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 all had a nice weekend! It’s still blisteringly cold here in the DMV. Pro-tip: It’s probably not a great idea to go outside in some New Balance 990s when there’s an inch of snow on the ground. You’ll ruin your socks. Oh, and the salt. Our brilliant executive editor, Brian, reminded me of the salt. Ruins the shoes. Yup. I need to invest in a good pair of boots, it seems.

Today’s send is a big one. We get into the sneaker of the year convo for the first time here at The Business of Fashion. Plus, Lei Takanashi and I make our respective SOTY picks. You’ll love Lei’s. Mine? Not so sure you’ll remember it.

Anyway, let’s jump in.

QUICK HITS:

Now, let’s dive in.

The Sneakers That Mattered Most

The sneaker of the year discussion has become more of a tradition among sneaker and streetwear enthusiasts than a simple conversation. Every year, around December, we have the same debate about the year’s most popular sneakers. Usually, the conversation ends in something at least close to a consensus.

But this year, the only consensus seemed to be that there was no consensus. That’s why The Business of Fashion decided to jump in on the SOTY conversation for the first time.

• We’d noticed that the impassioned defences from posts on X and comments on Instagram and TikTok weren’t reserved for just one shoe — it was the case for many.
• And when the traditional hypebeast media platforms released lists displaying their top models for the year, the chorus of comments and posts seemed to grow even louder in opposition. No one seemed to be getting it right.

My colleague, Lei Takanashi, and I decided to give it our best shot.

How we did it: We set out to figure out a way to both quantitatively and qualitatively define what the sneaker of the year is for 2025. We leveraged consumer data and insights from leading sneaker and streetwear enthusiasts to identify the proper SOTY candidates. We even asked you for your opinion here to give us even more insight.

• We used resale data from StockX to measure the secondary market and track which sneakers consumers were willing to pay more than retail to own.
• We also gathered data from launch platforms like EQL and trend forecasting services such as Trendalytics to determine what resonated not just with collectors but the broader market.
• We asked 19 different experts for their opinions on the SOTY, ranging from creatives who’ve released footwear, including industry stars like The Whitaker Group founder James Whitner to media executives like Hypebeast’s Kevin Ma.
• We also polled nearly 200 readers from this newsletter to see what their individual SOTY picks were for 2025.

What we found: Our hunch was right. There was no real sneaker of the year — instead, there were a handful of sneakers that mattered.

• 17.5 percent of the respondents in our reader poll wrote in another shoe rather than the 10 we initially picked.
• Most experts went their own way, with only four shoes getting votes from more than one expert (and in each case it was a grand total of two): Adidas’ EVO sl, Adidas’ Jellyfish, Jordan Brand x Infinite Archives’ Air Jordan 17 and the Awake NY x Jordan Brand Air Jordan 5.

The big picture: At the root of all of this is the fragmentation of the footwear marketplace has experienced over the last few years.

• Nike surrendering mind share to challenger brands over the years has left room for consumers to explore more with the footwear industry leader’s biggest competitors like Adidas, New Balance and others. Even Vans was in the mix this year.
• At the same time, to bring consumers back in, Nike released a lot of heat itself this year alongside its innovations in sports. It released interesting collaborations with Nigel Sylvester, Awake NY, Corteiz, Levi’s and more that people fell in love with.

The bottom line: Sneaker lovers really got to have their cake and eat it, too, in 2025. There was something for everyone to latch onto. Should we expect the same outcome in 2026? Well, that might depend on how real Nike’s bounce back is.

But, at least for now, the overall market seems to be thriving — even if it is split.

One Thing Missing

You didn’t think we’d have the SOTY conversation without giving you our own picks, did you? We saved them for the newsletter.

Here’s why: We didn’t think making an SOTY pick fit the original piece. We didn’t want to steer readers in any way — we just wanted to give them data and perspective. But here, in TKYW, we wanted to dive into our process and the details a bit more.

So, with that…

Lei’s pick:

I was a little surprised that “Honey Black” Air Max 95s by Corteiz wasn’t anyone else’s SOTY. My guess is because this wasn’t necessarily a new sneaker collaboration in 2025 but just an additional colorway that complemented the original trio of Corteiz Air Max 95s that debuted in 2023.

Yet these releases being so fresh in my head only made the “Honey Blacks” even more desirable. It felt like a second chance for anyone who wasn’t able to cop what was originally a streak of regionally exclusive Air Max 95 drops. These shoes literally seemed impossible to buy unless you participated in the hypebeast Hunger Games, only held at one-day pop-ups in London, Paris, and New York City.

