The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 433 — Nike wins Wimbledon
Sunday's Wimbledon final showed us exactly how well-positioned Nike is for the next decade-plus in the tennis world.
Goooood morning, friends! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear, powered by The Business of Fashion. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you giving me a bit of your time.
HOUSEKEEPING: So, it’s Tuesday! I know this is a little weird — our usual send day here has been Monday. But, as a result of the move to BoF, we’re going to shift a bit to Tuesdays and Fridays. There are two reasons for this:
The newsletter is being edited by someone other than me for the first time, which is a great thing. It brings a bit of outside perspective that I’ve wanted here for a while now.
Because others are editing the newsletter, Tuesday makes things easier schedule-wise for everyone, including myself.
As always, please let me know what you think. Feel free to shoot me some feedback via email at mikedsykes@gmail.com or give me a shout here on Substack.
With that out of the way, let’s jump in.
The definition of a win-win
Nobody was a bigger winner than Nike on Sunday at Wimbledon.
The situation: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz played in a second instant classic tennis match for the second time in a little over four weeks.
Alcaraz (ATP No. 2) knocked off Sinner (ATP No. 1) in the French Open championship in what will undoubtedly be remembered as an instant classic.
Sinner got the best of Alcaraz on Sunday at Wimbledon in a pretty good (but not as good as the French Open) match, winning his first-ever championship on the famed grass court.
If it wasn’t clear before now, it certainly is clear today. These two are the very best the sport has to offer. Between the two of them, they have nine major tournament wins (Alcaraz with 5, Sinner with 4). The best part? Alcaraz is just 22 years old. Sinner is only 23. They’re not even playing their best tennis yet, and they’re already this good.
That’s precisely why, while watching this match, all I could think about was the potential Swoosh supremacy we could see in tennis for years to come.
Between the lines: Both Alcaraz and Sinner are Nike athletes. And they both will be for a long, long time.
Sinner signed a 10-year, $158 million deal with Nike back in 2022, according to Italian newspaper Gazzetta di Mantova.
Alcaraz signed a similar 10-year deal shortly after, according to Relevo.
That locks the two best players in the sport in Nike footwear and apparel for the next decade. Every time we see them play one of these epics, they’ll be laced up in Nike gear.
This should be a massive win for Nike. It’s Nadal vs. Federer all over again.
Zoom in: That’s why it’s a bit disappointing that, while this was undoubtedly a moment for Nike and a moment for tennis as a sport, the brand didn’t do anything to make it feel that way.
Usually, for the biggest moments in sports, Nike pulls out all the stops. You’ll see ad campaigns, special gear, and more. But there was none of that for this. Sinner and Alcaraz were both wearing the same shirts, for crying out loud.
I understand that Wimbledon has a dress code — everyone has to wear white. It’s a tradition the tournament has always been true to. But there have to be ways to work around that. Especially with these two special athletes, both on and off the court.
Be smart: You couldn’t ask for two better athletes to center your tennis brand around than Alcaraz and Sinner.
Sinner is as fashion-forward as an athlete gets. The Italian wunderkind has leaned heavily into his style off the court.
Remember his Gucci bag moment from 2023? He made that brand pop in a way that it hadn’t for a while, just by toting a bag onto the court. Very few athletes can pull that off.
The same can be said about Alcaraz, whose star is rising. He’s signed on as an ambassador for Louis Vuitton and has done model work with Calvin Klein.
He brought back the Roger Federer cardigan look this summer. The cardigan was a Nike piece, of course, but it didn’t stick out much.
The big picture: Despite a missed opportunity here, this should still be considered a win for Nike. Two of the brand’s best athletes are dominating at the top of tennis at a time when the brand says it wants to recenter sports in the Elliott Hill era. The opportunity for Nike to do just that with tennis remains.
But it’s time for the brand to think outside the box a bit. Nike didn’t do that here at Wimbledon, but the good thing about it is that these two prodigies are fantastic enough that there will be plenty more opportunities to pull something special off down the line.
Rolling out in style
Using sneaker culture and fashion to roll out an album isn’t necessarily a new strategy. We’ve seen it done many times before.
But… I don’t know if we’ve ever seen it done as thoroughly as the Clipse just did it for their newest album, “Let God Sort ‘Em Out.”
The backdrop: Though the album itself was released last Friday, the hip-hop duo, formed by Pusha T and No Malice, has been slow-cooking this thing for nearly two years at this point, and they’ve used fashion as a vehicle to do it.
