Insider Ties

Via Source: LIGHTER FOOTPRINT, BRIGHTER TOMORROW: ASICS UPCYCLES SECOND-HAND CLOTHES TO CREATE NEW RUNNING SHOES | ASICS Global – The Official Corporate Website for ASICS and Its Affiliates Today, ASICS is giving a boost to runners and the planet with the launch of SUNRISE REBORN™ PACK of new running shoes made from recycled clothing collected…

Jason Murphy Raises an Important Point About the Nike Exec Resigning Due to Son’s Reselling Business

Chris Burns4 years ago4 years ago04 mins

Original Linked In Post from Jason Murphy: I initially didn’t want to comment on this topic. It wasn’t until I read Jason Murphy’s post on LinkedIn that raised the issue of White Privilege. In a number of circumstances Nike either forced the resignation or had employees federally prosecuted for actions that occurred within their berm….

adidas’ “Move With Us” Stays True to Providing Support For Women Athletes

Sport is everyone’s game, and we believe it is our job to continue making it as inclusive and supportive as possible. Today we are announcing our long-term commitment to better support all women Source: OUR NETWORK OF ATHLETES INVITE YOU TO ‘MOVE WITH US’ I’ve been keeping a running tab on the work adidas…

Kudos to adidas for their Year Round Honoring Black Excellence (HBE) Initiative

Sneaker brands have long attempted to celebrate the rich, but underemphasized legacy of Blacks in America. I’ve always thought that turning a history that isn’t taught enough to Americans into a product was problematic. After a giant misstep by adidas in 2019, the Three Stripes stepped away from promoting a collection. This year they have…

The Complexity of Sneaker Brands Celebrating Black History Month

Are collections acknowledging Black History Month, commodification or celebration? Nike and adidas have both gotten these collections wrong and smaller brands are now taking on the process of bringing attention to the rich contributions made by Blacks in America. Delivering a collection is complex. Everyone won’t like what’s being done, and this makes the task…

Do You Want to Win the Envision Sneaker & Backpack from cote et ciel x Pensole x Vibram (GH)? 1 of 2

Register for the Envision Mentorship Program: https://pensole.com/master-class/the-envision-mentorship-program/ The Envision Mentorship program seeks to connect the creative youth with a life enhancing opportunity by connecting them to industry visionaries in the fields of design, journalism, music, media, and marketing. Qualified candidates for the Envision Mentorship program will receive career guidance and exclusive product to prepare them…

Under Armour’s Inspirational Collab with Devin Allen Could Ring Hollow

Under Armour’s upcoming Black History Month delivery is the best concept I’ve seen from any brand attempting to celebrate the rich heritage of Blacks in America. The brand collaborated with photographer Devin Allen. Devin has been the camera behind some of the best photographs taken for Under Armour. Devin Allen is also in line as…

Merrell Makes Great Shoes for the Service Industry: 1Six8 Mesh AC+ Pro

Merrell is known as an outdoor company. The company also has an assortment shoes for a range of industries. One of their best shoes is a model created especially for the service industry, The 1Six8 Mesh AC+ Pro. I ordered two pair of the shoes for family members who finally returned to work after the…

UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire Unboxing & an Uncomfortable Discussion on African-Americans Leaving UA

I’ve been excited about the UA HOVR Fat Tire for a while, but I’ve always written about the missteps in marketing at Under Armour. When I sat down to do the unboxing for this shoe, I was excited about where Under Armour could be headed as a brand. When I received the shoes, I was…

I.T. Ep. 207 | New Balance’s New 57/40 Sneaker Continues a 4 Year Design Focus

Chris Burns4 years ago4 years ago04 mins

New Balance recently garnered awards from various sneaker outlets as the brand of 2020. The recent accolades were well deserved, but to only look at last year’s 327 success, fails to acknowledge the investment in innovation and design the company has put forth to improve their lifestyle kicks. Articles in this video: New Balance 57/40:…

Insider Ties: Ep. 205 | What You Can Learn from Vans & DC Shoes

DC Shoes saw a rocketship of website traffic from October through the holiday season. Vans remained consistent with their growth to 11 million visits per month with interactive digital events and videos. Both companies did this by creating engaging homepages that educated and entertained the visitors discovering their site via search. https://www.vans.com/ http://www.dcshoes.com/

Insider Ties Ep. 204 | Indie Sneaker Companies to Drop Your Holiday Cash On

This year I’ve written about a number of independent brands. These brands do a great job of reminding us they are constantly fighting to gain attention. Here are the links to the brands in this video: COMUNITYmade https://www.comunitymade.com/collections/trending-now/products/womens-molino?variant=32956244951124 Brandblack https://brandblack.com/collections/new-arrivals-women/products/womens-capo-shearling-natural Clearweather https://clearweatherbrand.com/ CASBIA https://www.casbia.com/ CLAE https://www.clae.com/products/bradley-high-welt-black-water-repellent-leather Ewing Athletics https://shop.ewingathletics.com/ NinetyNine Products https://ninetynineproducts.com/

I.T. Ep. 203 | I’ve Overlooked This Issue In Regard to Basketball Sneaker Sales Decreasing

Check out my Books: https://arch-usa.com/product-category/books/ I’ve been writing about basketball and performance footwear sales for years. Recently, I’ve begun to move from inside of my sneaker culture box to examine footwear with a wider scope. I once operated one of the best performing Seller Central Marketplace stores on Amazon. The store had a perfect 5…

I.T. Ep. 202 | A Final Look at Allbirds x Staple and if Super Limited Collabs are Worthwhile

Did you know there is another color of the Allbirds Staple Dasher on the way? Probably not. It would be great to ask this question to sneaker culture, because I’m almost positive they aren’t aware either. The collab seems to be stuck inside of a room created by the two collaborators. If a sneaker collab…

Insider Ties: Episode 201 | ecco®︎ Should Be The Footwear Company of 2021

Chris Burns4 years ago4 years ago14 mins

ecco®︎ ZipFlex Warm Grey pictured above I’m just beginning to learn about ecco®︎ and maybe my enthusiasm should be tempered considering the brand’s sales have been decreasing in the Americas, but I love brands that have the ability to move a product from conception to the consumer, in house. Merrell is a company that can…

I.T. Ep. 200 | What Did You Think About the Online ComplexLand Experience?

Buy my books on the sneaker industry: https://amzn.to/3lD82gb ComplexCon was not able to take place in the physical this year, but the media company found an interesting way to deliver an experience to their audience. A lot like the Travis Scott Fortnite concert, where you could purchase items inside of the digital environment, ComplexLand created…

I.T. Ep. 199 | Is the Allbirds x Staple Dasher a Collab You’re Going to Check For?

Buy my books on the sneaker industry: https://amzn.to/3lD82gb https://www.allbirds.com/pages/staple I’ve written extensively about Allbirds. The company is vocal about the work they do to create products that are sustainable. They aren’t really a brand that enters the realm of sneaker culture, but with this collab it seems they want to find a way to reach…

I.T. Ep. 198 | Why are Brands Still Chasing Basketball? New Tech from Under Armour & adidas

Chris Burns4 years ago3 years ago02 mins

Buy my books on the sneaker industry: https://amzn.to/3lD82gb I wrote a post on basketball activations in February 2020: J.Cole x Puma and Dame & Pusha T x adidas | Why Choose Basketball Activations When Performance is Down? In that post, I wanted to look at the new campaigns by Puma and adidas and raise the…

Insider Ties Ep. 197 | OLLO Footwear Could Be the Upstart Sneaker Company of 2021