Have We Reached An All Time Low With Sneaker Collaborations?: Friday’s with Filar #0014

Hello there, February! Where the fuck did you come from? 

Can you believe we’re sitting at February 3rd? We cleared an entire 1/12th of the year already and it felt like NYE was last weekend. But with a new month, comes new opportunities to be better. Be a better partner. Be a better employee. Be a better human. So I’m looking forward to the short and sweet month, and plan on absolutely crushing it. 

As I continue to vomit my thoughts out on this blog week by week, I’ve been thinking a lot about shifting it to Substack - a platform I’m seeing a lot of great writers write on, as it allows for more exposure outside of your own network. While blogging on my website drives a ton of traffic it, I have nothing to sell you, so there’s no point in having it on there. 

But if I can reach the masses, that’s where we will all inherently grow. So the platform will most likely change in the near future. Until then, we’ll stay here :)

CONTENT CORNER 🎬:

This weeks call out to content goes to two podcast hosts I listen to weekly, if not daily - and they both connected to talk about topics we really don’t spend much time talking about.

Love. Partnership. Sex. 

Subject matters you won’t typically find within my 500 words every friday, but the conversation really made you think. One thing that stood out was a question about “if you didn’t change anything over the next year or five years, would your life be better or worse”. Or the idea that when you’re in a relationship it’s okay to like different things and have different hobbies - that it is OKAY for your partner to go do something with their friends that they love and you don’t have to love the same thing. 

I really feel like these topics are needed and no one is usually vulnerable to confront them. But i’ll at least highlight the source to shine some light on it. Check out the entire podcast / youtube here

THE MAIN IDEA 🙇🏼‍♂️:

I usually avoid talking about what everyone else is talking about, but its REALLY hard not to this week with the Tiffany x Nike Air Force 1 collaboration being teased / showcased. Originally showcased by Ruba, the creative director of Tiffanys, and seen on the NBA runway by LeBron James, the collaboration has stirred up a ton of noise. 

On one hand:

The critics are absolutely destroying the comments sections within every major publication or instagram post saying ‘they just slapped the Tiffany blue (or green?) on it’, ’they’re not worth $400 dollars’, ‘ugly’, and ‘not it’. The funniest thing I’ve seen was MARKET launching their basketball in a Tiffany blue color way and calling it Market Breakfast & co making a complete mockery of the drop itself. 

The other perspective is the same first sentence in my last paragraph… ‘Every single major publication and instagram post was talking about it’. Nike is a marketing company. Every one of us is a marketing company. Me writing these weekly blogs is enhancing and marketing myself as a brand. And my fucking god is Nike a great marketing company and we would be naive to think they we’rent successful these past few days. 

Honestly, you can stare and look at all the hate mail they’re getting - but everyone of us is writing or talking about it. These sneakers will sell out. They will resale for 2-3x, maybe more.

Do I think that’s unfortunate? Sure.

Do I care? Absolutely not. I’m not the demographic for these. 

Nike knew what they were doing. They’re probably even happy that people are generating AI versions of ‘what if’ concepts. Because it all circulates to their brand being top of mind. For them that’s a gold mine because consciously or subconsciously, its informing our buying habits. 

So the question at hand, is this a new low for sneaker collaborations? Where there is an onslaught of negative comments towards something that, from the publics opinion, could and should have been great? My opinion on the matter is no. This is definitely not the ‘low point’. But it’s not great either… and it is far from over. 

Does anyone know why does Gucci, LV, etc etc etc collaborate with sneaker companies? Sneakers are the male equivalent of female purses. Its an accessory most males love… most, not all. These fashion brands are primarily driven by the female consumer through their bags, purses, suitcases, dresses, etc. Sneakers allow for them to reach an entirely knew demographic (men) at a lower price point. You onboard the male in their mid 20s and they’ll come back to you as a brand when they come into money in their 30s. 

So its no surprise that collaborations have branched out to luxury, high end watches, or even alcohol brands. Everyones fighting for a unique customer. And pulling two brands together is better than one. 

Does anyone NOT have at least one piece in their wardrobe or footwear collection that isn’t a collaboration of two brands? I imagine thats pretty rare these days.

At the end of the day we’re just talking about sneakers.

And you’re in control of how they make you feel. 

See you next week.

Good things.

DF