Whether Adidas CEO Bjrn Gulden is that good or its just plain luck he arrived at Adidas and left Puma when he did, all of a sudden it appears the brands has a bunch of tiny little hooks to hang some little caps on. Samba is a thing, Yeeezy Day was a smashing success, Messis thrilling-beyond-belief winning goal was like a pink Adidas ad, Bad Bunny continues to resonate and sneaker culture is liking the Crazy 1 Storm Trooper.
Someone I was chatting with argued that all of these things are good, but they dont add up to enough weaponry for Adidas to go to war with arch enemy Nike in a lasting way. We agreed that the coming Fear of God Athletics launch (which will likely be limited to Adidas direct until the spring) could become something meaningful, but at the moment, it remains a question mark.
Still, whether the positives may be weak sauce or not, theyre still something. And I like Guldens spirit. As a former professional soccer player, you know he has some ice in his veins and is deeply competetive.
I think about the fact Gulden could have released all leftover Yeezy through Adidas direct and garner better margins, but instead he chose to give a portion to wholesale partner accounts with an array of SKUs that will begin launching August 2nd.
In so doing he killed two birds with one stone: Stay true to his promise to be a better wholesale partner but also face down Nike on shared turf and force the customer to make a choice. After all, this isnt 2021 when the target customer was flush with cash and buying up everything in sight. Choices are being made. Do you buy the Yeezy 350 in a favored colorway that is likely to be never released again or do you purchase yet another pair of Air Jordan 1s.
A buyer I know has another theory: Adidas simply doesnt have the capacity to distribute in a timely manner all the Yeezy shoes now sitting in warehouses and had no choice but to bring in wholesale.
As to how many more Adidas drops there will be, Ive heard conflicting accounts, ranging from additional launches from now through November, and even as far out as spring 2024! Whichever it ends up being, the August drop is not the final drop.
Just drilling down a bit further on Yeezys return to wholesale, given Ye was an equal opportunity offender, there has been some grumbling that Adidas is over-emphasizing the amount of money being donated to Jewish charities. In fairness, however, while two of the organizations Adidas is donating to are focused on antisemitism, one is The Philonise and Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, which is focused on eliminating police brutality, criminal justice reform and systemic racism.
In advance of the first wholesale launch, there is some mystery surrounding which retailers took distribution of Yeezy. Its presumed that it was offered to all accounts that carried it in the past, but there is some talk that a prominent chain decided against stocking the brand, whether to avoid the controversy or the sales bump that will create a headwind this time next year.
Given how rough it is out there, I personally cant understand turning away a brand that will evaporate on arrival especially since the target customer for the most part views Adidas as more in the wrong than Ye. The one exception might be Dicks whose target is a suburban mom, and yet thats not the prominent chain rumored to have turned down the launch.
It looks like Birkenstock will go public on the NY Stock Exchange as soon as September with a valuation as high as $8B. (Totaling winging it here but I nominate BIRK as the ticker, which appears to be available.) According to FT($), Birkenstock took private equity money for the first time when the LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton bought a majority stake in the company in 2021 in a deal valuing Birkenstock at 4B. Founded by Johann Adam Birkenstock circa 1774 (pre-U.S. independence!), the company will maintain minority share ownership by two family members. At the time it took investment, the company said the money would be used to expand in markets including China and India, as well as grow its ecommerce business.
For those curious about L Catterton, according to FT the company was formed in 2016 when LVMH and Bernard Arnaults family holding company merged with U.S. private equity firm Catterton. The company now manages approximately $30B in assets, which include fashion brand Ganni and fitness app ClassPass, and itself is considering a public listing.
On its latest earnings call, Puma let it be known the brand’s reprised collaboration with Rihanna‘s Fenty label will launch in September 2023. According to the Herzogenaurach, Germany-based brand, the partnership with Rihanna is “a multi-year partnership, in which she will co-create new collections with us, with a special focus on unisex and kids ranges.”
The brand also noted she will provide her input on the terrace trend, a reference to shoes popularized by working class U.K. soccer fans in the ’70s, a period when soccer stadiums included lower-price terrace or standing sections. Puma terrace silhouettes include the Palermo, Super Team and King Avanti.
We have heard rumors this is a family affair with design input coming from Rihanna along with her beau A$AP Rocky. Already Rihanna has been spotted in a pair of King Avanti sneakers and recently she was photographed holding her sleeping son, RZA, while also toting a baby-sized pair of Puma x Fenty kicks.
Emily Obergs Sporty & Rich has opened its first store in SoHo at 133 Greene Street. In a switch from the sweet treats served at Kith (where Oberg once worked), Sporty & Rich has a health bar that serves up fresh juice and bone broth. There is also a private room where customers can schedule facials and massages.
Vans has tapped Lanie Alabanza-Barcena aka the lovely and talented Miss Lawn to direct apparel and accessories design for OTW by Vans, a new premium shoe and apparel division, launched at an event held during Paris Fashion Week Men‘s. The brand also brought on former Nike designer Dylan Petrenka to design footwear.
VF Corp: Im listening to the Q1 earnings call as I type this, and even though the Vans numbers were super ugly (revenue down 22% with wholesale down 40% in the Americas), the stock is up a touch in after hours trading because most numbers landed about where analysts thought they would. As for outlook, the company stated in a press release, Revenue is now expected to be modestly down to flat for the year, reflecting ongoing weakness in our wholesale business and a longer than anticipated turnaround for Vans.
Decker Outdoor Corp: Its a good thing Hokas shoes are very cushioned because the brand literally carried the company on its back during Q2. Overall revenue for the company was up 10% to 676M during the quarter all because of Hoka with revenue down for all other Decker brands. Its a story Wall Street can live with and one thats propeled the stock up approximately 40% ytd.
Just as interesting as the numbers is how CEO David Powers flip-flopped when he described brand. Back in May, Powers described Hoka as playing in a very authentic performance space, and while he conceded, people are wearing our shoes on casual occasions and for comfort in walking, he concluded, we are a hardcore performance brand.
Whatever the marketing department likely spent thousands of dollars and months hammering out went out the window in the most recent earnings report when commenting on the appeal of the new Hoka Transport, Powers said, There is more aperture and appetite for Hoka to be meaningful in the lifestyle space, whether that is color ups or fabric changes or design details on some of our franchise styles
Crocs Inc: The company gave the appearance of solid earnings for Q2, but once again HeyDude ruined the party with revenue coming in at $239.4M versus an expectation of $250.3M. Piling on, the company let it be known the slip-on shoe brand would grown 14%-18% rather than prior guidance of mid-20% growth. Weary of the ongoing underachiever, Wall Street dinged the name, causing the stock to drop around 15%.
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