Good morning, friends! Welcome back to The Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for reading today. Appreciate you giving me a bit of your time this morning. Happy Friday! I hope you’ve got a great weekend planned.

Good news, gang! The Business of Fashion just released its annual State of Fashion report. It explores some of the hottest topics and touchpoints of the fashion industry in 2025, including the tariff conversation, the role AI plays and more. Looks like we have a nice weekend read on our hands, folks.

QUICK HITS:

Alright, let’s get down to business.

Sephora Links With the NBA

Sephora has been keen to show up on the court and in the field over the last few years. The brand has established itself as a legitimate player in the intersection of beauty and women’s sports.

This week the company spread its reach over to the men’s side as well.

What’s new: Sephora launched its newest partnership with one of the NBA’s marquee teams, the Golden State Warriors.

• The brand is now the official fragrance partner of the Warriors and the Chase Center — where, both, the Warriors and Valkyries of the WNBA play their home games.
• The deal comes with prominent placement at the Chase Center for Sephora, including a fan kiosk in the arena.
• Along with that, the team will produce a season-long digital content series spotlighting players and Warriors dance team members.

Imagine going to the Warriors game while restocking on your favourite skincare products or going home with a new fragrance instead of a t-shirt. Or, more simply, imagine seeing Draymond Green in a Sephora ad campaign. That all was unthinkable just a year or two ago. It sounds like a fever dream, honestly. But look at how quickly times change — it’s our reality now.

The why: Brands are always looking for opportunities to scale and bring in new audiences. There’s a vast audience of male consumers in the sports space that haven’t traditionally engaged with the brand. That’s especially the case when it comes to fragrances.

Between the lines: Sephora isn’t the only company chipping away at this marketplace. Other beauty, skincare and fragrance brands are breaking into men’s sports, too.

What we’re witnessing here is an arms race among beauty and self-care brands to crack the code with these male audiences. They’re collecting partnerships with athletes and leagues like they’re the Infinity Stones, all in an effort to meet this untapped audience where it’s at — at the game alongside their favorite athletes. For the avid sports fan, there’s no better way to convince them that your product is worth their time.

The other side: While I think the investment is smart and worth exploring, another part of me wonders whether the juice will actually be worth the squeeze. It’s still early, but it’s worth noting that none of these partnerships have popped off yet. At least we don’t have evidence that it has yet.

That doesn’t mean that it won’t. But it also might mean that some of these brands and partnerships may just be a bit too niche for the general male sports fan. Maybe it brings in a slight amount of new consumers, but I can’t imagine these brands would invest so much in these partnerships for marginal gains.

The bottom line: At some point, someone needs to see big returns. Otherwise, all of this is for nothing.

The Next Step For Salomon

Amer Sports had itself a week. I mean that in the best way possible.

Details: The company’s third-quarter results revealed a 30 percent sales boom for the company year over year.

• A large part of that was the performance of the company’s Outdoor Performance segment, which is headlined by Salomon Footwear and Salomon Winter Sports Equipment.
• Revenue for the segment jumped by 36 percent year over year to $724 million with a large chunk of that coming from Salomon’s momentum across markets.

Company CEO James Zheng called out Salomon Footwear’s “exceptional” growth alongside a big push from Arc’Teryx as part of its strong quarter.

The backdrop: Salomon’s growth over the last few years has been well-documented across the industry. The ski brand was among those that rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers sought more ways to stay active and go outdoors. After that initial burst, it found staying power through fashion.

After seeing these results and the confidence executives at Amer Sports have in the brand, it seems clear to me that Salomon has yet another level to reach. It feels like it might be inching closer and closer to it.

Here’s what I mean: Salomon won’t ever be mentioned with the Nike’s and Adidas’ of the world, but has it ever been viewed the same way as the other challenger brands? I don’t think so. People don’t compare it to, say, New Balance, Asics or Puma.

That makes total sense. Those are multi-billion-dollar brands. Salomon is just a small piece of Amer Sports’ bigger picture.

