when Jeff mentioned his chat with Salehe!