Nike Will Relaunch Its Kobe Bryant Line on Kobe Day 2023

Nike held its Q4 earnings call for 2023 yesterday, and amongst all of the numbers, projections and business-speak — the model surpassed its gross sales projections however missed its earnings purpose for the primary time in three years — there was a tasty morsel for hungry sneakerheads to chew on: the Swoosh is ready to relaunch Kobe Bryant‘s signature line later this yr.

As introduced by Nike CEO John Donahoe, the Nike Kobe line will return on August 24, Kobe Day 2023. Since Kobe Bryant’s death in January 2020, the ultra-popular line has had one thing of a tumultuous run: Bryant’s partnership with Nike expired in 2021 and his property reportedly had no plans to resume the deal on the time. A handful of releases and leaks (the ultimate items of the expired deal) trickled out over 2021, and the leak of 1 particularly, the Kobe Protro 6 “Mambacita Sweet 16,” revealed in June of that yr, raised the ire of Kobe’s spouse Vanessa Bryant, who stated that it was “NOT authorised on the market” and that she wasn’t certain “how another person has their fingers on sneakers I designed in honor of my daughter Gigi and we don’t.”

By way of all of this, Kobe’s sneakers remained so common with NBA gamers that there was a “shortage” of the bigger sizes they wanted by November 2021.Fortunately, in March 2022, all was made nicely, as Nike introduced a new partnership with Kobe’s property and formally introduced the “Mambacita Candy 16.” Information of varied forthcoming Nike Kobe releases went from a trickle to a gradual stream — pairs rumored to launch embody the Kobe 6 “Prelude,” the Kobe 6 “Reverse Grinch” and the Kobe 8 “Triple White” — whereas DeMar DeRozan signed a four-year take care of the Swoosh to stay the face of the Nike Kobe line.

The return of the Kobe line arrives at an opportune time for Nike, which has struggled with a glut of extra stock at shops and flagging curiosity round a few of its power merchandise during the last 12 months. On the time of writing, extra data on the road’s return has but to be introduced, however search for programming to start out rolling out later this summer time.

To remain updated on different high-heat sneaker releases, be sure you try the most recent installment of Hypebeast’s weekly Best Footwear Drops collection.