Palace’s Shocking Switch-Up | BoF

Good morning, friends! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for reading today. Appreciate you giving me a bit of your time. Hope you had a great weekend.

Today is my baby brother’s birthday (HBD, Bryson!), so I wanted to give him a quick shout at the top. He requested a pair of Adidas Jellyfish as a gift. Unfortunately, I don’t have the juice for all that, buddy. This shoutout is pretty good, though, right?

Anyway. We’ve got a lot to talk about (including the sneaker of the year list everyone is talking about today). Let’s get into it.

Palace Has a New Home

Palace Skateboarding has been one of Adidas’ most prominent collaborators in the skate and streetwear categories since the two began collaborating in 2014. But this week marks a new beginning for the brand and a drastic shift in the streetwear, skateboarding and football worlds.

What’s new: Nike and Palace announced a new partnership on Monday. The London-based skating brand is launching a new P90 collection with Nike on Oct. 31.

• The collection is a wide-ranging one. It includes jerseys, shorts, tracksuits, hoodies and more with Nike’s P90 graphics on them in a volt colourway, along with Palace’s logo.
• Pairs of Nike’s Total 90 football terrace sneakers are included in the collection, too.
• The two sides are also opening a collaborative space called Manor Place in London, which features a skatepark, football cage and exhibitions all free to access by the public.

Nike and Palace called out the big shots for this reveal. They had renowned British photographer and filmmaker Alasdair McLellan shoot the campaign video, which also featured star athletes like legendary footballer Wayne Rooney, skating and design sensation Lucien Clarke and even the London-based rapper, Giggs.

The backdrop: This move would’ve felt fairly unthinkable just a few years ago. In the skating and streetwear world, Adidas and Palace were once synonymous in the same way Nike and Supreme were.

• The two sides launched collabs together for a decade, starting in 2014 running through summer 2024 when the skating brand’s contract with Adidas ended.
• During that time, Palace established itself as a legitimate rival brand to Supreme — the US skate and streetwear brand it’d modelled itself after.
• Eventually, as it continued to grow and rise in popularity, Palace became a foil to Supreme, taking legitimate shots at the brand as it tried to siphon off its customers.

Why it matters: Palace’s new partnership with Nike flips all of that on its head. Not only does Adidas lose arguably its biggest skating collaborator to its biggest rival at a time when skating shoes are making a comeback, but Nike also gets a major player to activate in skating and football with the latter being a sport the brand has made a major push on in the last year. We can already see that football push manifesting itself with this collaboration.

Between the lines: It’ll be interesting to see how Nike ultimately decides to activate Palace and whether it clashes with what the brand does with Supreme.

• Because of the brand’s history in both the skating and football space, it can bring something a bit more distinct and versatile that Nike doesn’t have in a legacy brand like Supreme.
• That difference is huge and should help avoid overlap.

The bottom line: No matter which direction Nike takes this, scooping up Palace is a massive accomplishment for the brand. I can’t wait to see how this unfolds.

New Balance Plants Its Flag in New York

The Boston-based sportswear brand has a lot going on in the city these days.

• First: The brand opened up a new location in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood at 542 Broadway.
• This move follows the reopening of New Balance’s Flatiron flagship store in September after a remodel.
• Second: One of New Balance’s biggest collaborators, Joseph “Joe FreshGoods” Robinson, announced a monthlong residency in New York City’s Lower East Side.
• Robinson is calling the exhibit the Joe FreshGoods Rec Center.
• He says he’ll host “art-driven events, conversations, workshops and special releases” at the 293 Grand Street location over the next month.

Between the lines: The Joe FreshGoods piece is most interesting to me because of what it could potentially set up for both Robinson and New Balance down the line. A monthlong pop-up feels like a big commitment. I don’t think you make that commitment for no reason.

Maybe this is just me reading too deeply into the tea leaves, but this feels like a potential trial run for what could be a new retail location for the designer.

• Robinson’s business has expanded over the last few years. He opened a new retail store called “Every Now and Then” in Chicago in 2022.
• More recently, over the summer, he relocated his headquarters to a larger space in Chicago.

Expansion is on Robinson’s mind. Is a move to NYC in the cards? We’ll have to wait and see. But it makes a lot of sense — especially as New Balance continues to expand its blueprint around the city itself.

Don’t Be Mad About Sneaker of the Year

ComplexCon took over Las Vegas for the weekend. The Complex Sneaker Podcast hosts Matt Welty, Joe La Puma and Upscale Vandal, along with their old running mate Brendan Dunne and hip-hop laureate Fat Joe, came up with a list of their 10 best sneakers of the year.

And, of course, everyone is mad about it.

Here’s why: In an era of sneakers when so many brands are doing interesting things, there were only four on Complex’s list. Three were under the Nike umbrella.

• There were five Jordan picks included, three Nike picks, and one Converse pick.
• Two of the three Nike shoes included were Air Max 95s — one was the Levi’s pair and the other was the neon green pair that originally released in 1995.
• The lone non-Nike umbrella pick was Pharrell’s Adidas Jellyfish.

Personally, I think that’s fair. Speaking for myself here: There are plenty of pairs of Asics, New Balance and Sauconys that I’d pick over almost every shoe on that list.

Why this matters: Honestly, folks. It doesn’t! The only reason it’s worth mentioning is because people are so up in arms about it.

But here’s the thing: I can complain about the list. Don’t get me wrong — I certainly did. I’m not above it. But it’s not my list or my criteria. The only thing you can do is respect the list for what it is.

SOTY conversations are subjective. The picks are usually just vibes, man. Not everyone will see things the same way. You’ve got to just chalk it up to the game.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to make your own list, folks. It is what it is.

Thrifting Works

In the most fun story I’ve seen so far this week (yes, I know it’s only Tuesday), Baltimore Ravens wideout DeAndre Hopkins pulled up to his tunnel walk in an outfit from Goodwill.

Yes, really.

The details: The NFL’s Instagram account posted a video of Hopkins shopping with style editor Kyle Smith to put together his game day outfit.

• The mission was to find a fit for the tunnel walk with a $200 budget. Ultimately, the outfit Hopkins chose came up to $35.
• He wore the outfit in the tunnel on Sunday before the Ravens’ win over the Bears.

My take: This is such a fun story. As style and fashion continue to mesh with the sports we love, it’s nice to see an athlete embrace that in a way many fans might. We’ve all thrifted. We all know the thrill of finding a good, lightly worn piece. It’s great.

Don’t get it twisted: To be clear, Goodwill sponsored this segment, so it’s not as if this is a regular occurrence for Hopkins. And, while what Hopkins is doing here is nice, we don’t all have access to a Kyle Smith in our lives. Having a style editor certainly helps when it comes to finding good pieces and putting together a good fit.

But, still, it’s nice to see athletes ground themselves in this way.

What’s Droppin’, Bruh?

This is a dedicated section detailing upcoming sneaker releases for the week, and sometimes other interesting drops I think you might care about.

Thanks for reading, gang! Hope you enjoyed the newsletter.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, reach out to me via email at michael.sykes@businessoffashion.com or shoot me a message @MikeDSykes via socials.

Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.

-Sykes 💯

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