I mean...for real...I get it.
With the state of the world as it currently is - everyone and their mother is trying to figure out something that’s gonna put food on the table (FFS I’m creating sneaker trading cards). Some of these shoes appear to be tributes, some appear to be ironic, some appear to be serious contenders, some appear to be satirical. I AM shocked at the sheer number of brands that are giving it a go, though...like it seems like every day I come across another 2-3 brands creating their own version and it’s a lot to keep up with.
I really wanted to do a photoshop of one with a dong (yes, I’m 40 years old), but someone beat me to it with an ACTUALLY PRODUCED pair of Jordan knockoffs with a dong. Amazing. What a time to be alive.
I guess I can see non-sneakerheads eating this type of stuff up...especially those who like to be ‘ironic’ (by buying dong shoes)...but...being that sneakerheads are the kings of overconsumption - are those buying dong shoes really spending the kind of loot necessary to keep these businesses in business? Is there really a market for this type of stuff? Or are they all trying to create their own lane? Other than the dongs, I just don’t see these things flying.
I’ve heard - in order to create your own pair of shoes - baseline costs are in the $10k and up range. And that’s because of the lasts. Even to just get a prototype made. Are all of these people really putting that kind of money into creating (dong) shoes? What makes them think they’re going to see profits at the end of it?
Anyway...again...the question I want y’all to ask yourselves...would you consider these to be ‘fakes’? ‘Cheap imitations’? What about ‘tributes’? What about ‘satire’? What’s the appropriate word? I ask this because a lot of people refer to these as ‘fake’ and IMO - ‘fake’ should be reserved for those that are purporting to be made by Nike *but are not actually made by Nike.
Anyway, if you’ve got an idea for a shoe - I wish you luck. I’m all out of ideas now that the dong one has been created.