The Kicks You Wear: The Collab of the Year With Bimma Williams

Good morning, friends! Happy Friday! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for reading today. I appreciate you giving me a bit of your time.

Done with all that holiday shopping yet? I’m certainly not. I won’t lie to y’all — I feel like I’ve done more shopping for myself than everyone else at this point. Am I ashamed? Yes, a bit. Will I get over it once the packages arrive? Absolutely.

Anyway, let’s jump in.

QUICK HITS:

Now, let’s dive in.

The Need-To-Know on Collabs

A good collaboration is priceless. It unifies brands and allows them to introduce one another to new audiences. But the marketplace is so full of collabs these days, it’s easy to wonder just how many work. But the real question is what makes a good collab? That’s where Bimma Williams comes in.

Williams, the founder of the Collab Lab, spends his days analysing collaborations across fashion and sportswear, seeing what works and what doesn’t. He spent time working on marketing teams with big brands like Nike, Adidas, Saucony and more before branching off into market analysis.

Most recently, Williams released the 2025 “Collab of the Year” report in partnership with brand-tracking firm Tracksuit to identify what makes collabs work. We discussed that and more in the conversation below. Enjoy!

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity

Mike Sykes: How would you describe the quality of the collaboration market in 2025?

Bimma Williams: There’s a conversation bubbling up asking, “Is this the best year in Sneakers?” I struggle with that. This year, we had a smaller amount of projects that were impactful and exciting. I can’t quite say we were seeing things that we hadn’t seen before. We were seeing a lot of experimentation, right? Where I felt like we were seeing a lot of ideas. But I can’t necessarily say that this was the best year. I think we’re trying to figure out where we’re headed.

Sykes: Do you feel like the collaboration marketplace is too noisy right now?

Williams: My sentiment around it is that folks in the marketplace have figured out that collaborations can be a fast path to visibility and chatter. That has been the historical thinking. They think of it as a shortcut. Go find somebody that’s hot in the community. Find a celebrity and — boom — you’re top of mind. What’s happened with that strategy is that the question “What are we solving?” has started to fall into the background. So instead of getting like, you know, something new and different, we’re getting a lot of the same.

Sykes: What’s a good example of something innovative in the marketplace in 2025?

Williams: It’s outside of sneakers, but Meta and Oakley, to me, was actually innovative. I’m a runner, so when I was looking at the pieces of eyewear that they released, I was looking at it through the lens of athletics and endurance. That’s going to change how we work out, how we play golf, how we go for runs, how we go for rides on our bikes. The consumer is looking for sneakers to do that again, like when Joe FreshGoods went to New Balance or when Kerby [Jean-Raymond] was at Reebok.

Sykes: Are there any brands you think could be doing a bit better?

Williams: One of the brands that I see with such a large opportunity in the marketplace would be On Running. We noticed it to be more of an affluent, white-leaning brand. Not so much into sneaker culture. But I see them making these strides to try and connect with that world. You see them try things with Zendaya, with Burna Boy now. And you’re seeing them try to figure it out — how can they be part of culture?

I think they have very interesting technology — especially that upper that sprays on. I think there’s something uniquely interesting about that and I think that’s something that the consumer would see and say “I haven’t seen that before.” From an innovation standpoint, there’s a big opportunity to connect the dots and figure out their authentic way. I think the authenticity part is what they have to figure out.

Sykes: You took a real dual-sided approach to the Collab of the Year report from a qualitative and quantitative standpoint. Why?

Williams: I came up working in retail, but I also came up as a shopper and a collector. I’ve always looked at our space from two lenses. A lot of the lists that we see are never quite clear on what is grounding the thinking. Someone’s list is going to be different from someone else’s list. I can understand that. But what I struggle with is that we don’t have a center place where we’re like “OK, these are the parameters we can agree on that make sense.”

Sykes: You actually posted your methodology for the report. What was the thinking behind that?

Williams: I’ll be honest with you — I have a ton of respect for my colleagues over at Complex and I think they have a beautiful platform. Where I think there is room for opportunity… What I think the marketplace is asking is “How did you get there?” when certain things make these lists. So that’s part of it.

The second part is we don’t know who is being influenced to put certain things on a list. So I thought it was really important to work with Tracksuit, who is agnostic. They have no investment from Nike, Adidas, Converse, New Balance, Reebok — any of these brands.

I really wanted to offer something and share the methodology publicly so that people could use it for anything. I’m like, “Go create your own list.” Use this index and this framework. Use it across different industries.

Sykes: After doing all of the research and work on your report, what was your biggest takeaway?

