The Black Businesses Making Their Mark On The Sneaker Game

The Black businesses making their mark on the sneaker game(1024x450)
Getty Image/Merle Cooper

Sneakers are big business these days. Everyone wears sneakers, from athletes to CEOs to Presidential candidates. What were once a specialized form of apparel designed specifically for sports are now a part of day-to-day life, with different sneakers not only for different games, but entirely different walks of life — no pun intended. There’s a lot of money to be made in footwear — and not just making from the shoes themselves. In honor of Black Business Month, here are some of the Black-owned brands making their mark on the sneaker game.

A Ma Maniére

A New York-based design house with retail locations all over the country, the brand expanded from its Atlanta origins courtesy of founder James Whitner’s commitment to quality, leading to collaborations with high-end luxury brands, Nike and Jordan, and even its own hotel. In 2020, he told Hypebeast, “I thought about the best way I could keep the conversation alive around racism and opportunities for the Black community, [and] the easy answer was to get active.”

Brandblack

Brandblack was founded in 2014 by veteran footwear designer David Raysse, who wanted to offer consumers an alternative basketball shoe in response to Nike’s then overwhelming chokehold over the hoops market. The initial designs were informed by a valuable asset and investor: NBA star Jamal Crawford, who endorsed the brand and wore it on-court until leaving for Adidas in 2016. The brand has since expanded to training, running, and casual offerings while maintaining the same ethos of offering something different from the rest.

Joe Freshgoods

Joe Robinson, the founder and creative director of Joe Freshgoods, hails from the north side of Chicago. After getting his start selling goods online and at pop-ups around his hometown, he’s since collaborated McDonald’s, Nike, Adidas, the Chicago Bears, and New Balance. However, as he put it on his Twitter feed recently, “It’s honestly kinda bigger than sneakers.” His goal, as he put it, “Is always how can I get a bunch of black and brown people a check.”

Katty Customs

In addition to hosting Uproxx’s Fresh Pair with hip-hop superproducer Just Blaze, the sneaker customizer has a customer base that includes superstar athletes and entertainers, and her technique involves making custom kicks look factory-made.

Laced

Owned by James “JB” Baker and former NBA player Eugene “Pooh” Jeter III, Laced is located in Los Angeles’ South Bay area, offering the latest from Nike, Adidas, and more. In addition to selling sneakers and apparel, thought, Laced also serves its community, with toy drives and turkey drives for the holidays. It also sponsors basketball and music events in the city.

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A sneaker store in Chicago, Illinois, it’s one of the longest-tenured shops of its kind. Owner Corey Gilkey is a community leader in his own right, and there’s even a docuseries in development describing the store’s history and impact on the both the local community and the sneakerhead community at large.

LØCI

With a mission to “combine fashion with sustainability,” LØCI uses recycled materials and ethically sourced cotton and rubber in its own factories to ensure production sticks close to its values. Co-founders Emmanuel Eribo, Frank Eribo, Philippe Homsy, and Mark Quaradeghini aim to make LØCI a “fashion powerhouse,” and made significant inroads in cross-marketing, partnering with hip-hop star Nicki Minaj for a full line of sneakers earlier this year.

Move Insoles

Developed and launched by sports marketing agent Nate Jones after years of working with NBA players and noticing the wear and tear of the 82-game season on their feet, Move Insoles was partially funded by some of the players themselves — including Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, and Jamal Crawford. The insoles are the first retail insoles designed specifically for basketball, and were developed after taken scans of hundreds of feet to ensure they could work for almost anybody. The brand makes insoles for both pros and everyday athletes, as well as casual insoles to use with ever-popular retros that provide little support for all-day wear.

NinetyNine Products

After working as a designer for Nike, Cole Haan, and more for nearly 15 years, Jeffrey Henderson started his brand by accident when he showed a factory owner a design while on a business trip to China and returned to find that the shoes had been produced to his specifications. “I had to come up with a brand that meant something because he basically called me out,” he told FootwearNews. “I had no plans of creating a brand.” And yet, NinetyNine appears to be thriving, with a slate of simple, casual shoes that push stylistic boundaries.

RSVP Gallery

Virgil Abloh and Don C established this store in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood back in 2009, and it remains a part of the late Abloh’s ongoing legacy. It isn’t just a sneaker store, either; it’s also a luxury boutique and art gallery.

Saysh

Founded by decorated track athlete Allyson Felix, Saysh was created after Felix left Nike over its refusal to guarantee salary protections for its pregnant athletes (a policy it has since updated). In 2021, Felix launched Saysh with the goal of “crafting sneakers truly shaped to the unique contours of a woman’s foot.” Noting that on average, women have significant differences in foot structure than men (not to mention gait, center of gravity, and so on), the company also works to address disparities in how women are treated in sports, championing pay equity and even offering free size upgrades as women’s feet change due to life changes like pregnancy.

Unrivaled

A new basketball league founded by the WNBA’s Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the 3-on-3 league will debut in January. In addition to providing the highest average salary in US women’s basketball (ranging from $130,000 to more than $500,000), the league will introduce — and potentially popularize — yet another new format for professional basketball in a burgeoning market. As such, it’ll likely also provide a huge platform for similarly rising sneaker brands, or established ones, as they make increased investments into the growth market of women’s sports. Additional investors include soccer star Alex Morgan and Carmelo Anthony.

Joe Freshgoods to Develop Collection to Celebrate Lollapalooza’s 20th Anniversary in Chicago

Joe Freshgoods will bring a new collection to celebrate 20 years of Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Joe Freshgoods will bring a new collection to celebrate 20 years of Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Hitting social media, JFG revealed a merch trailer to announce the partnership.

“Joe Freshgoods for @lollapalooza,” he wrote. “20 years of Lolla in Chicago. It’s about to be a very lit summer in the city.

Lollapalooza returns to Chicago Aug. 1 -4, 2024. The festival will arrive on Tuesday, March 19.

The post Joe Freshgoods to Develop Collection to Celebrate Lollapalooza’s 20th Anniversary in Chicago first appeared on The Source.

The post Joe Freshgoods to Develop Collection to Celebrate Lollapalooza’s 20th Anniversary in Chicago appeared first on The Source.

Joe Freshgoods and New Balance Team for JFG 90/60

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New Balance and Joe Freshgoods unveil “Inside Clothes,” a campaign announcing the arrival of the New Balance x Joe Freshgoods 90/60, as a follow-up to “Outside Clothes,” which debuted in August 2021. The Joe Freshgoods 90/60 will be available exclusively on May 13th and globally, commencing May 30th, for a suggested retail price of $180 as the brand’s latest performance and running-inspired lifestyle silhouette.

The 90/60 model incorporates technology from the 990 series and early Millenium running shapes. The 90/60 takes traditional components like the diamond shape and N detail and applies a modern approach to the new look, staying loyal to the 990 legacy. Robinson, who is known for his exquisite use of color, used soft nude and sky blue colors to evoke the warmth of Black homes.

“Inside Voices is the follow up of Outside Clothes, I want my community to feel represented in the emotions and intimate moments captured in my campaigns,” said Joe “Freshgoods” Robinson. “There’s nothing like warmth and laughter shared around a table once you’re inside with your loved ones. Shutting out the world and focusing on what really matters is what this campaign is about.”

To learn more about “Inside Voices,” follow @joefreshgoods or visithttps://www.newbalance.com/ You can see the sneakers below.

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The post Joe Freshgoods and New Balance Team for JFG 90/60 appeared first on The Source.