ICYMI: 8/21-8/25
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ICYMI: 8/21-8/25
Sneaker stories of the century of the week 8/21-8/25
Monday, 21st August 2023:
Pretty sure these are the Ben Affleck/Matt Damon PE/sample/specials, made for the cast and crew from the movie 'AIR' (see heel tab).
Check out that swoosh on the tag...GGDegto? I mean...
Top Comment: cob_chips They’re fake, size 43 eu in Nike is 9.5us, 8.5uk, 27.5 cm
Nike would never play on their size chart.. and centimetres aren’t able to fake.. its length
Tuesday, 22nd August 2023:
In the grand scheme of hip-hop history, where do we put @snoopdogg? IMO…dude is the definition of a rap icon, and when it’s all said and done - he will forever be cemented as THE guy who everyone points to as THE rapper. They are going to write books about him a hundred years in the future (assuming life is still progressing as normal).
So maybe a better question would be...In the grand scheme of sneaker collaborations, where do we put @snoopdogg ?
Lugz, Converse, Pony, Pro Keds, Adidas (Seeley being the only acceptable model), and now the Skechers collaboration - the range is bewildering. Snoop…Snoop…you’ve got so much style but how in the world is THIS what you decide to put out into the sneaker world? Who put the gun to your head (or, better yet - how big was the check?)?
Mix these Skechers and Snoop with the BAYC IP and it all just reeks of incincerity. Seriously, Snoop, we love you, but…come on man. Is this the image you’re trying to portray?
I know Snoop is not the only one…who else has struck out time and time again with their sneaker endorsements?
#SnoopDogg #SneakerSaga #EndorsementMysteries"
Top Comment: steadydroppin same category as funk flex lugz but i get why he did it, and respect it… not my cup o’tea but that’s ok
Wednesday, 23rd August 2023:
A few years ago, I met this really smart young lady who was studying to be a doctor. I want to say she was in her third year as a medical student and had gone through a great deal of time and effort building up her knowledge and was clearly on the path to success.
A couple of years later, close to around the time I was expecting her to graduate - I saw that same lady at a wedding, and my first question to her was ‘when can I legally call you ‘doctor’?’
Her response: ‘Ha ha…well, I actually dropped out of medical school.’
Me: ‘huh? Why? Is everything ok?
Her: ‘yeah, it was just too difficult. And the payoff wouldn’t have been that great.’
Me: ‘really? So what are you doing now?’
Her: We’re building this music app that…’ (this is where my mind tuned out)
Now…I’m a guy that is ALL for chasing your dreams. I’m a guy that LEFT 6 figure paychecks on Wall Street to go and work in a restaurant, remember? But for some reason, I had a hard time accepting what this girl was telling me…I was disappointed: it was obvious to me that this girl was talented and would have made an excellent doctor, but it sounded like the opportunity to make money from another music app was more enticing.
———
And so comes the case of the sneaker blogger.
I clicked on this @sneakernews link expecting to find plenty of fodder for making a mockery of the fact that Nike and @kingjames are seriously and earnestly releasing a shoe to tell us all about how Lebron likes movies, but I got lost reading the actual article, written by Jovani Hernandez because it was written like a fancy restaurant menu. I’ve often tried to write about sneakers and my descriptions come out lame and clunky, using the same 10 adjectives over and over and over again (as do most articles about sneakers). But this one was kind of elegant…Even though the subject matter is terribly bland.
I've got a handful of favorite writers in the sneaker space, but who are YOUR favorites? S/O to @nickengvall , @russbengtson and @peterverry
Top Comment: derickpreme Not Jovani's fault, he's just doing his job. However, I do think that not every shoe needs a 5-paragraph article, especially if it's for a leak of a release that's 6 months away.
Thursday, 24th August 2023:
The headline reads: "PHARRELL WILLIAMS’ HUMANRACE™ AND ADIDAS ORIGINALS UNVEIL THEIR MOST ELEVATED FOOTWEAR COLLECTION TO DATE WITH HUMANRACE SAMBA COLORS BY PHARRELL"
And I ask myself...'y tho?'
Last time they did something like this, that ‘Pharrell color wheel of superstars’, I thought…’hmm, that seems like a bad idea.’
And true to form...that Polish sausage of an idea had those superstars at sales racks BEFORE I ever even seen them on retail racks. But now…are we gonna see a part 2? Are these gonna be the ‘straight to sales rack Pharrell Sambas?’ Or is the ‘samba hype’ gonna snatch these up (LOL RIGHT…)?
Top Comment: lunaticspik Man I think the samba hype might sell these. Crazy
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Friday, 25th August 2023:
A Kobe 2-parter for today…
(1) Yes, the cards again. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 3 years since the #824pack dropped…with people still hitting me up *to this day* about those cards, I feel weird *still talking about them as long as I have. I’m shocked that something I put out into the world THREE YEARS ago is still getting people excited and hitting me up out of the blue…packs/boxes are gone (except for a few I’ve saved for myself, but I keep uncovering singles if anyone is still looking!)
I think, looking back, that whole project was important for me and really helped me deal with my own trauma. Kobe’s death, of course, was horrific. And I’ve said multiple times that, to me, it represented the loss of a person that I grew up next to...a peer.
The pandemic - to me - signified another loss. And I remember thinking, a lot, about how Kobe *missed* the whole pandemic. In my mind…the day this dude died was pretty damn close to the peak of Western culture…cuz after January 20th, pretty much everything else just went downhill.
If there was no pandemic, I doubt I would have had or made the time to turn the inspiration into a reality, so for that I am grateful. But…still…it all just came from a place of pain and trying to self-soothe.
Again, if you’re looking for something from the set - hit me up. And again, thank you for your support!
(2) That article by @nicekicks was VERY interesting and I’m glad I read it. If you haven’t and won’t, it basically says that Kobe himself was against the idea of ‘retros’ as a lifestyle shoe, and wanted the original designers to turn them into ‘protros’, a new word that Kobe made up to represent performance-based improvements to the original designs.
When I was a kid, I used to always wonder if/when they were going to make updates to old Jordan sigs, something that IIRC - they only attempted ONCE in the Air Max Jordan II - I think it’s great that they figured out how to do it with Kobes and, at this point, I almost *hope* they keep it with Kobes and Kobes alone.
I think Nike is going to have a fine line to toe when it comes to Kobe proto production - how are they going to keep these shoes available for most consumers while also making sure they remain desirable? Last thing the Kobe estate wants, I’m assuming, is 180 colorways sitting on sales racks. And the second to last thing they want is drops so small that only a portion of those who want them actually get them…
Anyway…just a few random Kobe thoughts on Kobe day. Enjoy it even if you weren’t able to cop!
Top Comment: bskiallah This man mind was so much more than basketball.. he’s always been my favorite bball player.. but after retiring you could see it was way more to him than that… #LLKobe
Enjoy the rest of your week!