Yes, but: Salomon’s strong quarter has me believing it could be more. We’ve seen that there’s more meat on this bone to chew on.

• Salomon has done several high-profile collaborations in 2025. It’s worked with high-profile fashion conglomerates like Maison Margiela as well as notable fashion designers like Sandy Liang.
• The brand’s latest collaboration with Aries is one of the most fun sneakers I’ve personally seen all year.

What’s next: We’ll begin to see Salomon in the spotlight more at the top of the year. The brand designed the uniforms for the volunteers at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. That will be a massive moment for the brand.

• It’s not the same as an athletic partnership with a team or an athlete, but it will keep the brand in people’s faces during the biggest sporting event of the year.
• Think of it the same way you’d think of Ralph Lauren sponsoring the US Open, including ball crew shirts featuring enormous polo logos.

The bottom line: If 2025 has been a big year for Salomon, we should expect even bigger things for 2026.

Red Bull Racing Has a Shoe Deal

Footwear isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Formula 1 racing, but it seems to be a bit of a priority for Red Bull Racing.

What’s new: The team announced a new multi-year extension with independent footwear company Athletic Propulsion Labs, making it the team’s long-term footwear sponsor both on and off the track.

• The two sides have been working together since APL first signed on with Red Bull in 2023.
• The new contract extension will keep the two sides partnered together through the 2026 Formula One season, APL founders Adam and Ryan Goldston said in a press release.

The Backdrop: APL is a challenger brand in the performance footwear space. The luxury performance footwear brand was founded in 2009 by the Goldston twins and made its mark with the APL Concept 1 — a shoe built with compression springs said to add a bit of extra oomph to the wearer’s vertical jump (which is why it’s been banned by the NBA).

APL makes lifestyle shoes, too, but it’s bread and butter are performance and training. For example, the brand built the APL Podium specifically for Red Bull Racing last year.

Why this matters: The footwear space in Formula 1 feels a bit underutilised to me. Of course, there are collaborations like what Adidas has with Mercedes-AMG Petronas or what Puma has with Ferrari. But the category feels secondary when you think about everything those brands do.

APL’s Red Bull partnership is one of the company’s biggest priorities — so much so that they built a specific sneaker for it. As an observer, I’m excited to see how that prioritisation evolves through the years and whether other brands try to emulate it at all.

Devin Booker’s Sequel Starts Now

Remember on Monday when I said Nike had been mum on NBA All-Star Devin Booker’s new signature shoe? Well, Nike began the Book II rollout on Tuesday. Impeccable timing.

The details: Booker debuted the shoes while warming up. Like the Book 1, the shoe takes inspiration from some of Booker’s favourite Nike silhouettes.

• The upper’s shape is borrowed from the Nike Air Spiridon and the Nike SB Nyjah 2, which is Nyjah Huston’s signature shoe.
• The shoe’s outsole has the same herringbone traction pattern that the Air Force 1 has.

Remaking Booker’s signature shoe with classic colorways and designs from Nike models of the past was a staple for the Book 1. It seems clear that we’re going in the same direction with the Book 2.

My take: I can’t say these are my favourite.

It’s fine to be inspired by models of the past, but when a shoe’s entire foundation is built on that it makes me question whether it’s something that is worth me having — especially when it’s built off of classics like the Spiridon and the Air Force 1. Since those classics already exist, it makes me want those instead of the new.

But, hey. Maybe, with some time, the Book 2 will win me over.

#TheKicksWeWear

This is the community section of the newsletter where you (Yes, 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.

LET’S GET IT! My favorite part of the day!

First, the homie Jason got us started with these Adidas Predator joints. They look so good. The material has aged so well.

Then the homie Dandin came through with the Nike Boots. Shoutout to the DMV. This did NUMBERS back in my day.

Then the homie TB came through in the Bodega 990v3s. I can’t explain to y’all how much I wore this shoe back in 2021. It turned into a beater for me.

Then my guy Warren finished things off with his little one in the A Ma Maniére AJ1. This is the stuff you just love to see, man.

Great stuff, gang!

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 💯