Let's Talk About the Good Stuff
Because not everything in sneakers is a tariff or a layoff
There’s been a lot to stress about lately. Tariffs, layoffs, brands navigating things nobody saw coming... you know the list. Things I don’t want to write about. So, I’m not going to add to it today. Today I want to do something a little different. No analysis, no takes on what’s broken. Just a handful of things happening in sneakers right now that made me feel good about this industry. Because that stuff exists too, and sometimes it deserves its own space.
Stephen Curry raised $1.7 million for kids.
If you missed this one, catch up. Curry spent the entire 2025–26 NBA season turning his sneaker free agency into something genuinely meaningful, wearing shoes from more than a dozen brands throughout the year and documenting the whole journey. This week, Sotheby’s wrapped the auction of that collection... more than 70 pairs, 400+ bidders from nearly 30 countries, 2,350 bids placed, and 100% of lots sold. The final number: $1.7 million. Every dollar going to the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, the nonprofit he and Ayesha Curry founded to support kids in Oakland through food, literacy, and sports programs. The headliner was a pair of Nike Hyperdunk 2010 Player Exclusives Curry wore during his first Christmas Day game, featuring his original SC30 logo. Those went for $121,600. A Nike Kobe 6 Protro “Mambacita Sweet 16” worn on opening night of the free agency finished at $76,800... more than 15 times its pre-sale estimate. To me this shows what’s possible when an athlete uses their platform for something beyond brand loyalty. Curry didn’t just show up in a different shoe every week for attention... he used that attention to actually do something.
adidas and the sub-2-hour marathon.
This past Sunday in London, something happened that the running world has been chasing for a decade. Kenya's Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line of the 2026 London Marathon in 1:59:30... the first official, world record-eligible sub-2-hour marathon in history. Seconds behind him, Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha crossed in 1:59:41 in his marathon debut. Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa broke the women's world record on the same day, running 2:15:41. All three in the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. The shoe weighs 97 grams in a US size 9. That's lighter than a small apple. The sole wraps around a curved carbon fiber plate and the whole thing looks like the bottom of a rocking chair. It's strange looking... and it just rewrote what humans are capable of.
The backstory makes it richer. Nike launched its Breaking2 project back in 2016, spending years engineering toward this exact moment. Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in an unsanctioned event in Vienna in 2019... inspiring, but it didn't count as an official world record. That pursuit effectively launched the entire supershoe era, the carbon plate technology that changed elite running permanently. Sunday, adidas got the record. Nike posted Kipchoge on their Instagram and wrote, "The clock has been reset. There is no finish line." That's a classy acknowledgment from a competitor, and it says something about how big this moment really was.
One personal note: Human beings are f*cking incredible, aren’t they?
One detail that's been stuck in my head since... adidas global PR director Spencer Nel was the one who wrote Sawe's finishing time directly on the shoe for the photos taken at the finish line. A small, spontaneous moment that became one of the defining images of the day. People are always more interesting than products, and that's a perfect example of why. It was also a big week for running more broadly, something I wrote about earlier this week. And if you want to go even deeper on what the sub-2 means for the sport, Cole Townsend over at Running Supply had a sharp take this week. Worth your time.
Willy Chavarria x adidas “Love Prevails.”
This one dropped April 18th and it’s been on my mind since. The centerpiece is a reimagined Superstar where Chavarria replaced the iconic shell toe with a sculpted rose motif... his words, “a love letter to a shoe that has long belonged to the streets.” Two colorways, both in black and white, $160, with an apparel capsule of bombers, cargo jackets, and pinstripe tracksuits, all finished with his signature embroidery.
The campaign was shot with an all-Latino cast and crew, which isn’t a footnote. It’s consistent with everything Chavarria brings to his work. The Chicano aesthetic, the dignity, the idea that fashion can carry real cultural weight without being heavy-handed about it. This partnership keeps getting more interesting with each drop, and I’m planning a longer piece on it soon. For now... if you haven’t been paying attention to what Willy Chavarria is doing with adidas, start.
A’ja Wilson’s second signature shoe drops Friday.
May 2nd, the Nike A’ja 2 hits shelves at $145. The second signature gets key upgrades including a molded upper, a midfoot shank, and forefoot Zoom Air. Her first shoe was one of the stronger WNBA signature debuts in recent memory, and the fact that she’s already on her second model with real technical investment behind it matters. It means Nike is committing. The consumer responded. The line has momentum. That doesn’t happen by accident, and it didn’t happen overnight. The WNBA is having a genuine cultural moment right now, and Wilson is squarely at the center of it. To me that signals the women’s basketball signature market is finally being taken seriously in a way it simply wasn’t five years ago.
Cooper Flagg wins Rookie of the Year in New Balance.
Flagg was named NBA Rookie of the Year on April 27th, edging his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel in one of the closest votes in the award’s modern history. He averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks on a Mavericks team that didn’t make the playoffs. He became the second-youngest Rookie of the Year in NBA history, trailing only LeBron James. He was the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. He did all of it in New Balance. Specifically, a $110 shoe. To me this shows what a long-term vision and the right athlete can do for a brand’s basketball program. New Balance signed Flagg before he’d played a single college game, built PEs, launched campaigns, and waited patiently while he wore Nike at Duke because of their school deal. The moment he went pro, he was in their shoes... and now their guy just won the award. That’s the payoff for years of quiet, deliberate work. Something worth noticing in an industry that usually rewards whoever spends the most, the fastest.
That’s it. Five things happening right now that made me feel good about the industry I’ve spent the last two decades in. We’ll be back to the analysis and deeper stuff soon enough.
Keep building.
-Nick
I’m Nick Engvall, and I’ve been writing about sneakers and culture for two decades, from building Eastbay’s first blog to being employee #9 at StockX. I run Sneaker History (website and podcast) and I’m rebuilding the original sneaker community over at SoleCollector.org. This is The Sneaker Newsletter... the people, the stories, and the business of sneakers. If you want the deeper stuff... the industry analysis, the “From the Vault” stories from inside the business... become a paid subscriber. And if you haven’t yet, my book Small Luxuries: Sneakers is available for pre-order now.