Good morning, friends! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for reading today. I appreciate you giving me a bit of your time. Hope you had a fantastic holiday if you’re reading this from the US. For everyone else, I hope you had a fabulous, turkey-less weekend filled with Black Friday deals.
QUICK HITS:
- Mielle Organics announced a partnership with the NFL last week as the league’s first-ever textured hair sponsor. This is extremely cool.
- In a bit of a surprise twist over the weekend, A$AP Rocky has been named Chanel’s newest brand ambassador. Rocky keeps popping up with these brands — Chanel, Ray-Bans, Dior. I doubt he’ll stop here.
- It just wouldn’t be Christmas time in NYC without the Rockettes. I guess we can add Kith to that mix, too. The brand is launching a collaboration with the dance company for the holiday season.
Alright. Let’s get to the newsletter.
OH, WAIT. One More Thing…
Gang! We’re working on an end-of-year sneaker project here at The Business of Fashion, where we’re trying to contextualise the Sneaker of the Year conversation that we’ve seen raging on throughout 2025.
I need your help: We want you all to be part of that conversation. I’ve set up a BoF reader poll here. Simply make your pick for Sneaker of the Year.
What shoe do you think was the most impactful in 2025? Think about the shoes you saw people get the most excited about. Think about the shoes you saw people wearing the most. Think about the shoe that you, personally, loved the most — even if you didn’t have a chance to score a pair yourself.
Vote for your SOTY here via this Google Form.
- There are 10 choices available for people to pick from.
- There is also an 11th “Other” option available in case you don’t see your personal SOTY on the list.
The picks you all make will be compiled and turned into a TKYW reader pick for the article that we’re working on.
I hope you’ll participate in this! We really want to get the community’s perspective on this to spark a well-rounded conversation about the state of sneakers in 2025. It’ll be a piece that I know, for sure, this community will enjoy. You all can help me make it even better.
Sneakers Aren’t Dead
I got multiple texts over the Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family asking me my thoughts on a viral tweet declaring that sneakers are, once again, dead.
Details: Just so you don’t have to click in case you haven’t already seen it, the tweet in question came from a sneaker reseller who lamented that:
- White whale shoes that once sold for $500 won’t sell for $300 today.
- Once-coveted Air Jordan 1 and Nike Dunk models now sit on shelves.
- Nobody gives Yeezy a second thought.
The people who texted me came to me convinced that the sneaker marketplace and, by proxy, sneaker culture are cooked. From the picture painted in that video, I can understand why.
But I’m here to paint a much clearer picture for you.
The other side: The “death” of sneakers is overstated. No doubt, the marketplace isn’t what it used to be. We’ve written about that at length here at BoF. But momentum is starting to swing the other way — specifically for Nike and Jordan Brand.
- According to UBS’s latest secondary market data, Nike saw a year-to-year increase in sales price in October by 4.5 percent to $155.
- Jordan Brand saw a similarly slight uptick at 3.0 percent to $201 on average.
Nature is healing, folks!
Yes, but: That isn’t the case for every brand. For example, Adidas saw a 10 percent dip in average sales price for October. New Balance saw a 4.5 percent dip as well. But it’s worth noting that the average aftermarket sales price for both is still solid at $121 for Adidas and $124 for New Balance. These are positive signs.
Zoom out: Any discussion that leaves out the macroeconomic conditions impacting the sneaker marketplace — and everything else, for that matter — is probably not a conversation that should be taken seriously.
Tariffs, inflation, and consumer sentiment matter here. People aren’t willing to spend two or three times above retail price for a pair of shoes when they’ve got other things to pay for. Promotional activity and discounts from brands can still drive people to spend, which is why Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending continued to break records over the weekend despite poor consumer sentiment.
But, even then, BoF’s Cathaleen Chen writes, the most affluent customers are the ones driving spending:
“Higher-income households — supported by strong equity markets, high wage growth post-pandemic and healthier savings cushions — are continuing to spend across categories including travel, apparel and gifting. The top 10 percent of US households account for almost half of all spending in the US, according to a report from Moody’s Analytics earlier this year. Their purchasing power is helping prop up overall retail numbers.”
Be smart: Chen notes that the products brands still get people to spend on are the ones that come with the right brand stories. That just so happens to be what the sneaker industry — especially Nike — is really good at.
- We see that in projects like the “Brick by Brick” Air Jordan 4, which tells Nigel Sylvester’s story as a Jordan Brand collaborator, or the Joe FreshGoods “Aged Well” 992, which serves as a capstone for his 5-year story with the brand.
- We can even see it in inline products like the Adidas AE signature basketball line that has some of the best marketing campaigns we’ve seen in sports.
