A quick note

First — if you’re thinking about starting a brand in the activewear space OR launching merchandise (hoodies, hats, shirts, etc.) of any kind…

…We’ve compiled an ungodly amount of research into these organized reports for you to check out.

They’ll give you everything you need to start as a brand.

Check out the reports

We’ve written market reports on: tennis, running, golf, and a complete guide on how to source your own blanks.

Second — this week we talk about footwear, the Olympics, and ideas for creative imagery. As always, we appreciate yall for reading and letting us share our ideas.

Let’s go 🚀 

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Oren’s thoughts on the state of footwear

One of the most interesting brand-scapes of our current moment is footwear.

To set the stage, Nike is at their lowest brand equity ever while I’ve been alive. As social sports and running culture dominate, we’re in an odd world I imagine the brand never expected, where if you ask any serious runner or friend into the sport what they run in or where to start, no one recommends Nike shoes right now.

ON has solidified their place by appealing to many demographics, and followed up with a string of excellent collaborations with folks like Loewe, Post Archive Faction, are creating content with Roger Federer and Zendaya and have grabbed a hold of what was once squarely Nike’s market share.

Personally, I choose to wear APL, because they obsess over details the way I would, their running and workout shoes designed by people you know are absolutely meticulous in both style and performance.

Then you cross over into lifestyle. The hype of sneaker reselling has thankfully faded, many see that pair of Travis Scott’s or AJ-1’s as a negative signaller versus a positive one.

And in it’s stead have come a myriad of throwback shoes (shoutout to Clayton’s noted love of Sperrys) and options from other brands, but also an incredible burgeoning scene of newer footwear designers.

We harp on this newsletter a lot about the generational opportunity we have of being able to access the global supply chain to start a brand. The fact that any of us can go on the internet, and order 100-1000 of a thing and test it, with the quality of any major brand.

We may not have their bulk price breaks, but we also don’t have their immense HR and technical debt that eats up that margin in antiquated methods and systems. It is a truly amazing time to be competitive at almost anything.

The example that speaks to me most on this is John Geiger. I’ve followed him as a designer and bought his shoes for years, but recently he dropped a lifestyle shoe whose details rival any major brands.

A unique look, every part of the function thought through. Not only was it a shoe I thought was great, its spoken about as a sneaker of the year contender right next to any Nike product. And it’s done by an independent.

Match that with other brands whose styles I’ve come to love.

Local favorite Clearweather, leveraging the Vibram economy to be able to create products.

Maison Yasuhira, ascending off a unique sole

Roa, elevating hiking

3D printer Zellerfeld providing slots for 3D printed shoes from a variety of notable designers

Loafers from Duke & Dexter

And Blackstock and Weber.

Then we enter the current state of sports marketing and athletics. Name, Image, Likeness deals give brands of all sizes access to college athlete marketing, many of whom are extremely social savvy. I worked extensively with Open Sponsorship on a brand campaign to support retail last year and was shocked at the athlete availability for relationships.

While at the same time not ONE of our signature athletes have a shoe worth mentioning.

Look how Nike did Ja Morant

Jason Tatum

Luca Doncic

This is converging on a moment where market share is more open than ever. Adidas imagining a life after Yeezy, Nike on the downward spiral, more people buying “lifestyle” shoes outside of major brands than ever. Where a unique look or collab shown on social media says more than a hype or expensive one. Where athletes may be better off with a lifestyle shoe, or perhaps building on their own.

This is a reminder of the opportunities for modern builders, how many micro-businesses can be born out of some savvy, time and persistence.

To that end, about 9 months ago I started working on my own shoes for my new Valuable brand. Three silhouettes— two lifestyle, more “skate” shoes, and one elevated runner.

Because I believe we’re entering the era of niche footwear, where with the exception of mass performance, we’re going to see hundreds of brands showing interesting creative visions people lean into versus the ubiquity of the resale culture era, where you might have had a unique colorway, but were buying into the same brands that do everything but make interesting sneakers.

I found a great vendor in China through Pietra, I’m working on the runner with a Vibram sole with a Mees, a factory in Portugal. I’ll be documenting the process for anyone that wants to learn the challenges that go into it, starting with this Youtube.

I’m releasing them next week, the list for info is at valuablestudios.com.

-Oren

How smaller brands show up at the Olympics

One of my favorite things to watch is There’s a perception that large brands like Ralph Lauren, Nike, and Adidas own the entirety of the Olympic uniform circuit and that independent brands can’t step in and create their own energy for athletes and teams.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. And the reality is, it’s one of the more underrated ways for brands to make their mark during this iconic sporting event, especially as an organic moonshot campaign.

Bandit Running made custom-sponsored kits for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Cariuma, a sustainable skate shoe brand outfitting skateboarders, is making kits for Portugal, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.

Left on Friday, premium active swimsuit brand, made these slick bikinis, cover-ups, and accessories for Canada’s women’s beach volleyball team.

Rowing Blazers even made custom uniforms for El Salvador to use during last Olympic’s opening ceremony.

It’s obviously too late to jump in now, but if you’re a brand looking at getting more embedded into sporting events and activations like this, start planning now.

Imagery that distorts reality

Going from good to great art direction is partially about reverse-engineering how you present your product in different settings.

Here are two examples to reference what we mean…

1. Loewe’s F/W24 campaign with Kit Connor + Dan Levy

Loewe and photographer Juergen Teller nailed it with their fall campaign featuring Kit Connor + Dan Levy by shrinking the backdrop and setting. It’s quirky, fun, playful, and it’s instantly memorable.

2. CAYL x HOKA

Another way of accomplishing this is to shrink the subject or model to be smaller than the product. What’s compelling about the creativity in this is that the model shows what you do with the product being sold while using the product as an example.

Difficult to do.

Inquiries? Shoot us a note here: [email protected]

We’d love to chat!

Oren & Clayton ❤️ you