Initial Impressions

Founded in 2014, Jay Butler was part of the crop of brands that started right when men’s fashion was really taking off again. Focusing entirely on loafers (at least from a footwear perspective), they have managed to keep everything but the exotic leathers under $200.

The original Jordan 1 Midnight Navy CO.JP is one of the rarest Jordan 1s to ever drop. A Japanese exclusive from 2001, the brand only released 3,000 pairs. Thankfully, in honor of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that never happened, Jordan Brand and Nike are rereleasing several of the Japan-exclusive colorways of their sneakers.

Five years ago, if you went on most of the men’s fashion forums and asked which classic white sneaker you should buy you would have received one answer – the Adidas Stan Smith. Using google to search reddit, you come up with 63,000 posts mentioning them. While the hype has died down a bit, it’s hard to argue the impact this one sneaker has had.

Originally shown with the Chicago color blocking, the connection to the Travis Scott 1s was obvious. Once it was announced that the brown on the shoe would be nubuck instead of regular leather like the first mock up, it didn't take long to earn the nickname the “poor man’s Travis Scott 1.”

Looking back through Rancourt & Co’s archives on their website, the very first post about their company – before they even opened as an online store – was about Kyle Rancourt wearing a pair of Rancourt boat shoes boat shoes. Back then, to order a pair you had to email Kyle directly describing what you wanted and he would get a pair made for you (it cost $215, in case you're wondering).

The Air Jordan One is one of those classic sneakers that almost every can recognize. The shoe has been adopted by a variety of groups. Starting off as the latest in basketball shoe technology, throughout the years they have been worn by skaters, hip hop artists, hypebeasts, celebrities, and seemingly everyone in between.

In doing research for this post, one thing really stood out. Over the past decade, we’ve seen the rise (and sometimes fall) of a number of really impressive bootmaker brands: Viberg, Truman, Oak Street Bootmakers, Grant Stone, etc., however these brands are not really compared all that often. Whenever someone posts a review, the question that comes up is almost always “How does it compare to the Alden Indy?”

Brands like Allen Edmonds or Sperry spend absolutely boatloads trying to convince you that they are as old as the American revolution, but would it surprise you that a common sneaker name that your dad has probably worn has them and most other brands beat?

Nike Dunks, at least the low version, are having a moment in 2020. Prices for classic colorways are going through the roof, even surpassing many of the Jordan 1 colorways. This would have been pretty surprising to someone who was around when the Dunk was first introduced.