Are these products hot enough to get consumers to spend $500 again? No. The bigger economic conditions are too large a deterrent for that. But that doesn’t mean people love the product any less. I’d argue that the overall sentiment in sneakers is more positive — some people are calling 2025 one of the best years for sneakers ever.
I don’t know about y’all, but that doesn’t sound like “death” to me.
Puma Is the Prize
Rumours about the Germany-based sportswear company’s future are heating up again after a Bloomberg report that Anta has expressed interest in the company.
The backdrop: Rumours about a potential Puma sale have been floating around in the ether since Artemis — the Pinault family’s holding company — looked into selling its 29 percent majority stake in the company a few months ago.
The big picture: This new report from Bloomberg feels a bit more real than most of what we’ve seen so far. It’s clear there’s some interest from Anta in further establishing itself as a presence in the West.
- This latest rumour about Puma follows an August rumor that the Chinese sportswear brand was looking to purchase Reebok from Authentic.
- Authentic denied the rumours and said it had no interest in a potential sale.
Yes, but: The rumour didn’t come from nowhere. Sometimes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And Anta has long been pushing to become a more power player in the West. It’s done so through purchasing a stake in companies that have established themselves in the region like Amer Sports, which owns Arc’Teryx and Salomon.
But Puma — a sportswear brand with a rich history — would be a much bigger deal, similar to what a Reebok purchase could’ve been.
Be smart: Anta might not be the only ones in the running for Puma. Li Ning and Asics are reportedly interested as well. If that’s true, we’re looking at a bidding war. The fight for Puma could get pretty expensive, which is likely music to Artemis’ ears as the company works to cut down its debt. Shareholders are loving this news, too. Puma’s shares jumped around 19 percent upon this news breaking on Thursday.
Zoom out: Puma is still in the middle of its rebuild. CEO Arthur Hoeldt said in October that the company’s goal is to return to the top three in the sportswear market. With that process already underway, there’s a chance we might not see action on any Puma sale anytime soon.
- Holding onto Puma now as it goes through its metamorphosis might mean an even bigger return on the other end.
But, at the very least, we know there are some interested parties out there. This is something to watch as we head into 2026.
The New “Multi-Sport” Athlete
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed a new contract extension with Adidas last week. Typically, I don’t think this would be all that newsworthy. But, when you read about this deal, the most fascinating detail has nothing to do with the sport that Mahomes plays. Or, rather, maybe I should say the sport that he’s paid to play.
Details: Mahomes is expanding his reach into Adidas’ golf category with this one.
- The new multi-year deal for Mahomes will include an Adidas-branded signature golf line for Mahomes.
- That will go along with Mahomes’ signature Impact FLX football training shoe.
Why this matters: Signature athletes have always been a major part of the sportswear business, but we always typically see them used in the same mundane ways. There might be an activewear collection here and a signature shoe there.
But we rarely see signature athletes expand their reach into other brand categories. Imagine Nike having Giannis Antetokounmpo launch a tennis collection. That’s what we’re seeing Adidas and Mahomes do here.
Why it makes sense: For most, this probably feels like it’s coming a bit out of left field. Mahomes is a quarterback — what’s he doing with a golf deal? While he is by no means an elite golfer, it’s certainly a sport he’s passionate about.
The big picture: This what it looks like when a brand and an athlete get all they possibly can out of a partnership.
- This allows Adidas to use one of its most popular athletes outside of golf to further establish itself in the sport.
- It also gives Mahomes space to establish himself as a real influencer in the golf world, which is something that can last far beyond the reach of his NFL playing career.
More brands should do this. Explore all of your signature athlete’s passions. You’ll be better off for it.
Nike’s Secret Code
Nike has come up with another way to gamify the chase of highly coveted sneakers. The company announced a new “SNKRS Code” drop style on its SNKRS app on Monday.
How it works: This is a hidden password system that will give Nike users access to exclusive drops.
- There will be clues that show up in different events, posts and, sometimes, even shoes, according to the rules on the app.
- If you crack the code, you’ll get access to the drop. Plain and simple.
I’m not the world’s greatest super sleuth, so I can’t say I’m excited about this. I’m a simple guy who prefers simple drops. But this is certainly a way to cut through the noise on limited drops. It’s first come, first serve with a bit of a twist to it — sort of like Nike’s Twitter RSVP codes from back in the day.
It’ll be interesting to see how this works.
What’s Droppin’, bruh?
This is a dedicated section detailing upcoming sneaker releases for the week, and sometimes other interesting drops I think you might care about.
Thanks for reading, gang! Hope you enjoyed the newsletter.
Vote for your SOTY here via this Google Form.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, reach out to me via email at michael.sykes@businessoffashion.com or shoot me a message @MikeDSykes via socials.
Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