Built by a sneakerhead for sneakerheads.
Started in 2016 by sneakerhead Gorka Llort and relaunched in 2026, DamnKicks is one place to see what’s dropping in the UK, Spain and the US, the story behind each pair, and the custom pairs worth talking about.
Why DamnKicks exists.
Gorka Llort Founder
Sneaker news is everywhere, but it’s scattered. Release dates sit in one place, prices in another, leaks in a comment thread, and the custom artists doing the most creative work rarely get seen at all. We think there’s a gap, and we’re building DamnKicks to fill it: for the fans, for the sneakerheads, for anyone who plans their week around a drop.
DamnKicks began in 2016 as a sneaker site. From 2018 its Facebook page grew around custom sneakers, and today more than two million people follow DamnKicks on Facebook and Instagram. In 2026 Gorka Llort relaunched the site around a release timeline, in English and Spanish. Away from sneakers, Gorka is Director of Digital Business at MotoGP.
Every confirmed drop sits on the release timeline with its date, price and style code. A hype score estimates how hard a pair will be to get, retail links show where to buy it, and a drop alert reaches your inbox before it goes live.
Customs sit right next to the big releases. Whether you paint one pair a month at your kitchen table or run a full studio, your work gets the same space, the same spec sheet and your name on it. No follower count needed. Send us your work.
Every drop, in one place
Release dates, prices, style codes, a hype score and where to buy, on one timeline. An alert lands before every confirmed drop.
Dates are verified, or labelled
Confirmed means a brand or retailer told us. Everything else is labelled a leak or a rumour, with the sources behind it.
Every custom artist gets a stage
Bedroom painter or full studio, every custom gets the same card, the same spec sheet and the artist’s name on it. The work decides.
What the 5 status tags mean.
The same 5 labels appear on the timeline, in alerts and on every spec sheet.
Brand or retailer told us. Date, time zone, retail and style code checked against the listing. This is the only tag that triggers a drop alert.
Already out. The confirmed date has passed. The card keeps the retail price and a resale link.
Multiple sources, usually sample photos. Confidence weighs how many independent sources there are and what kind: retailer data and in-hand photos count for more than a mock-up or a single post. Above 70 we write it up; below that it stays in the leaks list.
One source or a mockup. Listed in the leaks section only. Never on the timeline or in an alert.
Same shoe, same price, new stock. Shown on the timeline with a grey dot so it never reads as a new release.
How the hype score works.
The bar on every release card is our estimate of how hard the pair will be to get at retail on release day, made from what’s known before the drop.
Stock vs. demand
How limited the pair is (general release, regional, numbered or a small collab), its size run, and how fast the last comparable release sold out, as reported.
Resale
Resale prices for the pair or the last comparable release, as reported by named outlets or shown on StockX, as a multiple of retail. Without them we estimate low and say so.
Channel
How it’s sold: exclusive release, select shops first, a SNKRS draw or general release. General releases cap at 60.
Ads, not paid placement.
DamnKicks is paid for by display ads, in fixed, labelled spaces that never move the page while you read. Nobody pays to appear on the timeline or in a list. We don’t use affiliate links; if we ever add them, every page that has one will say so.
- No paid placement in lists or on the timeline
- No pop-ups, autoplay or sponsored “reviews”
- Your email is used for alerts only
Corrections are noted on the article.
Dates move and codes change. Every correction is noted on the article with what changed and when. If a confirmed date slips, alert subscribers are emailed first.
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