State Champ Radio KICKS
Source: RTG Productions / Sean Menard Productions
Outside of a few big time collaborations between brands and celebrities, the hype behind the sneaker game is all but dead and while sneaker aficionados are enjoying being able to finally get pairs of their favorite grails without having to deal with hype beasts and greedy resellers, a new film explores how a few sports marketing teams helped sports footwear became a billion dollar industry.
According to Deadline, a new docuseries dubbed The Sneaker Boom will be exploring how up and coming NBA stars and marketing execs at sneaker brands helped turn a once struggling apparel market into a multi-billion dollar movement that impacted the street culture worldwide and turned helped turn NBA stars into household names at a time when Michael Jordan was dominating all facets of the game.
Source: RTG Productions / Sean Menard Productions
Brought to us courtesy of Sean Menard, the five-episode docuseries follows the maverick marketing and advertising execs who rolled the dice on NBA rookies who seemed bound to make an impact on the NBA such as Allen “The Answer” Iverson, Grant Hill, Larry “Grandmama” Johnson and Afernee “Penny” Hardaway. While none of these men were able to hoist an Larry O’Brien trophy mainly due to one Michael “Air” Jordan, they’re sneaker lines were huge hits and actually able to stand the test of time, and now we’ll be seeing how exactly marketing execs made that happen.
Per Deadline:
Love Hip-Hop Wired? Get more! Join the Hip-Hop Wired Newsletter
We care about your data. See our privacy policy.
Original interviews and never-seen-before archive footage build the picture, while the title sequence was created by a team of miniature artists, who also created era-accurate boardrooms where brands competed to sign future NBA stars to multi-million dollar contracts.
“We’re thrilled to finally share this series with audiences – starting with my home country of Canada,” said Menard. “Shining a light on the pioneers behind these iconic athletes will hopefully inspire a whole new generation, while offering long-time fans a fresh and nostalgic look at a magical era in sports and culture.”
We wonder if this series will help conjure up interest in their retro sneakers. Sure couldn’t hurt.
Check out the trailer for The Sneaker Boom below and let us know if you’ll be checking it out on the Canadian streaming service Crave this weekend.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: @tomsachs/Nike / Instagram
Nike and Tom Sachs are back on good terms, which means a crispy pair of sneakers. The latter, dropped a couple of photos of the forthcoming NikeCraft Mars Yard 3.0 which is guaranteed to be one of the most hyped—and likely difficult to acquire (for retail price)—sneakers of the year, already.
Source: Nike / Complex
However, you can’t gloss over the fact Sachs—a renowned but controversial contemporary artist—and Nike were recently on the outs after allegations of his abuse behavior toward employees began to surface in early 2023. At the time, Sachs and Nike were in the midst of pushing the NikeCraft General Purpose Shoe, which came to a quick halt after the allegations and just several colorways were released. Although the model (which sported a more democratized purchase process that meant easier access and more pairs) was paused, Nike never completely severed ties with Sachs, taking a wait and see approach, and officially resuming their partnership in late 2024. “Tom has demonstrated and recommitted to fostering a culture of respect and inclusivity,” said Nike in a statement at the time.
As far as we can tell, Sachs’ hasn’t generated any new troubling headlines, and he’s back in official business with the Swoosh, and the NikeCraft Mars Yard 3.0 is set to drop in September per his Instagram post. At first glance, the sneaker itself doesn’t look like a radical departure from the Mars Yard 2.0 (which dropped in 2012 and 2017) but it is more like an optimization. Some of those updates include Nike’s React cushioning in the midsole, a black TPU toecap and a carbon fiber plate.
The Mars Yard 2.0 from 2017 was a smooth $200 (and fetches $1600 on StockX at the moment) so you can probably expect the 2025 version to be at least a bit pricier. Good hunting—we suggest you call up your sneaker plug not now but right now.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: @dodgers / Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers definitely won MLB’s offseason when they signed both Shohei Ohtania and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and if that wasn’t enough, Vanessa Bryant went and blessed their players with an exclusive version of the highly popular Nike Kobe 6’s this past Saturday (April 13).
