More fashionable than ever the streetwear market continues to grow and Nike, which is reflected in its numbers, seeks to take advantage of this trend to make a true transformation: to become a luxury brand, exclusive, a high-end label that everyone wants to wear.
For this, as explained Washington Postthe pipe brand named after Nike, the goddess of victory, began a change in its sales strategy and abandons large stores, such as Foot Locker, to achieve exclusivity.
Nike’s new strategy
On this path to becoming the Gucci or the Louis Vouitton of streetwear, what does Nike want to do? The first step was to stop being a brand associated only with sport.
And now it wants to go to the next level: to become a luxury label. And one way to get there is for Nike to be the only one that sells its products and thus be able to set the prices as it wants, and not be penalized by promotions or discounts offered in other places that offer its products.
On the other hand, it gives a higher prestige to the brand: Nike is not available anywhere and at any price, but only at Nike.
One of the first affected by this change in strategy is Foot Locker, the multinational dedicated to the sale of footwear and clothing where there are thousands and thousands of Nike products. As reported Washington PostFoot Locker’s market value plummeted 25% – a drop unseen in the past 40 years – after news broke that Nike’s most in-demand styles would no longer make it to its stores.
Nike was the largest single supplier to Foot Locker. The multinational reported last Friday that no brand would represent more than 60% of the chain’s total purchases this year, compared to 70% in fiscal year 2021 and 75% in the previous year.
This news was not good news for Europe’s Dick’s Sporting Goods and JD Sports Fashion, companies similar to Foot Locker, which are likely to suffer the same fate.
Nike will only sell through channels it controls (stores and websites, for example), which enables differential customer service and different brand positioning.
And that is already evident in the sale of tailor-made products for each clientsuch as sneakers with colors chosen by the buyer or bags with a specific name.
In this way, he explained Washington PostNike follows in the footsteps of luxury brands like Gucci or Louis Vuitton, who no longer sell their products in department stores that they no longer consider luxurious.
Also, if a fashion shoe is sold only at Nike, there is no risk that its price will be affected by sales or promotions elsewhere. Nike will monopolize the market for its own products. This does not mean that Nike will disappear from the sports market or department stores, but that these will cease to be the common places of the brand.
The numbers of streetwear
the streetwear Until the 2000s it was part of a subculture, but now it is an iIndustry valued at US$185 billion. And everyone is interested in it, from haute couture brands like Gucci and Prada to auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
When luxury brands create limited-edition sneakers in collaborations that bridge high fashion and casual wear, that inevitable exclusivity ends up on the auction block for collectors, enthusiasts and even resellers to bid on. There is money to be made from streetwear, and people and businesses alike don’t waste time trying to get the most out of it. Nike, in this sense, has an advantage: it was made before it was fashionable.
On the other hand, Nike acquired the company RTKFT, which is dedicated to the production of clothing and footwear online. As confirmed The Fashion LawNike has already filed a handful of new applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in connection with projects coming from RTKFT. What would you sell? There are several kinds of products: Nike is building its universe’Nikeland’ inside of the roblox metaverse they produce clothes that do not materially existbut displayed on social media, i.e. providing online, non-downloadable virtual footwear, apparel, headgear, eyewear, handbags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys and accessories for your use in virtual environments.
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