July 2026 Sneaker Drops: The Dates Worth Setting Alarms For

July is stacked. Jordan Brand alone is dropping something nearly every week, the collab calendar is the busiest of the summer, and at least three of these releases will be raffle-only at most UK retailers. Here is the month sorted by date, with prices where reported and an honest signal on how hard each will be to get. Standard caveat applies: dates below are per retailer calendars at the time of writing, and summer schedules move — treat anything more than a fortnight out as pencilled rather than inked.

Week one: 1–4 July

• A-Cold-Wall* x Salomon ACS Pro (1 July) — Samuel Ross's first Salomon, woven Kevlar upper, reinforced toe; UK Salomon collab allocations are always thin, so expect boutique raffles
• New Balance x Cooper Flagg (1 July, reported $120) — the reigning Rookie of the Year fronts a new '80s-basketball-inspired model; genuine wide release, easy cop, interesting shoe
• Air Jordan 1 High 'farewell letter' edition (2 July, reported $185) — an AJ1 detailed with excerpts from MJ's retirement letter to basketball; storytelling pair, moderate hype
• Air Jordan 4 GS 'Sweet Beet' (2 July) — kids-only sizing, worth knowing about if you shop GS

None of week one is a must-enter for the average buyer except the Salomon, which will vanish. The Flagg NB is the sleeper: first-signature-adjacent shoes from era-defining players have a habit of becoming retro material two decades later. Ask anyone who ignored early LeBrons. It is also, at a reported $120, comfortably the cheapest interesting release of the month — worth remembering in a July where almost everything else worth owning starts north of £150, and a reminder that New Balance's basketball line has gone from punchline to genuinely covetable in about three seasons flat.

Week two: 10–16 July

• Air Jordan 7 'Miro Olympics' (10 July) — the artist-inspired Dream Team-era 7 returns; a proper deep cut with real 1992 story, moderate supply expected
• Air Jordan 4 'Birds of Paradise' (from 10 July, women's) — reported across two mid-July dates at different retailers; women's-led 4s have been quietly excellent this year
• Pharrell x adidas 'Jellyfish' (15 July, reported $300) — the summer's most design-forward drop; fashion crowd and sneakerheads in the same queue means fast sell-out
• Air Jordan 41 'Metallic Silver' (16 July) — the current performance flagship in its cleanest colourway; hoopers only, easy at retail

Week three: the big one — 18 July

Everything else this month is undercard. The Air Jordan 3 OG 'True Blue' lands Saturday 18 July at $230 US (expect £190–£210 UK, TBC) in full-family sizing, with Nike Air heel branding and 1988-spec shape — its first retro in a decade. We have a full breakdown of the release and cop strategy, but the short version: SNKRS draw plus raffles at END., size?, Footpatrol and JD, entries opening midweek. Enter everything. This is the retro of the summer and the one date in July you should actually build plans around.

One serious target per month beats five half-planned entries. In July, the target is the True Blue.

Week four: 24–25 July

• Air Jordan 13 'Wings' (24 July) — storytelling 13 with strong materials; 13s are underrated wears and generally gettable
• Air Jordan 4 'Comic' (25 July) — graphic-led 4 that will divide opinion; divisive 4s either brick or become cult pairs, rarely in between
• Nike Kobe 5 Protro 'NY vs NY' (25 July, reported $230) — the hardest cop of the month after the True Blue; Kobe Protros sell through instantly regardless of market conditions
• Vans Old Skool 'Souvenir' series additions — two new colourways continuing the travel-themed pack; easy retail cop, great value

The Kobe deserves its own note: if you are a UK buyer, Protro allocations here are consistently smaller than the US, and pairs will be gone at draw. Enter with zero expectation and a card that works. If you actually play, this is also simply the best basketball shoe releasing this month — the rare pair where hype and function point the same way.

The month at a glance

For calendar purposes, here is July compressed into the entries that belong in your phone, in order of how much they should hurt to miss:

1. Saturday 18 July — Air Jordan 3 OG 'True Blue': the priority; raffle entries open midweek
2. Saturday 25 July — Nike Kobe 5 Protro 'NY vs NY': hardest draw of the month
3. Wednesday 15 July — Pharrell x adidas 'Jellyfish': Confirmed on adidas channels; expect CONFIRMED-app-style queues
4. Friday 10 July — Air Jordan 7 'Miro Olympics': the connoisseur pickup, likely gettable
5. Wednesday 1 July — A-Cold-Wall* x Salomon ACS Pro: boutique raffles only, blink and it's gone

How to play the month

1. Pick your one must-win (for most people: True Blue 3) and enter every raffle running for it — the full platform list is in our UK raffles guide
2. Set entry-window alerts now for the 18th and 25th; windows open days before drops and missed windows are unforced errors
3. Budget honestly: July's top tier alone runs past £600 if you win everything, and multiple Ws in one month happen more than people think in the current market
4. Let the mid-tier come to you — half of this calendar will be available at retail into August, and some of it below retail by autumn

That last point is the quiet story of summer 2026: outside the top three or four drops, sell-outs are slower and restocks more common than the release-day noise suggests. The market has changed, mostly in your favour. Aim carefully at the True Blue, keep a casual eye on everything else, and check back for the August calendar — which is already looking dangerous for wallets, with the 13 'Flint', the 6 'Oreo', a Kobe 8 Protro and an OG Jordan 9 'Space Jam' all reported for the month. The rest-of-year picture, including December's headliner, is in our full 2026 release radar. July first, though: one target, twelve raffle entries, and a card that works at 8am on a Saturday.