It’s crazy how fickle the sneaker market can be…it was just a couple of years ago where dudes were claiming Adidas had taken the crown from Nike and were dropping the hottest shoes in the world…
And…they made a good case. ZX Flux, UltraBoosts, NMD’s and Yeezy’s took the Nike-centric sneaker world by storm. It basically said ‘hey, I’ma let ya’ll finish, but there is some dope shit over here, too.’ The ‘problem’, from my perspective, is that Adidas just didn’t know when to stop. Sure, there were PLENTY of dope, crazy collaborations and super crazy design-decisions, but riding a super-successful silhouette of the year into the next 4 years is just not a good way to keep people on the edge of their seats.
Where Nike is definitely more conservative with their collaborations, Adidas appears to be FAR more progressive - Where Nike gave Kanye a bucket full of parts he could work with, Adidas gave Kanye a pencil and a paper and said ‘anything you can imagine’.
It’s hard to imagine now, but plenty of these early NMD’s and Adidas Yeezy’s were selling in the $1k+ range…hell…even UltraBoosts were hitting $300+…it’s CRAZY now because some of these shoes can be found on sales racks at Adidas Outlets in the $40 range. I saw a screenshot of the IRAK 2020’s - A rehash of one of the MOST COVETED ADIDAS collaborations has now hit 70% off and STILL cannot sell. I bought that shoe about a year ago for $180. AND I BOUGHT FIVE PAIRS OF THEM. Why? I had the OG.
Yeezy continues evolving, Pharrell keeps dropping bangers, James Harden, Beyonce, Kendall Jenner, Alexander Wang, Jeremey Scott and even your boy @sean_Wotherspoon has a bunch of bangers dropping through Adidas. And many of them are available.
So I’m goin kinda heavy on Adidas’ lately. It’s different and it’s new and it’s fresh and it’s all pretty affordable. $53’ for a pair of GORE-TEX x IRAK ZX8000’s? Steal.
And this…this is something that reminds me of crypto - you really actually want to BUY when no one cares about it and you want to SELL when everyone is losing their minds for it. Buy the dip!