Williams: The big takeaway for me in this is that it’s specific. Specificity beats scale. Brands have to be more meaningful and intentional in their approach with their collabs in order to get the outcome that they want. It’s replacing “spectacle” with “me.” That is the outcome that I am looking for. I’m looking for consumers to either validate that and say, “Actually, I want spectacle,” or “I want both.”

Jeff Staple’s Marketing MistakeA Nike SB “Pigeon” Dunk. (Jeff Staple via Instagram)

Jeff Staple, the founder of the STAPLE brand and creator of the legendary Nike SB “Pigeon” Dunk, disappointed many in the sneaker community this week.

What happened: Staple posted a video on Instagram of him hanging up what seemed to be a pair of the OG “Pigeon” Dunks on a traffic lightpost in New York City’s Lower East Side as a marketing stunt for his new 21 Mercer St. STAPLE store location. He said he was giving “something special” to the city by hanging the sneakers up.

Yes, but: As it turns out, the sneakers were fake.

A fan knocked the sneakers down and posted a picture of them online, where the eagle-eyed sleuths of the sneaker community almost immediately spotted the differences between the real pair and the fakes.

Why this matters: Fake shoes are generally a big no-no in the world of sneakers. But for a pair like this? That’s a huge faux pas. The Staple “Pigeon” SB Dunk is legendary.

Staple was tapped by Nike to create the Dunk with his signature Pigeon logo as the perfect representation of what New York City is in footwear form. The day of the release was pure chaos. People camped out for the sneakers for days on New York City’s Lower East Side despite there only being 150 pairs of the shoes made. People legitimately rioted for them. The pairs that sold that day have sold on the aftermarket for nearly $40,000 in some cases.

So you can imagine why it feels like a slap in the face for some that the creator of the sneaker, himself, would use a fake pair of the shoes to pull off a stunt like this.

What he said: Staple made it worse by doubling down on it in the Instagram comment section.

“I wanted to ask, does it matter which factory a sneaker came out of? Or which distribution center it went thru? Or is it the story around the shoe that really matters?” Staple wrote. “I would argue for this dude who went on this mission…this shoe is maybe worth more to him than any other pair in existence now. That’s what this culture is really all about maybe?”

My take: I respect Jeff Staple a lot. Generally speaking, I’m a fan. The fact that the Pigeon logo still exists today is a testament to the powerful impact he created 20 years ago.

A move like this can work if you do it for real, but Staple’s approach lacked authenticity altogether. That’s feels unnecessary considering the successful year Staple just had.

The brand launched Brook’s first lifestyle collab with the GTS 4 earlier this year and also just released a handful of a family & friends colourway in that shoe. You want to hang something? Hang that. It also opened up the 21 Mercer location earlier this year that seems to have something interesting going on every week.

Now, instead of talking about those things, people are roasting Staple online for pushing fake sneakers. What a mess.

An Answer On Fear of God x Adidas

On Tuesday, I asked the question of what the future might hold for Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear of God brand and Adidas? Now we know.

As it turns out: That’s still the case. Lorenzo addressed it on Complex’s “Please Explain” podcast with Aria Hughes. The partnership ends in December.

What he’s saying: “I feel as if we’ve done what we were called to do with Adidas and have given them a perspective and a vision to run with… And I feel like, for myself and my team, we learned a lot. And I’m grateful for those lessons.”

What happened: Lorenzo said the process was frustrating and said he’d gone through “six or seven” different project leads with Adidas before the shoe went to market. That’s why it took so long.

Why this matters: As noted earlier, when Adidas and Fear of God first came together, it was seen as a significant opportunity — not just for Adidas, but for the performance hoops market. They wanted to build hoop shoes that could work off the court, too. Despite how long it took, the two sides eventually accomplished that. That perspective pushed the market forward.

My takeaway: While it’s a shame that this is over, it’s a great thing that this happened for the space in the first place.

#TheKicksWeWear

This is the community section of the newsletter where you (Yes, you!!!!) send me your best fits and kicks from the week. Feel free to send submissions to michael.sykes@businessoffashion.com or shoot me a message via social channels @MikeDSykes

LET’S GET TO IT, GANG!

First, the homie Lean Joe Green got us popping with this sleek pair of Docs. I need to invest in a good pair of boots for the winter.

Next the legend Russ Bengtson kept the party going with the Gel Sagas. Love it when my guy pulls out a deep cut.

Then the homie Mellie popped out in these Orchid AJ4s. What a pair. The materials look excellent.

The homie Matt sent us home with these Sashiko Denim Dunks. Long live the denim-on-sneakers trend. Wow.

What a run, guys. Y’all are too fly. Good stuff.

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 💯

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