ICYMI: 7/10-7/14
Sneaker stories of the century of the week 7/10-7/14
Monday, 10th July 2023:
I know this is probably like sacrilege or something, but I’m not a huge fan of Deion’s Nike shoe line. Not taking anything from him or the designers of those lines…they’re obviously classic Nike designs, I just don’t really care. Thinking of Deion’s impact, tho, and those two-sport guys were incredible…Bo Jackson, Danny Ainge (google it lol), Deion Sanders…just incredible incredible athletes. I’m pretty sure I owned an Atlanta Falcons hat at one point or another and that’s directly attributable to Deion (and the dope logo). But those two sports guys are obviously the stuff of legend.
Bo was an absolute marketing machine, but Prime took it to another level. Dude had MC Hammer on the sidelines and even had a RAP cd, which was PRIME-arily marketed at guys like me (see what I did there?) even though I never bought it (nor even heard it). His outfit on the cover made me instantly not-interested.
His Nike line has some memorable sneakers…grails to a lot of people my age. A handful of classic models that just never really resonated with me. Could be because I just never cared much for football (nor baseball), but still followed it from a distance…the Diamond Turf logo was great…glad to hear they’re bringing it back…but…I dunno. I was trying to think back to what it’d be like if I were *really* into his line…and the only comparison I could come to was the Penny line. Like if Penny left Nike and his line never really saw a proper retro, I’d probably be pretty stoked if they suddenly announced his comeback, so, I can certainly understand the excitement.
If I had to rock any of them I’d probably go with the Diamond Turf 2.
Interesting to see them trying to resurrect these models from 20-30+ years ago…another attempt at creating some new classics?
Top Comment: pappy_power_hour There’s too many retros. I won’t lie that I’m a fan of most of the 90s signatures. The pace at which Nike is dropping classics is impossible to keep up with though. I’ve got other priorities besides sneakers. I don’t want or need all of them.
Not to mention every sneaker account on socials has already posted the same stuff about Deion’s for the last three days. By the time they drop it’s too late and people are talking about what Nike should retro next. Maybe just not retro…everything or just space it out.
My prediction is that they’ll bastardize these like Penny’s recently and you’ll be able to most pairs half price. Albeit in some terrible colorways or collaborations.
Tuesday, 11th July 2023:
I wrote this article for @alts.co the other day exploring the idea of which line will take the place of Jordan as the pop culture sneaker of the masses…I think a bunch of us expected it to be Lebron but in reality I think it ended up being Yeezy and that line. I think…money and legacy aside, there are around ~20-ish *significant signature models for each with a handful of ancillary models…unlike any other person-based line (that I can think of ?!?!?).
So the other day I’m driving just thinking about dumb things in and I’m trying to think if we could like somehow create a f*ck marry kill scenario around sneakers and my mind immediately went to Yeezys, Jordans, and Lebrons.
And I know it’s stupid, but it’s just what I came up with, and haven’t really seen anyone ask the question. F*ck is obviously one that you’re drawn to immediately. Marry is the one that has longevity and stability. And kill…well…I think we know what that one means.
So. There’s the question: F, M, K - Lebrons, Jordans, Yeezys. What’s your order?
Top Comment: iamlordcesar There won’t be a brand to overtake Jordan’s because of nostalgia and retros , Yeezy made a dent but Nike is a juggernaut . As long as Nike launches retros it’s rinse and repeat. If anything Kobe would outsell Lebron’s and it has nothing to do with bron it’s more on the design side of things
Wednesday, 12th July 2023:
I’d say the introduction of ‘threads’ is kinda messing with my flow this week…like I don’t even know what to do anymore, anywhere. In adulthood, I’ve mostly been like this ‘wait and see’ kinda guy, where I hedge my bets and put a hand in anything I think is interesting or has promise…but this new stuff with threads has me kinda like…’Uh, what do I do now?’
My IG account isn’t a typical IG account. I’ve been using it more like a blog than I have a picture showcase, so the growth I’ve experienced here is probably atypical. But it makes me think…what am I supposed to do on Threads?
