The Kicks You Wear: What’s Going On With Travis Scott and Nike?
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. Hope you had a fantastic weekend. If you’re in the US, hope you’ve got a good Thanksgiving planned! HOUSEKEEPING: TKYW will be out for Friday. The newsletter will be back next Tuesday. QUICK HITS: Here’s a BoF exclusive from our pal, Lei, on the opening of Kith’s new London flagship. This space looks incredible. StockX and Kalshi’s new partnership is so wild. You can bet on things like the price of a Labubu a month from now. Bettors aren’t pouring a ton of money into this yet, but we’ll see if that changes in the coming months. I have a feeling it will. Steph Curry’s sneaker free agency tour continues. On Monday night in Utah, he wore Nike’s on the court for the first time since 2013. Which shoes? The Sabrina 3 “Ionescrew.” Alright. Let’s get to it. Is Travis Scott Switching Sides?Years ago, Drake famously declared “checks over stripes” on Travis Scott’s hit “Sicko Mode” single. The line was a not-so-subtle jab at Kanye West and Adidas while the two rappers were going through a bit of a tiff. It was a big moment for Nike with two of the brand’s biggest collaborators (Scott and Drake) in the music space dropping a bar in favour of the brand.Here, in 2025, people are wondering if Travis Scott still lives by that Drake line. What’s new: Speculation mounted over the weekend on Travis Scott’s future with Nike after the rapper appeared at the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix in a Y-3 racing jacket.Scott popping up in this jacket over the weekend set social media ablaze. Rightfully so, I would say.Why that matters: This is arguably the most impactful non-athletic Nike collaborator we’ve seen. He’s in the same conversations as Virgil Abloh and Kanye West as far as his impact on the brand goes. Yet, here he is, sporting a jacket made by Nike’s chief rival. That is quite the development. The other side: A person familiar with the matter tells me that Scott is still part of the Nike family. On late Monday evening, Scott also posted a picture on Instagram of his signature Jordan shoes with a caption saying “Know exactly how we rocking.” Even before Scott’s response, some online said that the speculation might be an overreaction. The thinking is that he could just be a fan of Yamamoto and, since he was at the Las Vegas race, maybe he just wanted to wear a racing jacket he liked. With that, it seems, the fire has been sufficiently put out. At least for now. But it likely won’t stop people from running wild with speculation. Yes, but: Travis Scott is calculated. Everything he does is manicured, from the people he makes music with to the clothing he wears. He hasn’t been spotted in a non-Nike sportswear brand in nearly a decade at this point. If he isn’t wearing Nike apparel, it’s because he’s wearing a streetwear or luxury label with his Nike shoes — not a rival sportswear brand. Y-3 is a well-known Adidas property. It’s been under the brand’s umbrella since its founding in 2002.That’s the difference here. That’s why the speculation won’t truly ever go away. It feels like there’s simply no way that Scott didn’t know what he was wearing in that moment. Plus, Adidas’ Y-3 social team also added more fuel to the fire here with a comment under the post of Scott wearing the jacket. All it took was one emoji to break the internet.The big picture: Scott isn’t leaving. This online speculation is just that — speculation. It doesn’t matter how compelling it might be. But there are still so many questions left about why this happened. Maybe it was Scott just wearing a jacket he liked. Or maybe it was him putting pressure on Nike in some sort of negotiation. We don’t know. Regardless of the reason and the current situation, everyone will have eyes on this situation moving forward. Scott’s stunt made sure of that.Jordan Brand Goes Back to SchoolSpeaking of Nike partnerships, Jordan Brand just announced new endorsement deals with a handful of athletes. This time, they’re coming from the college ranks. Details: The brand announced deals with four college stars on Monday. It signed: Cam and Cayden Boozer: The twins are two of the newest recruits on the Duke Blue Devils’ college basketball team. Cam may be a top 3 pick in the NBA Draft next spring. The two are the sons of ex-NBA star Carlos Boozer. Sarah Strong: As just a sophomore at UConn, Strong is already one of the best collegiate women’s basketball players in the US. She helped lead the Huskies to a national championship last season. Strong’s mom, Allison Feaster, was a 10-year WNBA veteran and is currently a league executive.Kiyan Anthony: The Syracuse freshman is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony and already has 1.1 million followers on Instagram as a freshman. Why this matters: This is a smart move from Jordan Brand and Nike as it continues to beef up its basketball roster. I’ve long believed that college sports are fertile ground for sports and fashion to take root. It’s a bit of a risk, considering how volatile the name, image, and likeness market can be and how uncertain the space’s regulatory future is. In this specific case with Jordan brand, it is less risky since all these student athletes are children of prominent athletes. They’re not exactly starting from scratch here. But, generally, NIL deals give brands a chance to get in on the ground level with athletes who will be the faces of their sports in the future.How it works: Let’s use Caitlin Clark as an example. Nike signed her to an NIL deal in 2022 before her massive rise to stardom. By the time she’d gone to the WNBA, Nike already had a signature shoe deal prepared, ready to go for her. The brand had a leg up on the competition because of the previous history there and managed to keep her away from the likes of Under Armour because of it. Between the lines: Some brands are seeing the upside — even outside of the sportswear space. Warby Parker’s deal with Texas QB Arch Manning is a perfect example of this. `It doesn’t always work that way. Every deal won’t work out. Some might turn messy (like Cooper Flagg’s deal with New Balance did). But, given the rewards that may await at the end of the line, the investment is worth it.Champagne Life With A Ma ManiereIn today’s news that I didn’t see coming, James Whitner and the Whitaker Group’s A Ma Maniére luxury brand released its own champagne this week. Details: The brand’s champagne officially launched on Monday. It’s called Maniére Noire and costs $125 per bottle.The champagne is part of the brand’s “Built for This” marketing campaign — the same one it used for its Smoky Muave Air Jordan 6.My take: A champagne launch is such an interesting move. I want to say I’m surprised because of how unexpected this move was, but it fits neatly into the A Ma Maniére’s ethos and the general luxury zeitgeist. Experiential luxury has become a core tenet for brands in this space. It’s certainly been one of A Ma Maniére’s priorities over the last few years. More and more these days, luxury customers don’t just want to buy product from their favourite brands. They want those same brands to provide them out-of-the-box experiences that they can’t get anywhere else. A Ma Maniere wants this champagne to fall into that category.The Cutest Unboxing Ever Saved KithKith’s holiday collaboration with Nike. (Kith) It took the cutest unboxing ever for me to stop being upset about not being able to buy Kith’s holiday collaboration with Nike.What happened: I, like so many others, was so excited for the upcoming Kith x Nike collaboration coming for the holiday season. I had so many plans for the pair of Air Force 1s I just knew I’d get. That is, until I realised that the collection was only for kids. Ronnie Fieg’s daughter unboxing a pair of Air Max 95s is the content I desperately needed and didn’t know it until I saw it. It’s adorable. I can’t lie. Why this matters: Kithmas is a huge thing for the brand every year. There’s always a holiday sneaker or fans of the brand get so excited about buying. This year, for most of those fans, there’s a huge barrier to entry coming with this collection because of the sizing options. But, hey. Whatever. That’s fine! As I always say, everything isn’t for everybody. It’s fine if the kids have this one. It’ll still sell out anyway. Maybe I’ll buy a pair of those mini 95s as a super-expensive Christmas tree ornament. 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 💯Want to dive deeper into an insight from this article? Check out The Brain of Fashion, BoF’s new generative AI tool where you can unlock BoF’s sports archive with a single question.
