Footwear’s Inflation Solution Is a Big Problem

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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! Happy Friday! Hope you had an excellent week.

Please wish me luck this weekend. The NBA draft lottery is Sunday and my Washington Wizards desperately need that top pick. Praying to the basketball gods for a miracle. We’ll see.

In today’s newsletter, we talk about the latest footwear pricing data from Circana, the market research group tracking data from around the industry. Apparently, fewer people are buying footwear these days, but total sales have basically held steady. Inflation for the win, I guess?

Plus, Adidas dropped a new short film starring Timothée Chalamet (basically as Marty Supreme) for its biggest World Cup ad yet. Not only was the spot good, but it’s a huge swing that I think establishes the brand well as football’s leader ahead of the biggest sporting event of the year.

Quick hits:

• Wellness replacing sustainability as a key driver for customers these days is so fascinating. BoF’s Shayeza Walid has more here.
• Rachael Griffiths’ latest on why beauty brands are manufacturing their own drama these days is a must-read.
• Antoine Auvinet, the chief executive of the running brand, SATISFY, is stepping down after a fairly successful two years. This was a shocker.
• I love me a good Mother’s Day sneaker. Menace’s latest Adidas Superstar fits that description with its bright pink tones. This is a fun one — check it out today.
• I know this is one more bullet than usual, but I couldn’t resist adding Pope Leo XIV wearing Nikes in a new trailer for a documentary on the Vatican. You can take the man out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of the man.

Let’s jump in.

Footwear Prices Won’t Stop Rising

Usually, selling less of something is a bad thing, but that hasn’t seemed to harm the footwear industry — at least not quite yet.

Driving the news: A new report from Circana analyst Beth Goldstein revealed that US footwear sales grew by 1 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2026. On the surface, those sales are flat. That’s a bad sign. But there’s a silver lining there for the footwear industry.

• While sales were flat, Goldstein noted that overall units sold actually declined. The industry sold less, but made more. Inflation allowed sales to essentially break even.

What worked: Goldstein pointed out that “styles rooted in activity, comfort and daily wear emerged as the strongest performers.” In other words, versatility worked best for consumers. Footwear that spans multiple categories seemed important to people.

Performance footwear saw a 5 percent sales increase, outperforming the overall market. Performance running and running-inspired silhouettes were major drivers of the category, Goldstein wrote.

Be smart: Stagnation isn’t usually considered a good thing. But when consumer sentiment is hitting all-time lows as looming macroeconomic issues like increased gas prices put pressure on them in other areas of their lives, treading water is better than the alternative in the short term.

The big picture: In the long-term, this should also raise significant concerns across the industry. While higher ticket prices might offset the loss of business right now, price hikes cannot be a permanent solution.

• Costs in other areas will rise, such as transportation and petroleum-based materials. Many of those materials are what make up footwear.
• Plus, tariffs are still a concern on the horizon. The Trump administration has vowed to find a way to restore the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the Supreme Court previously struck down. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has previously asserted they could return by July.

What they’re saying: Earlier this week, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America warned about the impact the potential return of the IEEPA might have on the industry in its testimony before the Office of the US Trade Representative.

“Americans buy more than 2 billion pairs of shoes a year, and footwear already carries an average [duty] rate of 12 percent — six times the rate on most consumer goods,” said Matt Priest, the president of the FDRA, in a statement. “In 2025 alone, duties more than doubled, and consumers are already feeling it.”

The bottom line: Price hikes are not a permanent solution. Profits will eventually come under pressure as consumers lose their appetite for more increases.

Footwear might not be in dire straits just yet, but the groundwork is certainly laid for that moment to come.

Adidas Steps on the Gas

Adidas pulled out one last big stop before the World Cup. It dropped a new ad — titled “Backyard Legends” — featuring Timothée Chalamet and a fairly long list of football stars, including Leo Messi, Trinity Rodman, Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero.

• Watching this ad feels like you’re watching a deleted scene from Chalamet’s Marty Supreme. He frantically (and hilariously) walks Rodman, Bellingham, and Yamal through this decades-old story of three local footballers who became urban legends.
• Throughout the spot, Adidas is throwing haymakers. Its products are everywhere and its biggest stars are participating.
• They even bring Bad Bunny into the mix through a phone call Chalamet has at the beginning and a scene with Messi at the end.

What it’s saying: This isn’t the traditional ad that’s there to sell you a specific product. It’s supposed to sell you on the brand, and not in a trite way that simply delivers the company’s broader message about its own perceived greatness. Instead, it takes an opportunity to show you its history.

• The story Chalamet tells stretches through the 1990s. It shows you the different versions and variations of Adidas’ kits and football products over time.
• Plus, it features all of its big names. Beckham, Messi, Del Piero, Zidane. These are the athletes Adidas has featured through the years. These are the names in this sport that matter the most.

Why it matters: As the World Cup inches closer and closer, brands across fashion are vying for everyone’s attention with collaborations, collections, activations and more. There’s a lot of noise for the average consumer to sift through here, with brands telling them what they’re bringing to the table.

Adidas wasn’t just telling people what its doing with this ad — it’s showing them. And, if its 4.4 million views on X and 1.6 million likes are any sign, the strategy seems to be effective.

Burberry Gets Active

In news I certainly didn’t expect to see, Burberry launched a new activewear line on Thursday. Everybody is getting sporty these days.

Details: The company’s new activewear collection includes your typical pieces like leggings, joggers, hooded jackets, training shirts and more. The colour palette for the lightweight pieces includes the classic Knight blue, along with muted black, beige and grey tones.

• The pricing for the product ranges from $395 for simple pieces like training bras to nearly $1,500 for its technical jackets.

My take: This feels a bit weird to me. I’ll ask the same question here that I did with Pierpaolo Piccioli’s techwear collection for Balenciaga: Who is this made for?

• There’s certainly a segment of luxury consumers who are active and will want clothing specifically for that. But will they be purchasing Burberry activewear?
• What is the value proposition that makes this more attractive than similar pieces from Alo Yoga or Vuori?

Where Burberry can win is in quality. If its pieces are built better and last longer than its competitors, that’d be a big win. But considering how much value matters to consumers in the activewear space these days, it’s worth wondering how much that matters at the prices some of these pieces cost.

The New York Liberty Partners with Coach

Coach announced a new deal with the New York Liberty on Thursday. Honestly, I feel like this announcement video of Ellie the Elephant showing off with a little Coach bag alone makes this worth it. What a mascot.

In all seriousness: It was only a matter of time before Coach found its way into a partnership with a team from the W.

• The luxury brand has been one of the league’s more active partners over the years. It showed up in key moments like the league’s draft and its celebration for Pride Month.
• It’s also worked with star players around the league like Azzi Fudd, Paige Bueckers and more.

The Liberty are one of the league’s most popular teams and one of the favourites to win the championship this year, so Coach’s spotlight has the potential to get pretty bright this season in the sport.

Smart play.

#TheKicksWeWear

This is the community section of the newsletter where you send me your best fits and kicks from the week. Feel free to send submissions to michael.sykes@businessoffashion.com or shoot me a message via social channels @MikeDSykes.

First, the homie Jess got us started with these Air Jordan 8s. What an underrated model.

The homie Mark came through with the Stash Air Force 1. This is how you bring an OG back.

The homie BWalla brought out the Reimagined Bred AJ4s. Very creative pair.

Then the homie Rick Dubb brought out the Mother’s Day Rivalry Lows. I’m pulling mine out for Sunday, too!

That’s the good stuff.

Thanks for reading, gang!

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 💯