I’ve seen a handful of people on Twitter making these grand announcements about leaving the platform in favor of threads, but…it’s like…isn’t it pretty much the same shit? I mean, you don’t like Elon, I get that….but…you’re gonna go and hand over your hard work to Zuck…as if he’s any better? I dunno. The mental gymnastics some of us are hopping through is perplexing…
That being said, I’ve gotten more followers on Threads in like 5 days than I have in 10+ years on Twitter, which, I suppose, is kinda easy when they're all connected…so…I dunno. Maybe Zuck just knows social and Elon just knows engineering. Who knows. But…it really is just like another Twitter, isn’t it? Maybe a bit more IG-friendly, but it’s all just text and pictures anyway, right?
I guess…maybe I’ll just start doing some threads, huh? What do y’all think about moving from pics to text?
Top Comment: eastbay.archive Not planning on using threads. No need for another app at this point. Plus if you get reported on threads do they take down your IG too since they’re connected?
Thursday, 13th July 2023:
I saw these pics floating around a while ago and thought they were kind of interesting…a *fake* shoe advertising that it’s fake. Has that really been done before? I know Gucci did that ‘fake Gucci’ thing, but this is kinda different, right? Kinda a cool idea, I guess, except, I’d just expect the composition and the craftsmanship was bound to be shit, right? Probably fake suede, that super foamy mesh, shitty shape, and probably a flat sole. Cute in a @mschf kinda way. But for $295? Um…maybe not that cute.
Someone hit me in the DMs and told me that dude sold out immediately. And…I guess…being the fact that it’s @liljupiterr …that’s not that wild of a claim. But…do we have any *real* idea of how many were actually available? If these were pre-orders, can’t you just say that however many sold is exactly how many sold, and no matter what that number is, it’s a ‘sell-out’? The basis for the ‘sell-out’ claim simply does not exist, and everyone kinda relies on them to determine whether or not something is a hit or a brick. And that’s kinda cheating, right? To not tell you how many exist. To not tell you how many sold. To not tell you…anything…except…’they sold out?’
Furthermore, the dude who hit me in the DMs also told me that it was highly likely that these shoes would likely never ship, and if that’s the case…I am jealous of the business model 😂 . What in the hell is going on?
Top Comment: lifebycon I just don’t understand why someone would pay $300+ for these when you could literally do it yourself for $50
Friday, 14th July 2023:
Based on the fact that this dude is like this unstoppable market(ed/ing) machine, JFC could they have come up with a more perfectly perfect name for a Travis Scott signature shoe than ‘cut the check’?
How do y’all feel about that name? Aesthetics aside (of which we have only teaser images), doesn’t it seem over(t)ly appropriate? A TRAVIS SCOTT x JORDAN BRAND SHOE CALLED “CUT THE CHECK”.
Makes me think of exactly what we’ve all been griping about all along…and…I don’t want to say it feels like a slap in the face but...just goes to show the commodified nature of hype.
I can only imagine how the name for this came up over some FaceTime meeting while Travis was being carted off to some far flung destination for his next sponsorship deal…
~~~~~~~~~~~
<Meeting opens with a JB exec trying to get Travis on FaceTime. Travis answers.>
JB exec: “So, Trav, I wanted to show you a few different ideas for what we have for your signature stadium-performance model…’
Travis: “Cut the check”
JB exec: “Um, OK. So, which one of these are you into? This top one here we went with the original OG Jordan 1 eyelets-”
Travis: “Cut the check”
JB exec: “Oh, OK, you don’t like this one. How about this one with the-“
Travis: “Cut the check”
JB exec: “Um what about this one with the strap?”
Travis: “Cut the check. Cut the check. Cut the check.” ***Hangs up***
</Meeting>
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wrote an article on Substack probably more than a year ago now that argued that Travis Scott, as a human being, really doesn’t seem to exist as a real person, IMO. He only seems to exist as a marketing entity. And the name of this shoe…IMO…pushes my assessment further. As for the shoes? They could be dope. No clue, tho. What do y'all think of that name?
Top Comment: nicekicksvault Waiting on the Ravishing Rick Rude’s. Heard they’ll be called ‘Cut the Music!’
Enjoy the rest of your week!