The sportswear megabrand appointed the designer as global creative director in September 2020. Photo from Cratemaster under Kerby Jean-Raymond’s direction.
Source: Pyer Moss Founder Kerby Jean-Raymond Departs Reebok
Less than a year ago I celebrated the beautiful imagery and marketing coming from Reebok. As I celebrated, I also realized that adidas was possibly putting lipstick on a pig. I understand business. In order to sell something, you have to clean it up and make it look valuable. In the last year or so the collabs for Reebok have ranged from work with Juun.J, Prince Tennis, and Bodega, to the collabs with Kerby Jean Raymond and Victoria Beckham. I was so excited about the direction Reebok was going, I wrote this post:
Less than six months later in December, I wrote this post:
ABG’s Announcement of Licensee for Reebok in the US Tempers My Excitement – ARCH-USA
Today, I discovered that Pyer Moss founder and creative director at Reebok is stepping down. On the surface this may not feel like a bad thing especially since Shaq hopped on social media in a live with Allen Iverson to celebrate Foot Locker carrying exclusive Reebok product. That announcement was like an extra coat of make-up on the same pig adidas sold. When ABG began announcing the licensees for Reebok, I was nervous. When it was announced layoffs would happen prior to the merger, I saw the writing on the wall, but Kerby Jean-Raymond stepping down is evidence that Reebok is about to take their products down-market. Layoffs are expected when a business is acquired. Saving money is the immediate play by groups like ABG.
When the creatives begin to walk away, it signifies a change in the business strategy. Shaq is a great marketing person. He can sell cheap insurance, and even help a pizza chain marred by racist behavior be relevant again. He can sell Buick cars that he probably can’t sit in, but he can’t sell me on the excitement of a Foot Locker announcement when if you click through on my first link on Reebok’s Imminent Sale, it states:
Reebok only has about two small sections on the wall at retail outlets. They are typically combined with New Balance, Fila and adidas. In many retail stores they don’t have any floor space at all, and due to the sheer volume of Nike product in every sneaker store, Reebok, which shouldn’t be overlooked, can be glossed over quickly as a customer scans the sneaker wall. The only time the wall isn’t glossed over is when there are Questions, Kamikazes or Shaqs sharing space with Club Cs, or Cardi B collabs.
Shaq’s announcement is “much ado about nothing”. Reebok has been delivering Question x BBC collections to Foot Locker already. There have been Shaq Attacks, Pump Omni, and Questions there already. Right now, at local Foot Lockers, there are Questions on sale for 79.99, along with Kamikazes and Club Cs on promo. Reebok at Foot Locker means very little unless Foot Locker decides to give Reebok a dedicated merchandised store within a store. Without a creative direction for the fashion side of the sneaker industry, I can’t see creative merchandising happening. Kerby was on to something. It was beautiful. If Shaq is now the pitch man, Reebok seems aimed at making Foot Locker the Wal-Mart of Shaq’s Reebok.
