The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 428 — OK, Converse. Seriously, WYD?
I'm not sure what's happening with this Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sneaker anymore.
Goooood morning, friends! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you giving me a bit of your time.
Big shoutout to the good folks at Hoka for hooking your boy up with a pair of Mafates. These joints going straight to toe.
HOUSEKEEPING: Have some really cool stuff coming in relation to the future of this newsletter. I’m excited about it. I hope y’all will be, too. I can’t announce it yet, but I can’t wait to share it with you soon.
Let’s jump in.
Give us something
Every day Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s new signature shoe with Converse isn’t released is a day I grow more weary.
Here’s why: Converse keeps showing us this sneaker and how cool it is and all of the electric colorways covering it. Yet, you won’t see it anywhere but your television screen because the shoes won’t be available until the fall.
What’s new: Converse shared yet another ad featuring a brand new colorway of the SHAI 001.
Wait. Isn’t every colorway technically brand new since, ya know, none of them are in the streets yet?
Whatever. Here it is.
These are excellent. They’re icy. The story behind them is fantastic — they’re inspired by SGA’s brother and the fake Jordans he wore back in the day.
The problem: But, again, this ultimately leads to nothing, just like the attack ad aimed at Anthony Edwards and Adidas did last week. Every time I see something new with this sneaker, that one Kevin Garnett clip from Uncut Gems pops into my head.
The spot doesn’t direct you to a website. It doesn’t give you a release date for these. It shares no further details on these sneakers.
It ultimately ends with Shai’s logo, which is cool. But it’s also something consumers won’t care about for long because there’s no product attached to it yet.
You don’t even learn that Gilgeous-Alexander will be debuting this colorway in the NBA Finals from this. It’s just…there.
Zoom out: It’d be one thing if this were a one-off, but it isn’t. This shoe already has five different colorways. The original Butter colorway, “Ares Grey” inspired by SGA’s son, “Charm Black” inspired by his mom, “Hail Clay” inspired by his wife and now “Masi Blue” from his brother.
The familial aspect of this sneaker is fascinating and something that most folks will be able to relate to. That’s an excellent way to make a consumer feel like the superhuman athlete they look up to is just like them.
But none of it actually matters if there’s nothing to engage with.
The other side: One might argue that Converse is playing the long game with these. They’d say that, since the initial viewing party at the NBA All-Star game until the initial drop in the fall, the brand has been building hype behind these.
I do believe that’s what Converse is trying to do. And, to some degree, it’s working. There are people out there (including myself!) who are excited about these sneakers.
Yes, but: At the same time, if you wait too long, you can miss your moment. It feels like Converse and Shai are in the middle of that moment.
Gilgeous-Alexander just won the NBA’s MVP award a few weeks ago and is regarded as one of the best players in the league.
The Thunder are playing on basketball’s biggest stage in the NBA Finals.
If OKC potentially wins this series and is crowned champion, Gilgeous-Alexander will likely be the Finals MVP.
Converse doesn’t even have to do a full release at this point. Just give people a taste. The brand could do a limited shock drop if Shai has a big game in the Finals or maybe even if OKC actually does win it all. Even if it isn’t the full thing, at least it’s something. That matters.
The bottom line: Converse is being patient here — maybe a little too patient. The brand is waiting for its moment in the spotlight, but I’m afraid when it’s already here.
Let’s hope it isn’t gone by the time the brand realizes it.
The Hali is here
On the other end of the spectrum, that was some debut for the Hali 1, huh?
A look: Salehe Bembury gave us a first peek at the Hali 1, with his literal fingerprints on the sneaker via his Instagram.
My take: My first thought was that I needed to get a look at these on foot. Luckily, Hali wore them in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Then he did this.
What. A. Moment. That’s how you debut a signature sneaker, y’all.
My thoughts: As far as the actual shoe goes, I’m honestly not sure I like these? They’re fine. They’re not great. But they’re not bad, either. Maybe I need to see another colorway.
Between the lines: What’s really bothering me with these is that I kind of wonder whose sneaker this will be.
Obviously, this is the first iteration of Tyrese Haliburton’s signature line. Theoretically, it should carry on beyond this shoe.
But it’s also a Salehe Bembury project. He’s obviously a very well-known designer in the sneaker space. His stamp being on this does take away from Haliburton’s shine here a bit for me.
Yes, but: I might be a little too deep into the weeds for this. That might be one of those “Sykes, you’re overthinking it” takes. If it is, I’ll accept that.
Regardless, I’m excited to see how these play with the people — especially after Haliburton’s playoff run. Signature basketball shoes are back in a major way. If this pushes the culture forward even a tiny bit, that’s a big win for Puma.
No love for the Rare Air?
The “Rare Air” Jordan 3 seems like a pretty awesome shoe. It definitely has an awesome story to it, taking inspiration from Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame career as an NBA star.
Terrence Harvey, the designer of the Rare Air collection, put a ton of thought into it and even turned the AJ3 into a potential collector’s item with the gold Air Jordan tongue tag on a handful of pairs.
Yes, but: People don’t seem all that interested in them. Basically, all the middle sizes are available on Nike.
I thought the AJ3 would be one of those instant sell-through hits, but they’re still pretty widely available.
Don’t get it twisted: Widely available is not a bad thing. I think it’s good for the consumer and, ultimately, something that will give this particular shoe a longer tail moving forward. There will be folks who go in and buy a pair that end up getting a special pair, and that’s a pretty neat thing. Especially for the younger sneakerheads out there.
The big picture: I think this is yet another sign of where people are with older Jordan models.
If it’s not a straight-up OG retro pair or a collaboration from a highly anticipated collaborator, people won’t snap these sneakers up.
People have even been hesitant to purchase some of the OG models. The UNC Reimagined Jordan 1 is a testament to that.
Moving forward: This Rare Air pair still feels like one of those models that, a decade from now, the kids who are just beginning to collect kicks today will go, “Ah, man. Remember those Rare Air joints?” It’ll be the same way some of us have reacted to pairs like the Gamma 11s. They may not have been loved in the moment, but with a little time, I think they get there.
$30k on Asics is insane
Vandy the Pink is diabolical, but in the best way.
The Vandy x Asics collab dropped earlier this week, but with a bit of bot protection. They were listed on the company web store for $30,000 at retail, but Vandy dropped a discount code on his Instagram to bring the price down to $190.
A couple of botters didn’t get that, though. This text was shared from Vandy’s IG story.
This is fantastic. A $30,000 pair of Asics at retail is comical.
Shoutout to the botters who had to talk through that cancellation with their credit card companies. Hope you had an awesome day.
#TheKicksWeWear
First, the homie Dave popped out with the Howard U AJ1 lows. Sheesh.
The homie Hudson Hawk came through with the Sambas on deck. Really, really clean pair. Adidas, y’all are killing it.
The homie Josh came through with the old school Jermaine O’Neal Nike Shox. Incredible kicks, yo. Shoutout to the Pacers.
The homie Pat came through with the Nicole Hause Dunks. WHAT. A. PAIR.
Then the homie Rick Dubb sent us home with the A’Ones. I SWEAR these joints are glowing. Wow. What a shot.
Goooooood stuff, guys. Good stuff.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to hit me at mikedsykes@gmail.com or shoot me a message here via Substack.
Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
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