To commemorate the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s final game in the NBA (Mamba Day), Vanessa took to Dodger Stadium and gifted some of the players and managers a pair of the Kobe sneakers draped in white and Dodger blue. While sneakerheads were busy taking L’s on the Nike SNKRS app trying to hit on the Nike Kobe 4 Protro “Philly,” Nike Kobe 6 Protro “Italian Camo” and Nike Kobe 8 Protro “Venice Beach,”‘s, the Dodgers were getting exclusive pairs that we’ll probably never see get a general release.
Life is unfair sometimes, but it is what it is.
Needless to say the Dodgers players were more than happy to receive their gifts and being that they don’t need any extra money you probably won’t be seeing any of these hit the secondary market anytime soon. Maybe a bench warmer who gets cut from the team might bubble his pair. You never know.
Check out the “Dodgers” Nike Kobe 6’s below and let us know if you’d want to see these hit the streets in the comment section.
These are lowkey hard.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jonathan Leibson / Getty
adidas announced that they would be donating millions of dollars from the sales of their remaining Yeezy shoes to anti-hate groups.
On Wednesday (March 13), the German sportswear giant adidas announced that they were planning to, and in some cases, already donated $150 million to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate from the sales of their remaining stock of Yeezy shoes. The company had an estimated $1.3 billion worth of sneakers created from its partnership with Ye aka Kanye West in their warehouses.
The company began to sell its remaining stock in batches after severing ties with West in October 2022 after his tirade of antisemitic and other hateful comments on social media and in interviews. After the dissolution, adidas sold off Yeezy shoes in two batch releases in 2023 and launched another release sale on Feb. 26 of this year. Part of the proceeds that have been donated have gone to such groups as the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd (who was the subject of one of Kanye West’s rants) as well as the Anti-Defamation League.
adidas reported that the sales helped stabilize their operating profits at $283 million last year – it still wound up leaving the company facing a deficit of 60% in comparison to 2022. “Although by far not good enough, 2023 ended better than what I had expected at the beginning of the year,” said adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden, the former footballer who took over the position at the beginning of 2023 and advocated for the move to sell the Yeezys and donate part of the proceeds. The company expects to improve about 10% in growth over the second half of 2024 with more emphasis on other shoes and a boost from the Olympic Games this summer in Paris, according to its earnings report.
Ye isn’t too happy with adidas’ sales of his Yeezys. As the new batch release sale began in February with the “Steel Grey” 350 V2 version, he voiced his displeasure in the caption of a now-deleted Instagram post. “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys I never made these color ways I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me,” he wrote, adding: “All the new non-approved 350’s are cooorny and everybody know the 350 been corny.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Doja Cat is without doubt a style icon of her generation with dazzling and over-the-top looks coming from every angle in the superstar’s usual defiant style. StockX announced Thursday (September 21) that it will exclusively pre-release the Skechers X Doja Cat Doja’Lite sneakers ahead of the worldwide drop.
Doja Cat and her new Doja’Lite sneaker line is a play on Skechers’ D’Lites style, updated of course to match the “Paint The Town Red” artist’s sense of fashion know-how.
“Starting September 21 at 12 PM, you can grab a pair of my new Skechers Doja’Lite sneakers on StockX while listening to my new album Scarlet. I am excited to share part of my world with my fans,” Doja shared in a statement.
With a retail price tag of $125 USD, the chunky silhouette comes in either Black or white with five colorways to come when the sneaker is released to the wider public. The tongue of the sneakers features Doja Cat’s name along with Skechers branding, and the shoe is at all times rugged, classic, and stylish all at once.
“As the marketplace for current culture, StockX is committed to providing access to of-the-moment products, artists, and trends,” Deena Bahri, CMO at StockX,” shared in a statement. “Today’s consumer continues to lean into the nostalgia trend and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Skechers — a brand with a rich history of conversation-driving collaborations — to help release a product that not only draws inspiration from the recently revived Y2K aesthetic, but also pulls at the heartstrings of those of us who grew up wearing the Skechers D’Lites of the early aughts.”
Just to inform readers, the exclusive StockX drop will only feature the Black or white style in women’s sizing and will be available until supplies run out. The campaign is also launching in StockX Drop-Off locations around the world.
All of this leads up to the release of Doja Cat’s upcoming album, Scarlet, which drops on Friday (September 22).
Hurry over to StockX now and cop your Doja’Lites before they run out. Click here for more.
—
Photo: StockX/Skechers
-
Pages
