Is Nike no longer as cool as it used to be?

[Magic33]

I. Even wearing these a lot more than my Nikes and Jordans as of late… People really give me compliments on my 2002R’s too.

This model is the stable of DMV, but of course, I try to be somewhat different and get the black based color. Everyone has the grey pair. These are really comfortable shoes! NB is one of the few sneaker brands that are worth the money. Superb quality and they last a VERY long time. You can even put them in the washer machine and it don’t be no dole separations. They are tanks, low key.

Thanks, none of us have ever seen New Balance before

 

[fdub]

Thanks, none of us have ever seen New Balance before

Your sense of humor is impeccable lol.

 

[atlsfinest]

In short the answer is yes.

Alternative running brands like On Cloud, Hoka and Altria have gained ground in the shoe space and lifestyle brands like Lululemon, Alo and Vuori I have gained ground in the athleisure space.

 

[vinnuendo]

tbh he cooked me so I'll delete

 

[finessence]

NiKe Is ReLeAsInG SaMpLeS ThEy MuSt bE DeSpEraTe

Y'all sneakerheads got such a narrow scope of how this industry and how this business works. Sneakerheads are such a small majority of customers that are buying their products. Yeah they're a retro brand but they've also got thousands of apparel and accessory options that outnumber the footwear products. They also do so much DTC commerce that is a huge boost to profits. You may see fewer pairs of dunks and af1s out on the streets but like others said, they're still in the closets.

Sneakers across the board have gotten more popular. So everyone's more popular.

And y'all ignorance of the history of other brands shows. New Balance re-released their c-note collab last year, considered one of their best shoes ever. Asics has been dropping a bunch of pairs using colorways from past Kiko Kostadinov collaborations. Does that mean they're desperate? Matter fact, most of these models dominating the streets from these brands are also retro models. But y'all only ever looked at nike til now and had no idea how good these other brands were...couldn't be me, I been had plenty of different brands in the rotation

What… are… you talking about? All of us on NT have always worn a variety of sneakers.

It’s a well known fact that Nike and most brands make most of their money off of accessories and clothing anyway. Revenue from shoes is just extra.

We’re all just saying the AVERAGE people (who strictly wore big name brands like Nike/Adidas) are branching out.

Most of us grew up wearing Nikes, Etonics, Ewings, British Knights, LA gear, adidas, reebok, ASICS, Roo’s, Puma, NBs, etc.

Designer brands FINALLY started realizing that they actually should tap into Streetwear/sneaker market after overlooking it for so long due to them being racist as hell and not wanting to invite that style into their fashion houses. There’s a reason Virgil was hired by LV. That was basically an admittance that they needed streetwear.

Man, I’ve got shoe boxes older than you. Niketalk members always wore a variety of shoes.

Back in the days you would NEVER see people wearing Adidas sweatpants with Nike shoes and vice versa. That’s what this thread is about. In the past, most people who weren’t into shoes would strictly wear the big 3.

We are basically saying that even casual consumers of footwear are branching out.

This site is called Niketalk but we’ve always worn everything on this site

 

[vinnuendo]

Werd

 

[krazy88s]

Nike and Jordan are really bringing back the Undefeated 4s. What's next Eminem 4s?

 

[Magic33]

What… are… you talking about? All of us on NT have always worn a variety of sneakers.

It’s a well known fact that Nike and most brands make most of their money off of accessories and clothing anyway. Revenue from shoes is just extra.

We’re all just saying the AVERAGE people (who strictly wore big name brands like Nike/Adidas) are branching out.

Most of us grew up wearing Nikes, Etonics, Ewings, British Knights, LA gear, adidas, reebok, ASICS, Roo’s, Puma, NBs, etc.

Designer brands FINALLY started realizing that they actually should tap into Streetwear/sneaker market after overlooking it for so long due to them being racist as hell and not wanting to invite that style into their fashion houses. There’s a reason Virgil was hired by LV. That was basically an admittance that they needed streetwear.

Man, I’ve got shoe boxes older than you. Niketalk members always wore a variety of shoes.

Back in the days you would NEVER see people wearing Adidas sweatpants with Nike shoes and vice versa. That’s what this thread is about. In the past, most people who weren’t into shoes would strictly wear the big 3.

We are basically saying that even casual consumers of footwear are branching out.

This site is called Niketalk but we’ve always worn everything on this site

I think sometimes we expect too much from this site. I expect a higher level of discourse about kicks up here than I do NiceKicks or Complex IG feed. They create content with clickbait headlines and people run with it.

We've always worn multiple kicks. We don't root for brands like they're basketball teams.

The issue is our society as a whole now with social media. They feel the need to wear whatever everyone else is wearing and not being individuals with their own taste. That's why I'm going to be laughing when dudes end up with all these kicks that they look at that they regret. Some people feel the need to run out and buy whatever is poppin. So they end up with 10 pairs of grey New Balance that they later regret and have no value resell wise. It happens time and time again. That's why they complain when kicks are no longer hot.

That's why everyone runs with the same reasoning. Innovation. What innovation is coming too kicks? It's about so much you can do. People certainly didn't care about auto lacing. What innovation is New Balance and Asics doing? They're releasing retros or new kicks that look just like their retros. They complain about Nike making kicks hard to get. Have you tried getting a pair of in demand kicks off New Balance?

Look at clothes, remember when tight and fitting clothes were in and all these people were like I don't see how you can wear baggy clothes. They don't show off your kicks blah blah. What are they wearing now?

 

[s0lefunk]

I think sometimes we expect too much from this site. I expect a higher level of discourse about kicks up here than I do NiceKicks or Complex IG feed.

The discourse is 99% anecdotal with a pinch of actual research. Everybody’s experience is different and based on their age and region.

