Why Is Nike Bringing Back All its ‘Grails’?

I like collecting sneakers, but there are certain shoes that I just know I will never own. They are desirable because of the stories behind them, their cultural significance, and their rarity, but because of all of that, they are also obscenely expensive on the second-hand market. In sneaker culture, they are called “grails.”The Wu-Tang Dunks were a pair of between 36 and 100 pairs of “Goldenrod” yellow and black Dunk Highs, unofficially made under the nose of Nike, with the band’s logo on the heel and tongue. These are among the most hyped Dunks of all time, and sell, at their absolute lowest, for about $10,000 a pair, but usually north of $15,000. Sotheby’s is selling an original pair, right now, for $27,500.Then there are the Linen, which are one of the most coveted colorways of one of the most famous sneakers ever, the Nike Air Force 1. Released in the 2001 Co.JP Japan-exclusive pack, the Linen came right as the internet started making sneaker culture global, and diehard “shoedogs” would fly across the world to try and get a pair. They had a beautiful light brown leather upper, light pink swoosh and sole, and white midsole and laces. These sold for about $700 on the secondary market, but the trick was knowing about them, and knowing where to find them.Finally, one of the most famous “Grail” Sneaker are the “Galaxy” Foamposite; a take on the classic, legendary Penny Hardaway basketball sneaker with a beautiful, purple and blue image of the galaxy on the side, along with a glowing outsole. The shoe released near NASA headquarters on All-Start Weekend, and then the remaining few pairs were available at Foot Locker in New York City, and Nike’s 21 Mercer flagship store. The release was so hectic and excited that it almost cost a riot, someone tried to trade their car to get a pair, and those who posted on social media about having got a pair got threatened over them. Average sale prices sit between $1,500 and $3,000 for a pair.I cite these three examples as, within the next year, Nike will have brought all of them back for retail consumers, at normal prices, when most consumers would never have expected that. The Wu-Tang Dunks come back sometime this fall; the Galaxy Foamposites release next spring; and the Linen Air Force 1s are out, and on my shelf. Please read my review of them here, and for someone who always loved the original Linen Air Force 1s, I am happy to own them. But why is Nike doing this?There are few monocausal events, and here, there are three core factors coming together. Namely, Nike’s performance has been tanking recently, as competitors like On and Hoka have taken larger and larger shares from their running and walking sectors, and the trends have moved from Dunks, Jordan 1s, and Air Force 1s, and onto shoes like the Adidas Samba. Nike is bringing back these silhouettes for the free media attention this gives the silhouettes, and if even one of these causes a lot of attention on social media, and becomes a desired shoe again, hopefully it can bring sales back to mass-market versions of these shoes, and Nike as a brand.Another reason for these releases is that Nike obviously is calculating that reseller culture does not benefit them as much as they would like. They would spend millions advertising and developing a loss-leader sneaker, only for these to get bought out by resellers, who then mark the price up by hundreds. The result was that their target consumer got frustrated, most of the profits of the releases went to third parties, and though this is supposed to guarantee more sales generally, perhaps the bean-counters figured out that just selling more shoes would be the better trade.Finally, and most concerningly for Nike, they are in a creative dry spot, with no new silhouette really getting much attention. The most talked about shoes from Adidas, all of which sell well, are their James Harden and Anthony Edwards basketball sneakers lines, which are brand new designs, from a basketball division that Adidas had long been underserving. Similarly, On and Hoka do not have to rely on archives for their successes; but Nike’s best efforts with the Air Max Scorpion, Air Max DN, and upcoming Olympics shoes have not created much buzz. I do not doubt they will bounce back, but at the moment, their archive is all they have. It is a bit of a sad moment — watching a great company pawn off their most prized archival products — but Nike has been in worse spots before.

Why Is Nike Bringing Back All its ‘Grails’?

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