👟 If the shoe fits, sell it for $800+

Economically, it’s been a summer for the girls. Just looking at women-targeted entertainment alone tells the story:

• Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has made $1.38B+ since its July release.
• Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour impacted inflation rates in the UK and Sweden — and may gross $2B+ by the fall.
• Taylor Swift’s Eras tour is projected to generate $4.6B in US consumer spending.

This boom in women’s consumer spending has been attributed to post-pandemic “revenge spending” habits — but it’s actually been in the works for some time.

Women have held economic power for years…

… They were just spending it differently. Major economic and demographic shifts over the last decade have impacted how women now spend their money, per The Wall Street Journal:

• More women opting to have children later in life, if at all
• Higher female workforce participation and wage increases compared to the prior decade
• Evolving household gender roles

In other words, women have more money and agency over how they spend it than ever before, and female audiences are spending on goods and experiences that align with their personal interests.

That’s good news for everyone

This trend has propelled Beyoncé and Taylor Swift to top-grossing tours; it has also pumped millions of dollars into local economies:

• Beyoncé’s Philadelphia show resulted in a 30% search bump for the area’s restaurants, and a 193% surge for its nail technicians.
• Swift’s Cincinnati stop generated $92m for local businesses.

The key takeaway from this summer shouldn’t be turning every last toy into a movie, but far more simple: When customer groups feel seen, heard, and understood, they show up in a big way.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and one middle schooler’s sneaker is now the shoe of the summer.

The Adidas Samba, first introduced in 1949 to help soccer players train on icy fields, is having a renaissance.

What was once a humble, affordable sneaker popular with athletes and kids at recess is now a high-fashion status symbol.

• Celebrities like A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, and Bella Hadid were photographed sporting Sambas as early as 2021, and Jonah Hill created his own sneaker.
• Collaborations with fashion brands like Wales Bonner cemented the sneaker as a must-have.
• The hashtag #adidassamba has 534m+ views on TikTok and the shoe has taken off on social media.

They’ve sold out multiple times on Adidas’ site, and Google searches for the shoe are at an all-time high.

On resale sites like StockX, some Sambas are selling for as much as 8x their original prices. ($800+ Sambas, anyone?)

This comes at a good time…

… for a brand that recently hit a massive roadblock.

Adidas needed to fill a Kanye-shaped hole after the company cut ties with the rapper and Yeezy sales dropped $441m YoY.

The brand had its hands full with $1.3B of unsold stock, and its North American market saw sales decline 20%.

But Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden remains optimistic: He says that the Sambas are part of a new franchise for the business, and that it “can be millions and millions of pairs.”

To kick off the next era…

… Adidas is going all-in on its (new) favorite child: It launched a Samba pop-up in Shanghai and hosted aSamba Cafe with Pharrell Williams during Paris Fashion Week.

Now for some Adidas trivia: The first Sambas looked more like leather hiking boots, and the shoes only came in black until 2011.