Source: adidas reimagines sport with the launch of its all-new women’s collection Everyone in retail at the premium end has seen the dramatic slowdown in the sale of adidas footwear and gear. When adidas saw its biggest growth from 2014-17 it happened with a combination of exciting product and incredible marketing campaigns. I monitor the…
In Episode 156 I introduced you to sneaker photography my then 11 year old daughter shot. I created the canvases as I prepared to move out of my home office into the new ARCH business office. This video was made on Veteran’s Day as was working on laying out the new office. I’ve finished the…
The bigger issue is a really touchy word choice for this post. Often the bigger issue is a discussion on race or societal issues. I’m not saying that the bigger issue here is something that will repair sexism or racism. The bigger issue here is not that serious. The bigger issue is and remains sneaker…
Shop Q4Sports.com for the ultimate blend of technology, style & performance sports gear. Upgrade your game with the new Q4 Sports basketball shoe. Source: Q4 Sports Performance Basketball Shoes On several occasions I’ve talked about the problem with performance basketball sales. I took a picture of a wall inside of a Finish Line yesterday and…
Under Armour’s Anatomix Spawn 2 is Fast, Flexible and Supportive Source: UA Anatomix Spawn 2 Curry wore the original Spawn so the shoe has a legit history in the NBA. The return of the shoe in its second version arrived without fanfare or celebration. It was a simple, straightforward delivery with Dennis Smith Jr. as…
Run-DMC by Lawrence Watson via adidas Source: Superstar: Pushing Culture Forward for Fifty Years It’s important to lead this story with a collage of Run DMC. It’s also important to note that adidas was the shoe tied most prominently into Hip-Hop. At least that’s from my perspective (I know Puma was there, but let’s leave…
This semester while teaching the Problems in Retail class at UT Austin, I took on the task of learning more about a brand I’d never purchased before. This was not a paid analysis. I thought since my students were writing about new internships we should all look at a perceived problem for the brands/companies….
York Athletics is a company I’ve written about before. What I liked about the brand is their simple approach to footwear and their core approach to their niche. York is a brand for fighters. They support boxing and technical sports like mixed martial arts. Their blog reads like a training manual for those interested…
For the next 5 days I will be dropping a post that is anti-11. It’s not that I don’t appreciate Jordan Brand. My entire office wall is covered in Jordan Brand art shot by my daughter. The crazy thing is my favorite shoe of all time is the Ewing Rivalry by adidas. My go…
From our Cotton + Corn collection. We took our tried-and-true sneaker silhouette and made a shoe with things that grow. A 100% cotton upper and a biobased sole derived from corn delivers comfort and durability. Altogether the NPC UK Cotton + Corn is the first ever 75% USDA certified bio-based shoe so you can feel…
Under Armour Takes on Iceland for Reveal of Performance Apparel and Footwear Fusing Run, Outdoor and Style Source: TREK TO THE SUMMIT I’ve been excited by the PR and content coming out of Under Armour. The company has taken a volatile marketplace problem and the injury to its star athlete and they’ve begun repackaging the…
I wanted to make the title a lot longer, but it’s bad for search. The title was going to be “Sneakerhead Night and Coverage of the NBA is emblematic of a serious issue for brands with signature athletes and for the NBA in general.” That is too damn long, so I’m going with this post…
Nobody knows sneakers better than the boutiques around the world that sell them. Source: Talking Shop: The Best Boutique Collabs From Atmos, Undefeated, and More I subscribed to Stadium Goods YouTube this morning. I typically overlook the channel and I kind of fall into the routine of clicking on Complex’s YouTube shows and I also…
As we head into the holiday season I want to introduce you to a couple of books that the sneaker culture enthusiast in your life is certain to want in their collection. Elizabeth Semmelhack is a curator at the Bata Museum in Canada. She has written a number of books on the history of sneakers….
The ‘documentary’ begins with an incredible montage of digital art paying homage to the Air Jordan 1. Public Enemy’s “He Got Game” plays in the background. The film then shifts to Politics in the 80s and the NBA in the 70s before landing on David Stern; the game changing commissioner of the NBA who…
Source: Dejounte Murray Joins New Balance and Inspires Us In New Commercial Spot New Balance’s entrance back into basketball has been a slow calculated development that I’ve discussed as positive and negative. The recent addition of San Antonio Spurs PG Dejounte Murray gave me two responses again. I tend to be hot and cold on…
As the discussion of rest gains steam in the NBA, the Lakers superstar says the fundamental issue begins much earlier. Source: LeBron James says need for load management starts at AAU level: ‘AAU coaches couldn’t give a damn about a kid’ I played college basketball, was a high school assistant coach, a high school head…
It seems that my coverage of Merrell is increasing as I begin to take longer looks into alternative brands in footwear and apparel. This is a good thing because what isn’t being presented and discussed on larger “sneakerhead” websites are stories unrelated to cool and youth culture. This leaves analysis and coverage of the amazing…
Mary Cain’s male coaches were convinced she had to get “thinner, and thinner, and thinner.” Then her body started breaking down. Source: Opinion | I Was the Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike “Equal Play” is an Opinion video series showcasing the insurgent athletes who are dragging women’s sports into the 21st century….
Source: The Designer of the Curry 7 Discusses the Shoe’s Design Inspiration and What It’s like Creating a Shoe for the Sharpest Shooter in the Game In what I think is a first, I know the name of an Under Armour designer. If you find any sneakerhead and ask them to name a designer these…
Not to beat a dead horse, but this roll out of the Kawhi 1 (I refuse to call the shoe the OMN1S) hints at either the most measured cool I’ve ever seen out of a brand, or the most inept brand at capitalizing on opportunity. If I had to choose one, I couldn’t. Whatever Kawhi…
Greenhouse has been staying fairly consistent with notifications arriving through the app. The most recent launch of the adidas Speedfactory x Latino Heritage hasn’t sold out as quickly as the clothing and accessories drop from the designers like PSNY and ALIFE, but this isn’t as surprising. adidas’ BOOST based footwear is not selling through very…
