Good morning, friends! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for reading today! We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.
I hope you had a fantastic weekend. My jaunt to the Rhode Island Seafood Festival was a success. Did I spend too much money? Probably. Did I eat way too many lobster and scallop rolls? Definitely. But you don’t count your pockets or your calories while vacationing!
Anyway, let’s dive into the newsletter. We’ve got a special guest today!
Telling Athletes’ Stories With Kyle Smith
Every sport these days is trying to capitalize on the fusion of sports and fashion, but very few have managed to do it quite like the NFL. Kyle Smith is the mastermind behind it all.
The league hired him as its fashion editor last fall. Since then, they’ve hit the ground running. The NFL has launched several collaborations, ranging from licensing deals with luxury brands like Veronica Beard to official partnerships with the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch and Breitling. Some of the NFL’s biggest names have also popped up on runways around the world at fashion week.
Already, this season, Smith is spreading that influence even more in areas that you wouldn’t even think of.
Hellmann’s — yes, the mayonnaise brand — has branched out into fashion, believe it or not. It launched a new fashion collection called House of Hellmann’s, designed by Daniel Silverstein, also known as Zero Waste Daniel. Smith styled pieces from Silverstein’s collection for New York Giants’ linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, who wore them on Sunday at the Giants’ season-opening game.
Hellmann’s showed off the collection at an event last Wednesday. Smith appeared in some of the pieces from Daniel’s collection that he styled. We had the chance to catch up with him to chat about the collection, as well as what this last year has been like for him. Below is our conversation.
Sykes: What was the inspiration for the collection?
Kyle Smith: It was designed by Zero Waste Daniel, who is an amazing designer who works with recycled materials. The collection came out through his designs. We kind of looked at it and were like, “Well, we can add these things,” styling out the rest of the collection. But Daniel is really the mastermind behind everything.
Sykes: It’s been about a year for you as the style editor of the NFL. How has that been?
Smith: It’s come together very naturally, just because it’s something that makes sense. Fashion and the NFL. Fashion and football go together so well. When it comes to my job with the league, it’s just been going so well because it makes sense.
Sykes: What are some of the things you’ve learned in the last year on the job?
Smith: The NFL is full of really cool young men that have so many interests and so many stories to share. And they have so many stories worth sharing. That’s what I really love about fashion — it’s an opportunity for a fan to learn about a player in maybe a way that they didn’t. To learn about a player beyond their stats on the field. What are they interested in? What causes are important to them?
Sykes: When you’re thinking about the success of campaigns, what are some of the things you think about? Is it cultural impact? Sales performance?
Smith: It’s cultural impact. I think what’s really important is making sure that everyone understands that football is for everyone. It’s not just, I think, what it was about a few years ago, where it was about the boys and the men or whatever, and the most masculine person in the room. It’s really for everybody.
I grew up being scared of the boys that played football and now I work in sports and work on these projects. I just saw Kayvon [Thibodeaux]. I ran up to him and gave him a hug because he’s my friend. When I think about these projects, I just want to make sure everyone feels included and welcome in anything that has to do with sports.
Sykes: What was the moment like when you decided that you were going to change football in this way?
Smith: It’s not that I’m trying to change football. That’s a monolith of a being. It’s definitely just… As we were all bored at home through COVID, I just had something in my brain that said, “This is something that has a lot of potential here.” With my previous work with celebrity red carpet styling, I just saw all the potential the tunnel had to tell those same stories and be used to leverage the athletes.
They’re so interesting. They have so much to say. But do they have the platform to say it? I think fashion is an amazing platform. A picture speaks 1,000 words, so a picture of one tunnel outfit says so much more than what anybody could really say. That’s when I realized that this was something I wanted to pursue and to help our athletes tell their stories.
Changes Coming for Foot Locker
Dick’s Sporting Goods’ acquisition of Foot Locker was made official on Monday.
What’s new: Dick’s Executive Chairman, Ed Stack, is taking the lead on Foot Locker’s global business. He’ll work alongside two vice presidents — one for the company’s North American business and another for the company’s international business.
- The company hasn’t yet selected an international VP. It’s chosen former Nike executive Ann Freeman as its VP in North America.
Between the lines: Freeman is a controversial pick. Formerly known as Ann Hebert, she worked at Nike for over 25 years before stepping down in 2021, following a report by Bloomberg that her son, Joe Hebert, used a credit card under her name for his sneaker reselling business.
- An internal investigation at Nike reportedly showed that Freeman did not violate any company policies. However, following the allegations, Freeman still decided to step away.
- She was appointed to AllBirds’ board of directors in 2022.
Why it matters: Freeman’s history makes her a fascinating hire. You’ve obviously got the controversy in the background with her son, but I think we can cast that aside at this point. It’s been four years and she seems to have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
She’s now going to be working for a company in Foot Locker that leans heavily on the company that jettisoned her in Nike.
Be smart: Freeman’s employment history is what makes her a valuable executive at Foot Locker for Dick’s Sporting Goods. Things may have ended on a sour note at Nike, but Freeman worked there for decades and climbed the ladder all the way up to a Vice President job at the brand’s North American division. You don’t get that far if you’re not good.
While Nike has changed drastically in the four years since Freeman’s departure, she’s surely got a firm grasp on the company. That should be a huge advantage for Dick’s as it works to position Foot Locker as a powerhouse in the retail space.
AE On the Football Field
Always love to see a good multi-sport crossover. Adidas is turning Anthony Edwards’ hit AE 1 signature basketball shoe into a football cleat.
What’s happening: Jacksonville Jaguars rookie and former Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter wore the AE 1 cleats on the football field in his NFL debut.
- Adidas dropped a marketing video revealing Hunter’s cleats ahead of the game.
- This is something Adidas has likely been working on for a while. Hunter said he’d love to see a cleated version of the AE 1 back in February during Super Bowl weekend.
Why this matters: The AE 1 is one of the most important Adidas basketball shoes we’ve ever seen. With the AE 2 coming out, I’d wondered if the company would simply let the life cycle of the AE 1 close out quietly as the signature basketball line moved on.
This makes it clear that the answer is no. The AE 1 has taken on a new life in a different category. That’s a brilliant move by Adidas. It keeps the train rolling on a hit sneaker and finds a new way to squeeze more sales out of this run.
Well played.
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 today, gang. We appreciate your time! Hope you enjoyed the newsletter today.
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 💯