Did Yeezy jump over the Jumpman? In terms of hype and consumer draw, 2015 was the year of Kanye West and there’s no question that his new line of footwear called the Yeezy Boost did huge numbers for adidas. Every single release thus far – from the original Yeezy Boost 750 to the upcoming “Blackout” and Yeezy Boost 350 “Oxford Tan” – will be met with incredibly high demand on both retail and aftermarket, so it’s clear that the three-stripes did well for themselves when it decided to pull ‘Ye away from the Swoosh. But for these huge companies, what it comes down to is cold hard cash and future outlook, and for one month counting from Black Friday, Jordan Brand will have sold more Retros than adidas will sell Yeezy Boosts all year long. We won’t go into the actual figures, but the Aqua 8s, 72-10 AJ11s, Maroon 6s, Public School x Air Jordan 12s, and the upcoming Chrome 8s are way over 1,000,000 pairs in production (and we’re not even counting the Air Jordan 1.5, GS releases, and so on). In comparison, the amount of every Yeezy Boost since its debut doesn’t match that number.
Are we saying that Jordans are more popular than Yeezy Boosts this year? Of course not. The point here is that while adidas and Kanye West achieved what they had hoped, 2015 was business as usual for the brand that Michael built, and Yeezy will need a lot more Boost to jump over Jumpman on a financial standpoint. According to the man who won “Shoe of the Year” award from Footwear News, adidas didn’t even front all the money to help him launch Yeezy Season II, and even now his newly launched garments are available still at deep discount. Nevertheless, Yeezy Boosts will continue to release in new colorways and some new models are likely in the works once people begin to tire themselves of the 350 or 750, but Jordan Brand will Remaster and re-release and re-collaborate without an end in sight. Just think about that for a moment before you believe that Jordan Brand is struggling in any way shape or form, because seeing a pair of Retros on the shelf at your local Foot Locker just means that the brand already made its money.