Parts 4-8 of ‘Let’s talk conventionally about sneaker conventions’ will resume on April 3rd…
A few months ago, while Kanye was finishing up that last ‘writing checks with my mouth that my ass can’t cash’ phase, a dude that I've had IRL conversations with posted a comment on one of my posts: "Maybe next time leave the anti-semitic [sic] Yeezys out especially with what's going on in the world. Plenty of other kicks to pick from unless your [sic]engagement farming by posting them."
I responded with: "Me: (posts a picture of a yeezy once every few weeks in relation to a discussion about sneakers, nothing more.)
You: (has more than 100+ pairs of yeezys posted on his last 10 posts)
You: "maybe you should stop supporting anti-semitic shoes or are you engagement farming" LOL
A couple of hours later I came back to check on the interaction and dude deleted it. I didn’t. I screenshotted it. But then he proceeded to delete a bunch of his Yeezy pics on his page. And…then…neither of us hit that ‘unfollow’ button, but I never heard from dude again. Honestly, kind of a bummer, but if I can’t speak my truth what the hell do I need him around for?
It brings up an interesting point: why does this Kanye West guy trigger so many emotional reactions in so many people? As such…here we are…AGAIN…in the midst of another Ye storm. Shoes drop, album drops, Kanye gets access to social media. Madness ensues. But this time…for whatever reason…I’m trying to speak rationally but dudes are all on my posts and in my comments acting like I’m some kind of hater. If anything, I am probably MUCH more interested in what he does (than most men my age). I thoroughly enjoy his music and I have zero problem admitting that the guy is a creative genius. Does that mean I agree with what he says? Absolutely not. I enjoy the creations. Lemme be clear - I can count ON ONE HAND the people I hate, and Kanye West is not one of those people.
So…in this column…I’m gonna hit y’all with all of these Kanye topics that have been popping up in my comments…I’ve written a few things regarding a few topics that have been bouncing around a bit…I’m gonna call this ‘Yeezy Gobbler week’…I’m gonna try and go rational but am also apt to get caught up my feels. Let’s hope we can have some fun…
A few months ago, I posted the image above - basically saying that I like what Adidas has been putting out lately. For some reason, the post above has STAYED on the explore page and I’ve been getting hundreds of comments on that post - more than 150 THOUSAND people have seen that post and more than 7000 have chosen to interact. Why?
Early comments were good. But the vast majority of the comments I’m seeing now are from Yeezy gobblers that feel the need to point out that none of these shoes would exist without Kanye West. And, that’s great. I get it. And I KINDA agree. I get that Yeezy’s have a design language. I get that ‘Yeezy’ (the company) created a bunch of shoes that disrupted the markets. I get that Yeezy appears to be responsible for transforming the sneaker landscape in some pretty significant ways. But I think the basis of the argument is flawed. And, even if the basis were to be overlooked, I think the the importance of it is overstated..
If we think of Adidas like they’re a Pizza company…maybe something like California Pizza Kitchen…I think of Kanye’s contribution as like the BBQ Chicken Pizza. A hit, certainly, but he didn’t invent the concept of a goddam pizza. And he didn’t actually even make the pizza. He just thought…’hmm, BBQ chicken would go really well with some cheese and bread.’ The BBQ chicken pizza is a really really really good pizza. And it opened up the doors for other interesting pizza toppings. Should I complain that none of these *new* flavors pay homage to CPK? Nah. That's ridiculous.
That’s not to diminish his impact I wrote a whole 2000 word article talking about Ye's impact on sneakers for @alts.co - but it is me trying to get the gobblers to understand that the sneaker world is much, much, much bigger than Ye…and it will be around for MUCH MUCH LONGER THAN YE. And some of Adidas’ designers using some of Yeezys design language is not, in fact, robbery. it's what we can expect from sneaker design. There are hundreds of sneaker silhouettes that take elements from one another, it’s just how things go. Right?
Back when I worked on Wall Street, I helped develop and design a new type of ‘trade capture systems’, which means that I basically created a fancy-looking database that helped track any and all relevant information related to a brokered trade for a multitude of different products. I helped develop and design a system that would streamline the onboarding process of anyone new who wanted to come in and start trading immediately. It was a hit, at the time. Shortly after I released it, I decided to leave Wall Street to go back to California. It was one of those ‘hey, you did a great job, kid, this thing is cool!’ kinda things.