We’ve been hearing snippets and songs from the album on the runway for years.
The opening track, which we know now is “Birds Don’t Sing,” made its debut during Louis Vuitton’s SS25 Paris Fashion Week show last year.
We first heard “Chains and Whips” during another Louis Vuitton show in 2023.
Fast forward: The buildup didn’t stop on the runway. Shortly before the album’s release, Clipse partnered with Carhartt: Work In Progress to drop an entire collection dedicated to the album.
Sneakers are involved, too. Of course, with Pharrell producing the entire album, Adidas was always going to get in on the fun. Pusha T teased an upcoming collaboration on the Samba with the brand. No Malice also debuted a new muted colorway of Pharrell’s upcoming Adidas Jellyfish, set to release in 2026.
Even the cover of the album itself was designed by KAWS, whose artistry has been a staple in the fashion world for years.
READ MORE: Why the fashion world needs art more than ever before, by Lei Takanashi.
The brass tacks: Using well-crafted fashion pieces and art as a runway (pun intended!) to debut this album feels like a subtle, yet very intentional, move from this legacy hip-hop act.
Pusha T and No Malice are two rappers known for taking their time to create. They seem to care deeply about their artistry. When they drop something, they want it to sit with you.
Using fashion as a mirror to reflect that, I think, is a stroke of genius. I hope more artists and brands take pages from this playbook moving forward.
Puma’s mystery collab
Puma popped out over the weekend with a whole runway show that had my jaw on the floor.
What happened: I’d never heard of Dame Après Paris before Saturday, but I’m certainly familiar with the brand’s game now.
Puma sponsored the brand’s latest runway show for its GENO 25 collection this weekend in Spain, bringing it into my algorithm.
The footwear worn throughout the show was all Puma.
A chunk of the pieces presented on the runway prominently showcased Puma’s branding, too.
A look: You can see just how prominently Puma was featured here.
My take: This was a bit of a gamble for Puma. DAP is a fashion house that doesn’t have a huge track record. The company hasn’t existed for that long — it was only founded in 2020, according to its LinkedIn page.
For Puma to not only sponsor this show but also allow its branding to be overtly used throughout it is shocking. It could’ve backfired. But this seems solid. Those tracksuits, especially, are sitting well with me.
The big picture: On the lowest of keys, Puma has put together an interesting 2025.
The brand has worked with a wide range of collaborators, from Dame Après Paris to Balenciaga, and even individual names like Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and Skepta.
It’s done well with trends. The Speedcat is one of the best ballerina-sole sneakers on the market to date.
It’s also experimented well with models like the Mostro.
I’m not sure what all this does for Puma’s bottom line. Collaborations might be nice, but they don’t mean anything if no one is buying them. Puma’s next earnings call will give us insight there.
But nobody can say this brand isn’t diving deep into its creative bag.
Five years of restocks
In a bit of a pleasant surprise on Monday, Joe Robinson — aka Joe FreshGoods — held a massive archive sale on the company website, restocking every sneaker he’s ever released with New Balance.
A look: When I say every sneaker, I mean every sneaker. That includes the OG 992 that started it all and the Keisha Blue 990v4 from the Belly collection — the two rarest pairs from the collection.
The why: The restock was a celebration of sorts. The second trailer for the upcoming “Aged Well” documentary, highlighting Robinson’s five-year tenure with New Balance, was released to the public.
A look:
This is fun! Restock aside, I think the upcoming film has enormous potential. Giving consumers a behind-the-scenes look forges a deeper connection to the creative and the product and, well, it doesn’t really get more behind-the-scenes than a documentary.
Joe FreshGoods has always prioritized his community and kept a “If you know, you know” vibe around his projects. Now, it’s like he’s letting folks in on some of his secrets. I’m here for it.
What’s droppin’, bruh?
Adidas Climacool “Laced” — Tuesday, July 15
Veneda Carter x Nike Air Max Muse — Thursday, July 17
Nike Total90 III “Manchester United” — Wednesday, July 16
Invincible x Asics Gel Nimbus 10.1 “HTTP 404” — Saturday, July 19
Air Jordan 8 “Aqua” — Saturday, July 19
That’s a wrap. Thanks again for rocking with me today! Appreciate you for giving me a bit of your time and bearing with me through this BoF transition. I promise it won’t always be this rough.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, shoot me a message via email at mikedsykes@gmail.com or hit me via Substack.
Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