Real Talk: Keep Grails Grails

Rumours, leaks and teasers have clogged our timelines in 2024, hinting at mythical creps on the cards for gargantuan retro releases. Within a handful of days, we wrote about the return of the x and the Minds were blown, and it’s still unclear if it was in a good ‘best news ever’ kind of way or a subtle ‘SMH’ kind of vibe. The optimists are saying that Nike are recognising both these sneaker’s cultural clout and that’s epic! While the pessimists, me included, are whispering that Team Swoosh are about to butcher the legacy of two of the most iconic sneakers to ever exist.

Sneaker culture has always been built around specific moments in time that provide perspective on sneaker releases. Exclusivity, cultural relevance, history and innovation have been cornerstones of the footwear subculture that could get sullied when brands bring back everything monumental from years gone by. A constant influx of grail-worthy retros just pushes us into a stagnate bubble of same-same that never ends. It’s as if the culture is stuck in a too-comfortable state, like people who watch over and over instead of dabbling in the thousands of other TV shows on streaming platforms.

The initial reception to the return of the ‘Wu-Tang’ and Undefeated x AJ4 has been mixed and is mostly due to how they don’t fit the mould of today’s sneakersphere. The two releases are as fabled as they come: they’re written into the sneaker scriptures of yesteryear, as gods amongst men, and are lauded and sought after by fanatics across the globe. However, their storied legacies would be nothing if they weren’t created in the time period they originally hit shelves. Undefeated’s legendary collaboration in 2005 was the first of its kind, marking the first time Jordan Brand linked up with a boutique. Only 72 pairs were created for this highly limited drop, and it sold quicker than you could say ‘hyperstrike’ thanks to Undefeated’s cultural cache in the scene. Many sneakerheads, myself included, grew up with the Undefeated x Air Jordan 4s as a unicorn grail. Most people knew they wouldn't ever have a pair in their collection, but still the dream and the legend was there. Now that a retro is on the cards, it’s clear that if you put the khaki iteration side-by-side with an Air Jordan 4 of today, it doesn’t compare. Imagine if they dropped right now, without the storied history attached and Undefeated co-sign – they would sit and be criticised as boring. They weren’t made for 2024; they were made for 2005, when collaborations were a distant pipe dream and limited sneaker drops were rare. Sneaker culture wasn’t ubiquitous during this period either, and instead was a niche subculture. That’s the time the Undefeated x Air Jordan 4s represent, and they are special for that reason.

Whether you like it or not, when certain iterations return, they get tainted. We’ve seen plenty of recent resurrections that for sneakerheads, match that of Christ himself, and yet they still ended up falling flatter than a conspiracy theorist’s globe. So far in 2024, we’ve had the likes of the x Nike from 2004 and the anticipated CO.JP ‘Linen’ 01 retro. Both of these were once highly regarded unicorns, made of unobtanium, and your chance of scooping a pair is slim unless your wallet is fat. Therefore, when news of these two drops arose, it sent the sneaker media into a frenzy, battling it out to get the scoop; however, when release time came, many sneakerheads actually didn’t care enough to tap their card. The modern-day reincarnations of these two bricked, sitting on the shelves of sneaker stores. One could argue that this is because the worldwide economy is in shambles and people can’t afford sneakers anymore. But, an alternate view is that no one actually needed or asked for these holy grails to be pulled out of retirement. What made both these iterations hallmarks in sneaker lore is their exclusivity. Imagine if you saved up all your money to buy a rare vintage car and then you found out after that the car was brought back into production at a standard price. That car would just be like the thousands of others set to grace the roads and no longer unique. We as sneakerheads are consumers at the end of the day, but like any consumerist hobby, these items mean something to us.

History, relevance and resale prices aside, why do we keep wanting to live in the past? It was only recently that Nike was getting criticised for having a lack of innovation, rehashing older designs, and having a heavy reliance on their arsenal of iconic silhouettes. It feels like brands are scared to try anything new, but the perfect balance would be appreciating the sneakers from years gone by, with occasional retros, while also looking to the future. The coup de grâce of all this hullabaloo were the rumours that spread at the start of July this year that stated and Nike’s legendary collaboration was set to drop for 2027. We don’t need them to be brought back, especially after only 10 years. If Nike just must resurrect Virgil's work posthumously, it would be preferable to look to the slew samples he probably has on ice instead of going back to ten sneakers that have already had their time in the sun.

We need to break out of this perpetual retro loop, where historical sneakers are having their reputation decimated, and just keep grails as grails and focus on newness.