This week SMSL (Sneakers, Money, Streetwear, and Life) features Jordan brand, Adidas, Converse, Off-White, H&M controversy, investing for beginners, and how to turn your New Year’s goals into realities. If you’re new to this column and interested in shoes, clothing, money, and life in general you’re on the right page. I will be writing a bi-weekly column about sneakers and clothing which features worldwide brands and also providing life guidance and perspective from a teenager in high school.

Sneakers

The upcoming sneaker releases are looking juicy. Jordan brand is preparing a collaboration with Levis expected to release January 17 at a few locations around the world. You can check out the list of stores at more detailed images at the end of the article. The collaboration features a reversible trucker jacket($180) and the Retro Jordan 4($225). The craftsmanship on the jacket is just as good as the shoe. Sneaker enthusiast Emeka Anosike ‘18 said “I will definitely be on the hunt for these. They’re very limited so I might resell them.” If you don’t know what resell means in the sneaker world it’s like making an investment, one purchases a rare shoe for its retail value and then sells it for more money. Depending on the supply and demand for the shoe the after market price of the shoe may be up to 500% more than the retail price. The shoe has an all denim upper that you can personally distress if you’d like. I personally really like the distressed look and here’s a pair below.

Pictured is the distressed Jordan 4 done by artist Julian Gaines 

Converse and Tyler the Creator sneaker collection are expected to release a new shoe January 18th according to Tyler’s twitter. He leaked an image of a pink version of the shoe and I think it’s pure fire. My favorite color out of the collection has to be the blue pair given that blue is my favorite color. Also in more sneaker news there’s a rumored Adidas collection that will feature Dragon Balls Z inspired sneakers. Below are mockups that highly anticipated fans made.

Money

I’d like to discuss investing for beginners. When you’re 18 you can officially invest in the stock market on your own and that’s what I did on my birthday. I encourage whoever is reading this to start investing into the stock market because the sooner you start the more money you’re capable of making in the end. If you’re unsure where to really start I suggest watching this youtube video. My favorite apps to use are Robinhood and Acorns because they’re both simple and don’t charge any transaction fees.

Streetwear

Off-White recently announced that it would launch a more affordable collection of clothes. If you are unfamiliar with Off-White they’re a streetwear brand headed by Virgil Abloh who’s grown to fame for his collaboration with Nike. Off-White is a high end streetwear brand that normally has shirts retail for $300-$500 and hoodies for $700. In the “More Affordable” collection shirts are $95 and hoodies $170. The change in price opens the door for millenials who can’t afford such items.

H&M, a fast fashion giant, found itself in a ton of controversy after a young black boy was modeling a sweatshirt with offensive language. This incident received tons of buzz on social media and celebrities even voiced their disgruntled opinion. The Weeknd who released a collection with H&M a few months back announced that he would be parting ways with H&M due to the incident. Surprisingly the mother of the child was fine with the situation and believed that people were taking the situation too far.

Life

Given that it is a New Year it’s a chance to restart and set out new goals for the year. I think that everyone should use this opportunity to plan out their year and goals they want to accomplish. I recommend that instead of writing out New Year’s goals you should write out how you are going to accomplish those goals. Setting out a specific plan that will lead you to that goal whatever it may be. You can follow this plan to make sure that you’re on track and if it’s too tough then you either understand that the goal is unrealistic or that you’re slacking.

Edited by: Christian Lovett & Richard Monocchio