My only contribution is Nike themselves said sales projections are going to be rough for the next few quarters. And when I’m out I see kids in Crocs more than anything and adults in On Clouds. Before that it was Adidas NMDs making a run.

The youth seem more aligned with the products than brands. The Panda dunks are the only Nike shoe in recent memory that were everywhere.

 

[shogun]

I know adidas sambas are classics and been a staple forever and had a surge in popularity recently. They're the sneaker i've seen being worn the most right now.

 

[Mamba4life]

Jordans are the dad shoe and kids are wearing New Balance. What a time to be alive

 

[tr1ll]

Nah AJ1s still getting major burn. Dunks too.

 

[adobecs4]

.

 

[trappedintime]

Jordans are the dad shoe and kids are wearing New Balance. What a time to be alive

I think it’s more generic than that: the youth are wearing comfortable footwear and don’t care about clunky basketball shoes as a whole. If anything it trends backward to the 70’s and 80’s when runners had a grip on the US market. And trends forward where slip-on footwear like crocs, mules/clogs, slides have grown significantly in market share.

 

[CoachMiller1981]

I’ll say this, I get more compliments on my sneakers when I’m rocking Lukas, Tatums and the new J’s like 34 and up. Manager at the grocery store really liked the Infrared 34’s when I was rocking them.

 

[brendasdeadbaby]

Bro they’re going into their vault releasing wu tang dunks and undftd 4s, colorways id never expect to see retro. It smells like desperate measures.

they probably **** around and give us paris dunks at the rate they are going

 

[tr1ll]

Bro they’re going into their vault releasing wu tang dunks and undftd 4s, colorways id never expect to see retro. It smells like desperate measures.

You do realize, we..people like us, make up a small, small portion of Nike's revenue, right? Dropping some obscure, limited colors of some shoes that were already well is not being desperate. If anything, its them throwing people who know a bone because they already made thier money from the normal folk.

 

[sneaksoy]

You do realize, we..people like us, make up a small, small portion of Nike's revenue, right? Dropping some obscure, limited colors of some shoes that were already well is not being desperate. If anything, its them throwing people who know a bone because they already made thier money from the normal folk.

Nah, I disagree. This take heavily discounts how influence works.

Dropping limited, super hyped shoes has significant trickle down effects. NTers represent the tip of the sneakerhead sphere - we’ve been around for a long time and have made these kinds of shoes into “grails”, so when Nike drops a Wu Tang dunk for instance, the hype will be there. Make them limited and all of the sudden you have resellers interested. Resellers lead to no one being able to get a pair (or only at high prices), which makes them “cool” for many young folks. Now, the group of people who like shoes but are just generally concerned with getting “fresh” may not be able to get their hands on a Wu Tang dunk but can go out and find another dunk at their local sneaker spot and will cop those. Now you’ve got a few of the “cool” kids in Nikes, and it trickles out to the rest of the school, then out to the suburb schools, etc etc.

Not to mention a super hyped, limited shoe creating general buzz that reaches a broader audience and de facto leads others to believe the hype must come from somewhere and they’re all the sudden interested; leading to increased interest in other Nikes.



Your take is like saying “Adidas makes a ton of money and Kanye wearing Ultraboost was just a tiny drop in the bucket, it doesn’t have an impact.” I know that sneaker industry guru/clown (Matt something?) always tried to discount Kanye’s influence on Adidas sales but no one was rocking with adidas until Ye started wearing them. NMDs wouldn’t have caught on at all without Ye’s influence.


People buy disposable, “luxury” goods for the emotions they invoke (in sneakers, that emotion is primarily feeling “cool”). The more hype a sneaker or brand gets, the more emotion is stirred up and attributed to that sneaker/brand and the effects are felt more broadly than just the revenue on a limited run pair of shoes.

 

[WASHED KING]

Trends shifted.

Nike will be hot again eventually. This is the best time to be a collector

 

[sneaksoy]

Trends shifted.

Nike will be hot again eventually. This is the best time to be a collector

Let whatever teeny bopper influencer start wearing an obscure Nike instead of some NBs and Nike will be back.

 

[adobecs4]

.

 

[tr1ll]

I think you underestimate how many people there are in the world that dont give a damn about social media. There has not been a day in the past 2 years where I walked outside and didnt' see a pair of panda dunks or AJ1s. A lot of these folks(especially white folks) are passing on Nike for political reasons. There

 

[sneaksoy]

The sort of white folks that would buy a diff brand than Nike for political reasons are 1) the kind who buy a pair of sneakers once every three years and don’t replace em until they’re absolutely cooked beyond presentability, 2) not buying expensive pairs, and 3) were never cool to begin with.

If a Monarch costs $3 to make and sells for $70, and a limited Dunk costs $5 to make and sells for $130+… that’s still a lot more revenue and profit than you’re thinking.

 

[TSCQ]

I think you underestimate how many people there are in the world that dont give a damn about social media. There has not been a day in the past 2 years where I walked outside and didnt' see a pair of panda dunks or AJ1s. A lot of these folks(especially white folks) are passing on Nike for political reasons. There

Say it louder.

The million dollar fit

 

[Magic33]

I think you underestimate how many people there are in the world that dont give a damn about social media. There has not been a day in the past 2 years where I walked outside and didnt' see a pair of panda dunks or AJ1s. A lot of these folks(especially white folks) are passing on Nike for political reasons. There

I haven't seen that. Maybe a few.

I had a lady on a flight near me a couple of years ago mention to an ad person who worked with Adidas mention that she doesn't let her kids wear Nike. I knew what that meant, and it was funny because she assumed he was anti-Nike so I was just chuckling to myself because I could tell from his reaction that's not what it was.

Kaep was over five years ago and if that was a reason, it would have hurt Nike long before this year.