Originally posted on November 15th, 2021 – Source: All City Just Don x Foot Locker
A few weeks ago I did a video on Foot Locker’s LCKR and Footaction’s Op Ed private label:
Foot Locker’s Private Label Push Lacks Precision | Op-Ed Gallerie and LCKR Apparel
In that video, I discussed that the roll out was flawed and as evidence I showed where Foot Locker had reduced the price of the apparel only a couple of weeks after the release. I also explained that the brand hadn’t really done a great job of merchandising the apparel in the retail stores or online. The interesting thing is that the hoodies and sweats have been selling in brick and mortar, but the consumer isn’t really aware that the clothing is private label. There is a major misconception on who the visitors are to Foot Locker stores. For a very long time, every retailer has bended the knee to sneaker culture. The adjustments and strategies all cater to the consumer who buys more than six pair of kicks a year. These adjustments have been done without any real consideration for the demographics who shop at Foot Locker. Those adjustments also fail to consider that the “sneakerhead” who “knows” the culture is actually a very small, niche group.
Just Don is a designer who is a branch on the tree of Kanye. His sneaker collabs with Jordan Brand are both loved and hated. His apparel, hats and his own line, like Kanye protégé Jerry Lorenzo, typically sits at the intersection of hype and fashion. The pricing isn’t really what you’d look for at a Foot Locker or “urban” account. Truthfully, if you walk into any brick and mortar mainstream retail outlet and asked the employees, “Who is Just Don?” they wouldn’t have any idea. When I visited a Foot Locker this weekend, the apparel was displayed nicely. In contrast to Foot Locker’s own apparel, all of the Just Don apparel was given a large amount of wall space. The display drew the eye and that’s a good thing. I asked the sales lead what the clothing was, the young lady had no idea. I told her what it was and she was very nonchalant about it.
There lies the reality often overlooked by marketing teams, brands and retail, your everyday consumer has to be educated. The information shared on sneaker sites and in hype culture, isn’t mainstream. A local designer may be more well known than a brand being pushed by an influencer with a million followers. A local designer and a regional approach, might be a better decision than a Just Don collab and Foot Locker knows this, but hasn’t really invested in this aspect of streetwear as deeply as they could. In the article below:
I discuss when Jerry Lorenzo left Nike for adidas, only three weeks after his last drop with Nike. I explained that Nike understood how to utilize collabs and the reason Lorenzo left is because he realized that Nike wouldn’t bend the knee and didn’t need him. I explained to peers that when Lorenzo’s Fear of God collab was dropped in considerable numbers, the shoes went to the Nike Clearance Store and were sold for as low as 59.99. Just Don’s Arctic Orange Jordan 2s also hit the Clearance Store in considerable numbers. What does this have to do with Just Don’s Foot Locker drop? The collection isn’t extremely limited and it’s not overpriced. It’s a collection for the people… which is admirable, but when this happens the reality of the power and strength of a collaborator is either exposed or shown.
It’s too early to know if the Just Don collection is going to expose the designer. As a matter of fact, no one will ever know if it’s a failure. The numbers won’t be available. The only way to know is if the product ends up being reduced in price prior to the Black Friday sales. Like his mentor Kanye, Just Don is at the intersection and the light is red. When Ye got what he wanted with a million Yeezy’s released, the brand cache dropped. Shoes were sitting on shelves at retail outlets and adidas smartly pulled back. Yeezy isn’t the global brand it portends to be. What can be said right away about this Just Don collab is that marketing teams, brands and retailers appear to always place more of an emphasis on trying to trick the system instead of building the foundation of the business via a consistent investment in content and story telling. The average person doesn’t know Just Don, but the product has been produced in numbers like the people do know who he is. We all get a chance to watch what happens when a retailer believes the hype and goes all in on a collection with a figure from sneakerhead culture. This is one to really pay attention to, especially since Foot Locker is now running ads on social media for the collection. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it establishes that Foot Locker doesn’t have in place the storytelling needed to help move product that doesn’t have a built in audience. It’s even worse when the retailer is running ads, but the IG page of the collaborator doesn’t have a single post about the collection.
UPDATE 1-25-2022
The lifecycle of apparel is extremely short, which is unfortunate because it leads to the overproduction of clothing and the need for newness at retail to stimulate the eye of the consumer. Do I truly believe this? No. I happen to think the correct storytelling around a product can extend the life of that product for 3-6 months vs 1-3 months. In the post above I said Just Don could be measured by Black Friday. It’s January and items from the drop fall into the fast fashion 1–3-month price reduction window. Was it successful? I can’t say. The numbers aren’t available. What is available is the eye test. During a recent retail dive, I did a follow up on the collection and found parts of it marked down considerably. I didn’t take pictures of the rack of the All City Just Don collection in the store I visited, but the apparel was crammed on the rack because there was so much available. The store did have mannequins styled in the window, but to be honest, their own LCKR brand could have easily been featured as the display for those items was cleaner and actually matches the trends right now with the earth tones of the collection. Why am I writing this update? For discussion purposes after you view the picture below. What do you think happened here? Why are parts of this collection marked down so much? Is it because the initial run sold through and everything else is profit? Or, do you think it wasn’t selling in this store at all?