Kevin Durant, Drake, and the KD19 Candy Apple: How the Slim Reaper Got the Candyman Treatment
The Closet Inc. looks at the Nike KD19 "Candy Apple" (IH1117-600) — the colorway Nike rolled out alongside its May 2026 "Yes Man" ad with Kevin Durant and Drake, and the bridge to the upcoming Fall 2026 NOCTA × KD19 Pack.
The bit in the May 2026 Nike ad was simple: Drake plays a fictional "Yes Man" delivery driver who finally gets KD to sign for a new colorway. The chemistry was the point. The shoe underneath — the KD19 "Candy Apple," listed at CAD $190 at The Closet Inc. across the size run — is also the point. The follow-up is the NOCTA × Nike KD 19 Pack in Purple and Orange, anticipated for Fall 2026.
(The product is currently archived at TCI while restock timing is being confirmed. Once it flips to live, the same SKU will be the one we ship.)
Nelly, Air Force Ones, and the Song That Put St. Louis on the Map
The Closet Inc. looks at how the Air Force 1 became the unofficial sneaker of St. Louis — and why the city had been wearing it for a decade before anyone outside the 314 knew the shoe existed.
Most sneakers become regional uniforms long after the brand notices. The Air Force 1 did the opposite: it was the sneaker of St. Louis first, and the rest of the country caught up a decade later. In 2000, Nelly put the shoe on the radio with "Air Force Ones" and the country heard what every kid from the Ville to Pagedale to the Hill had been saying for years — that the AF1 wasn't a sneaker, it was infrastructure.
Our latest blog traces how a 1982 basketball silhouette became the most-worn shoe in one American city, and why it's still the same white-on-white on the same sidewalks twenty-five years later.