However, what really sealed this as the SOTY for me, beyond the hype built around the first Corteiz 95s, was witnessing 1,000 people rush into a fenced schoolyard in East Harlem to buy these inside a Corteiz-branded school. That alone created a real, tangible moment and story around these shoes that will forever stamp them into history of insane NYC sneaker releases. And honestly, taking over an entire schoolhouse tops other NYC sneaker drops Corteiz held inside a Lower East Side bodega and at Tom Dick & Harry — an OG mom and pop sneaker boutique in Brooklyn.

Yes, the “Honey Blacks” likely lost some points amongst hardcore collectors this year for being a global release that was also widely available through Nike’s SNKRS App and Corteiz’s own webstore. But personally, a good sneaker should have a great story behind it beyond just losing a raffle. While great campaigns and pop-ups can do that, as shown with sneakers by Joe FreshGoods or Awake, Corteiz seems to constantly up the ante.

Sykes’ pick:

My pick is a bit unconventional. It’s not a heavily marketed collaboration with a large marketing budget, but I thoroughly enjoyed the “Still Water” New Balance 2000.

In a year defined by newness and innovation across the footwear market, the 2000 just struck me as something that was different and interesting. I hadn’t seen it before, and that drew me closer to it.

Of course, it’s reminiscent of the New Balance 9060 with its chunky outsole, but it feels a bit smoother. And it’s worth noting that this shoe was a complete remake of an old New Balance silhouette from the Y2K era. But it breaks New Balance’s rules with its streamlined mesh upper, rather than using multiple layers of that premium suede material. There’s a futuristic vibe to it that just works for me.

A handful of 2000 collaborations have been released, including the rapper Aminé’s glow-in-the-dark Biblioteca pair. Joe FreshGoods also released a pink pair exclusively in Paris during fashion week over the summer that I’d have loved to get my hands on someday.

But, to me, neither quite tops the inline “Still Water” model. It’s an instant classic that checked every box for me and a shoe that defined my summer.

All Eyes On Nike

Speaking of Nike, this is quite a big week for the brand. The company is holding its second-quarter earnings call for fiscal year 2026 on Thursday.

The backdrop: Just three months ago, in October, Elliott Hill announced Nike’s first year-on-year growth for the first time in five quarters.

• The growth was modest at just one percent, but it was still a massive win considering how long it’d been since the industry’s leader saw such a gain.
• That slight gain could reasonably be considered the biggest financial win of the Hill era.

What was particularly interesting about it was that the gain came amid tariff concerns that the company believed might have a larger negative impact on it. It essentially came out neutral when taking the brand’s margin cuts into consideration, which isn’t sustainable long-term but was at least workable for the quarter.

What to expect: Analysts are expecting modest gains from Nike, once again, this quarter. But, unlike last quarter, this call will likely set the expectations for the company’s next calendar year. It should be less about clearing up the previous regime’s mistakes and more about the expectations for the current team.

• Hill has his team set up the way he wants it and has purposefully recentered the brand’s strategy around sports.
• The company also has huge moments set up to show off in the first half of the year, starting with the 2026 Winter Olympics in February and the World Cup in June.

He might have been in that executive chair for a year now but, to me, the Elliott Hill era truly starts on Thursday. I can’t wait to hear what it sounds like.

Cooking With Diallo

It’s always neat when an athlete’s brand gets put on my radar. This week, I was put on to Diallo by NFL quarterback Tyrod Taylor and his co-founder Dex Robinson.

The backdrop: Taylor, who is currently quarterbacking for the New York Jets, and Robinson, who has collaborated with brands like Wales Bonner, Nike and more, launched their luxury streetwear brand in 2021. They’ve released multiple collections through the years.

What I like about it: The brand is unapologetically Black. It leans into history and heritage and it’s not shy about it. From dressing Black athletes across sports to taking a trip to Essence Festival this summer, Diallo has really leaned in on Black culture to provide itself a foundation in both culture and design.

The latest: The brand is throwing a chef’s table dinner party on Tuesday night, featuring a star-studded guest list and food cooked by several chefs from historically black colleges and universities around the country.

• The dishes at the event will be soul food inspired and come with shared stories behind them.
• Among the guests expected to attend are rappers like The Clipse and Wale to other athletes into fashion like PJ Tucker.

Experiences are becoming a big part of luxury fashion these days. People don’t want to just buy your brand — they want to experience it. This dinner falls into that bucket. The fact that the chefs cooking will be coming from HBCUs is a cherry on top.

I’ll have my eyes on Diallo in 2026. You should too.

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 💯