John Kim 
Happy New Year, folks! We’ve arrived at a fresh new year of sneaker releases that will surely change the future landscape of the industry. So why is 2015 such an important year? Not only do a number of key milestones pass through this year, but some of the biggest industry moves will take shape in the coming months, and while we’ve been able to accurately predict a lot of what’s in store, there’s a lot more uncertainty than you might believe.
So, to kick off the new year, we’ve laid out ten signficant headlines and predictions that we feel will shape the way your sneaker purchases go down. It includes Kanye West’s first sneaker with adidas, Nike Basketball signature, and a year of Air Jordan releases that focus on a pretty signficant story. Get a look below and be sure to check back here to see if our predictions/headlines have been realized.
Air Jordan Retro PEs for the Oregon Ducks appear before the National Championship game
We hope you didn’t overlook the fact that there was no Air Jordan Retro PE for the Oregon Ducks last year. We all expected the Air Jordan VI in some Eugene-esque mix of black, green, and yellow, but maybe Jordan Brand held off in hopes that the Ducks would reach the final game of the NCAA Football season. How sick would it be if we started to see some Air Jordan 6 or Air Jordan 7 PEs for the Ducks before the game kicks off this Sunday?
Supreme Collaborates with Jordan Brand
Jordan Brand has been incredibly selective when it comes to collaborations, but we can’t rule out an official team-up with Supreme. The NYC-based skateshop has proven to be a recurring source for Nike collabs with stores (which almost never happen these days), and given that the Air Jordan 1 crossed over with Nike Skateboarding, a Supreme x Air Jordan isn’t out of the question. Will it be the Air Jordan 1? Maybe the Air Jordan 9 since Supreme was officially founded in 1994?
Jordan Brand celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Air Jordan 1 with more releases than you can probably handle
Not even a full week into January 2015 and we already know of the Lows, the Lasers, the Straps, and the gold-plated joints. You’d better believe that Jordan Brand will celebrated the first-ever Air Jordan sneaker by releasing the sneaker to the masses in a variety of ways, which will prove to be too much for any sneakerhead to get a hold of.
Nike celebrates the Silver Anniversary of the Air Max 90
The Tinker Hatfield-designed Air Max 90 turned 2015 this year, and we’ll point to Air Max Day on March 26th as the unofficial birthdate for these flagship models. Expect a return of the Infrareds on top of a slew of other exciting renditions like the “Cork” and much more.
adidas YEEZi sales go through the roof
The shoe we’ve all been waiting for has a rumored release target date of mid-February (specifically the 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend). There’s no question that Kanye’s first official project with adidas will draw attention away from all the other major stories that will go down that weekend, and if quantities aren’t as limited as Kanye says they are, then we foresee the YEEZi flying off the shelves without fail.
Nike Basketball unveils another signature athlete
There’s a lot of shifting going on with Nike Basketball signature athletes. Kobe Bryant’s nearing the end of his career and even LeBrons are witnessing a slower pace in sales (at least that what it seems like). Rumors of a Paul George signature shoe have been swirling around since last year, but with the Pacers forward still sitting out in recovery mode, it makes plenty of sense that James Harden, who is deserving of all the MVP talk this season, would get his own shoe.
Jordan Brand remasters an Air Jordan 11 for December
We may be going out on a limb here, but remastered XIs don’t seem out of question. We can only assume that the Space Jams will return this year as the brand cycles through its colorways, but a release in 2016 makes more sense (20th Anniversary of the movie Space Jam) and the introduction of the Remaster program just doesn’t seem complete without the Air Jordan 11. A tribute to their record-breaking 72-10 season in ’95-’96 seems like a possibility.
First look at the Air Jordan 30
It’s the 30th Anniversary of the Air Jordan 1, and the thirtieth Air Jordan sneaker is on deck. While an appearance this year maybe be likely, let’s just hope that the brand sheds the roman numeral designation (because that would make for some seedy google search results).
Kanye West gets involved all over adidas, designs a D Rose sneaker
What separates Kanye West from all the other hip-hop artists that adidas has worked with over the last few years is that the G.O.O.D. Music founder is actually designing products. While we know of a style-focused direction, there were murmurs from within the company that Kanye would be providing design input in almost every category. What’s more is that Kanye expressed interest in design basketball uniforms, and adidas Hoops has collaborated with Jeremy Scott before, which proves that the category is open to outside sources. How sick would it be if he designed a future sneaker for fellow Chicago native Derrick Rose? If it happens, don’t be surprised.
Nike Kobe 10 Debuts in February, Nike KD 8 Debuts in June, Nike LeBron 13 Debuts in September, and Nike Kyrie 2 in December
It’s been confirmed that the Kobe 10 will release in February, but to further fill out your 2015 calendar, you can safely circle June, September, and December as the release months for the KD 8, LeBron 13, and Kyrie 2, respectively.
Air Jordan Retros cease to sell out on release date
It’s a combination of rising prices and the sheer amount of other footwear options that will have rendered the Saturday Air Jordan Retro releases no longer gone in sixty seconds. Not to say that you should expect them weeks after the initial release, but unless the sneaker is an OG colorway, an Air Jordan 11, or produced in limited quantity, Retro Jordans won’t be tough acquisitions at retail.
A wide variety of Asics Gel Lyte III collaborations to celebrate the shoe’s 25th Anniversary
Another major milestone to go down this year is the 25th Anniversary of the Asics Gel Lyte III. Unquestionably the brand’s most popular model of its archives, the split-tongue runner will likely be presented in a variety of ways at the hands of sneaker boutiques around the globe. We’ve already gotten a first look at what Concepts has in store, but there should be a lot more to follow.
Under Armour significantly broadens its basketball athlete roster
Under Armour is on the come up. Despite missing out on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, the Baltimore-based brand has proved that it has the chops to broaden its growing Basketball category, and this Mark Cuban-esque approach to bringing in talent should do well in bolstering the UA Basketball roster, which is currently headlined by star guard Steph Curry. And while there might not be any signature-level players out there, look out for more UA presence on the NBA hardwood.
The Reebok Ventilator will be this year’s Insta Pump Fury
Reebok went extra, extra hard with collaborations in 2014. The emphasis was on the Insta Pump Fury, which arrived on stores shelves in an endless number of store collaborations, and this year the approach won’t be much different. But instead of the futuristic Pump Fury, expect the Ventilator model to be chopped and screwed in dozens of different ways at the hands of the shops in the Reebok Certified Network.
