The 2026 World Cup Is Already Here for Fashion

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

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Now, let’s dive in.

The World Cup Is Already Here

The calendar hasn’t officially flipped yet, and we’re already seeing brands and their biggest influencers activating around the 2026 World Cup.

A perfect example: Nike had a big weekend in Miami at Art Basel, engaging with global football and all the fans in the city that love it through its Toma street football tournament.

• For those of you who may not remember, the Toma tournament is Nike’s traveling street football tournament. It was in LA just a few months ago.
• And, once again, the brand brought out Travis Scott for this one. He made an appearance at the tournament to hype up the Miami crowd.

Between the lines: Of course, on one hand, this is Nike simply celebrating football as a sport. Football aesthetics have increasingly integrated into pop culture and style over the last year or so and Nike wants in on that moment. But that’s just the start here.

Nike is using its biggest influencer to generate hype for some of the more exclusive pieces it’ll sell to consumers around the World Cup. That’s the bigger moment. We got a glimpse of what that will look like this weekend.

That’s a clever play that might bring a bit of a halo effect on the rest of the brand’s football category.

Be smart: Nike isn’t the only brand playing this game. Brands across the industry (including Nike’s main competitor in sportswear!) are announcing collections, collaborations and business deals for the tournament despite it still being six months away. Nobody has a name like Travis Scott, of course, but brands are getting active around the sport and the tournament.

If you’re not already involved in some way, you’re probably too late.

The scale: It’s obvious why everyone wants in. Next year will go down as one of the biggest years in recent sports memory, between the World Cup and the Milan Olympics. Those are two global events that will capture the attention of billions of people next year.

The World Cup, in particular, is on track to be a massive stage.

Add the fact that the tournament is in North America for the first time since the United States hosted it in 1994, and you’ve got an event that could potentially be the most-watched sporting event ever.

The bottom line: The race to be in on the action is likely already over. The real race is to see which brands will be the most visible and have the biggest impact on the action. That’s what I’m looking for.

What’s Next for Fear of God?

We’re approaching a major milestone for the partnership between Adidas and Fear of God.

Flashback: A year ago, amid rumours that the partnership between Adidas and Fear of God might be coming to a close, founder Jerry Lorenzo clarified that the two sides weren’t done just yet.

• While he admitted that there was an unclear future for the partnership, he noted that the two sides were in the midst of working on two Fear of God models — the Fear of God 2 and Fear of God 3.
• He told Complex that the Fear of God 3 was set to release for the Holiday 2025 season and that the partnership’s future would be clearer then.

Fast forward: Well, here we are. It’s Holiday 2025 and Lorenzo is promoting the Fear of God 3 as its release nears, but there’s still no word on the future of Fear of God at Adidas.

My take: The possibilities on the table were endless when Adidas and Lorenzo announced their partnership at the tail end of 2020.

• The latter was just coming off an incredible run with Nike and Adidas had proven it could do the fashion influencer brand thing through all of its success with Yeezy at that time.
• Lorenzo also had a unique vision that involved actually bringing his design expertise into athletics — particularly the basketball space.

But that announcement was the only thing the two sides had collaborated on for three years until 2023, when the Fear of God Athletics basketball shoe officially dropped. Things were too quiet. Nothing was produced and, when something finally came, it underwhelmed.

Today, it finally feels like Lorenzo is hitting his stride with Adidas. Fear of God Athletics has an aesthetic and a purpose. The two sides have accomplished interesting things together.

• No influencer-led sportswear brand has involved athletes as well as Lorenzo has. We’ve actually seen his shoes worn during competitive NBA games.

Why that matters: Basketball shoes are back in a major way, both on and (maybe especially) off the court. Adidas has been at the forefront of that conversation through its success with Anthony Edwards’ signature line, but it has to keep the heat coming. Other brands are improving every day.

Jerry Lorenzo’s goal in joining Adidas was to build basketball shoes that look great off the court and play great on it. Why not continue that? Sure, things started slow. But there’s a rhythm now. Losing that would be a shame.

What they’re saying: We don’t know where things stand with Lorenzo’s deal. Maybe an extension has been signed in secret. I’ve reached out to Fear of God for comment, but haven’t received a response yet.

Regardless, Fear of God will be fine. It’s locked up several licensing deals (including its latest NFL Essentials deal) that will keep food on the table for years to come. Adidas, obviously, will be fine, too. And I know they’ve already given Lorenzo a lot of time as is — maybe a little too much.

But it’d be nice if they could both be fine together for a little bit longer.

Jaylen Brown’s 3D-printed Shoes

A few weeks ago we talked about the next level for 3D-printed footwear being the athletic space. Could 3D-printed footwear become a real powerhouse in performance someday? The technology’s biggest supporters believe so.

It seems like they’ve got at least one athlete on their side of the conversation now, too.

What’s new: Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown was seen carrying a pair of 3D-printed sneakers in the tunnel on Friday.

• Brown was carrying the 741 V1 — a 3D-printed performance shoe, built with Zellerfeld, for Brown’s own signature brand.
• The 741 V1 is a 3D-printed performance prototype explicitly designed for Brown’s play on the court.

The other side: While this is an interesting development, it’s worth noting that Brown didn’t actually wear these shoes in a game. He switched back to his 741 Rover signature shoe to play in. So, to this point, this isn’t really amounting to much more than hype.

Yes, but: At the very least, there seems to be some interest from Brown in wearing 3D-printed sneakers on the basketball court. For an independent brand like 741 to bring that to the table would be quite the development.

Ralph Lauren Cooked

Speaking of massive world events, Ralph Lauren debuted Team USA’s uniforms for the 2026 Milan Olympics next year.

This is the 10th consecutive Olympic Games the brand has outfitted Team USA and, I must say, this may be my favourite collection yet.

What’s included:

• The opening ceremony: There’s a white wool toggle coat serving as the foundation for Team USA’s opening ceremony look. It also includes a woolly turtleneck sweater with Team USA branding on it and trousers.
• The closing ceremony: This is where the collection shines. The Team USA puffer coat is the best piece from the entire collection in my eyes. There’s another turtleneck sweater that goes along with pairs of white cargo pants with Team USA branding on one pocket and Ralph Lauren’s classic polo horse on the other.

I don’t know if it’s the aprés ski trend getting to me, but this stuff is incredible.

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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