But when I left the company, I knew that my trade capture system creation was no longer mine. The idea might have been mine, but what we created was never really mine. I couldn’t complain nor could I expect anyone to stop using what I created when I left, because that’s how things go when you work for someone else. I added value to the company. A public company, at that. Were they just going to kill that value and scrap that system because I was no longer there? Or were they going to continue using my creation to add value to their company?
Should I expect any less? Can any of us expect anything less?
IMO, with this 350 debacle…this is just a corporation being a corporation. It’s just Adidas being Adidas. ‘Creative control’ is an absolute misnomer. Literally, NOBODY that works for a corporation REALLY EVER has creative control. Not even the CEO.
And with Adidas, as with most companies - nothing is sacred…which…is somewhat of a double edged sword. And I don’t think Adidas cares much for ‘hype’ nor limited editions’ nor ‘collectors’ so much as they care about selling as much product as possible Sure, they have their consortium series, which gives semi-small collaboration runs to some of the smaller esoteric designers out there to satiate rarity-minded collectors, but as soon as something hits - it’s time to produce the goddam hell out of ‘em.
If the 350 fails because Ye no longer supports it, that's fine. If the 350 is still a hit, despite Ye calling it 'corny', thats what Adidas went into business with Ye for.
I don’t know if this is actually a thing, but knowing how rabid a lot of these Ye fans are, I wouldn’t put it past them. Folks STAY making claims on Yeezy like he really IS the second coming of Christ. And…my point with this whole 5 day rant is that… guess…although he’s supremely talented, he’s not the second coming of Christ. You know?
To me, the closest silhouettes we’ve got to supremely popular Yeezy 350 are the NMD and that tubular shadow. And, as far as I know, the NMD was in production right around the same time the first Yeezy 350’s were. They both released in 2015. 350 came out in July, NMD out in December. The tubular shadow, tho, Yeezy gobblers DO have a point with that one. But how come no one talks about the Tubular Shadow any more? I think they deliberately released an accessible and cheap imitation of 350’s and no one batted an eye. But now, all of a sudden, gobblers think Kanye invented the slide because he said so. THE SLIDE! DELUSIONAL.
I thought I was being really clever with this post, but I dunno. I think, if there is any Adidas silhouette over the past 10 years that could compete with the 350, it’s the NMD, and I could see how some gobbler could claim ‘NMDs stole Yeezys swag’ and truth be told, I’m kinda shocked Ye hasn’t claimed it as a theft (yet). Time may tell…time may tell…
Someone brought this up on one of my posts saying ‘if the Trump sneaker was actually a Kanye sneaker, people would love them’ and as much as I wanted to disagree, I couldn’t. IMO, I can totally see it. And it’s a great insight into our nature around this dude. Because…honestly…if this dude DID actually drop this silhouette, I can already see the thought process starting over again:
‘what the hell is this dude doing?’
‘Is this a commentary on late 00’s fashion? If so, I wonder what he’s trying to say?’
‘Oh damn, I think I agree. Maybe he’s onto something!’
‘I’ma wait to see them in person, then I’ll decide.’
‘Whoa, this is a dope update on a classic silhouette. And the gold really just makes it pop.’
‘Here’s my $500!’
Remember the ‘poopity-scoop’ song? 33 Million spins on YT alone.
Remember when dude was charging $200 for socks? And people actually BOUGHT them?
Remember when dude convinced y’all gobblers he invented slides?
How many of y’all bought Redwing knee-high rubber boots?
Did you consider any diamond chancletas?
Dude is a FORCE.
And for better or for worse, this guy is the ULTIMATE tastemaker. This guy can just about make or break a whole industry seemingly overnight. He can change the definition of style seemingly overnight. It’s fascinating to watch, it’s fascinating to participate in, and it’s fascinating to see otherwise rational people become completely irrational. I guess…at the end of the day…after a week of writing and talking about this dude and his impact on the market…the only thing I think that is left to say is…no one man should have all that power...
(FYI - I am going to turn off new signups to this weekly publication starting March 31st. After that point, I will be charging for new signups. )