Of more fundamental concern, why do we like to wear brand names and logos in the first place? Or why has this trend in fashion become even stronger? Is it because of some lack in society that leaves us feeling left out? If we had deeper connections with people / community, would our desire to flaunt brand names decrease?
Corollary line of questioning: Why do companies that used to stand for quality niche products (Helly Hansen, The North Face, Carhartt, Levi's...) choose to scale down their quality in order to scale up their volume to satisfy the demands of popularity?
I dislike many of these branding collabs, like the M&M Forums -- they just seem so unnecessary. Do any of them work? If yes, what makes them work?
And it's not true that Nike avoids these branding collabs entirely. AF-1 x PlayStation, AF-1 x USPS are a couple famous examples -- one sweet and the other ugly, lol! Why do we give Nike a pass?
the USPS one wasn't approved...was actually recalled I thought. The Playstation one and this new UNO one are the only that I could really think of...the OG Playstation one was pretty cool with the color fading IMO but I always thought that massive logo was just corny on a shoe...
When you say 'do any of them work' do you mean 'do they get people to buy more M&M's?' Because I agree...like...what exactly is the point? Is it to increase awareness of M&M's? Do we need to teach basketball players about UNO? I'm just not sure what the goal is, either...
BUT...all that being said...It's not all that different with the Supreme stuff, either, IMO...
IIRC, USPS sued Nike, and eventually USPS agreed to license its I.P. to Nike. So Nike paid USPS to use the *likeness* of its packaging on the AF-1 -- they paid for a license but didn't actually get to use the USPS eagle logo 🙄 SKU: CZ1528-100 https://www.nike.com/launch/t/air-force-1-experimental-postal-ghost
"Do any of them work?" as in "Do they make sense?" I'd say these combos *do* make more sense:
1. Air Jordan 1 x Dior. "low fashion" x "high fashion" -- although these terms hardly mean anything anymore.
2. Crocs Jibbitz x M&M's. The Jibbitz are already silly, and many of them reference pop culture items, including edible product.
Does Air Jordan x Levi's make sense??
There are other Nike x Brand "collabs" that just involve branding with a non-fashion entity and no significant design element, like Roc-a-fella AF-1 (although there is a history that explains this one), Wu Tang Clan Dunk, Supreme box-logo Nikes (although Supreme is a skate-shop, and skating involves sneakers), and one other that just slipped my mind.
I suppose you're right though, Nike is definitely stingy when it comes to mixing brands. They famously did not allow Virgil Abloh to put a Swoosh on the Chuck Taylor.
Oh, the one that slipped my mind was the recent Dunk x Polaroid! What'd you think of those? I couldn't see the connection or the point at all, but it is a really nice design!
I just looked a bit more closely - the 'polaroid' script is on the heel and that's it. Good point. The one thing about this collab - it's just not overdoing it by just plastering their name/logo all over the place...
Of more fundamental concern, why do we like to wear brand names and logos in the first place? Or why has this trend in fashion become even stronger? Is it because of some lack in society that leaves us feeling left out? If we had deeper connections with people / community, would our desire to flaunt brand names decrease?
Corollary line of questioning: Why do companies that used to stand for quality niche products (Helly Hansen, The North Face, Carhartt, Levi's...) choose to scale down their quality in order to scale up their volume to satisfy the demands of popularity?
I dislike many of these branding collabs, like the M&M Forums -- they just seem so unnecessary. Do any of them work? If yes, what makes them work?
And it's not true that Nike avoids these branding collabs entirely. AF-1 x PlayStation, AF-1 x USPS are a couple famous examples -- one sweet and the other ugly, lol! Why do we give Nike a pass?
the USPS one wasn't approved...was actually recalled I thought. The Playstation one and this new UNO one are the only that I could really think of...the OG Playstation one was pretty cool with the color fading IMO but I always thought that massive logo was just corny on a shoe...
When you say 'do any of them work' do you mean 'do they get people to buy more M&M's?' Because I agree...like...what exactly is the point? Is it to increase awareness of M&M's? Do we need to teach basketball players about UNO? I'm just not sure what the goal is, either...
BUT...all that being said...It's not all that different with the Supreme stuff, either, IMO...
IIRC, USPS sued Nike, and eventually USPS agreed to license its I.P. to Nike. So Nike paid USPS to use the *likeness* of its packaging on the AF-1 -- they paid for a license but didn't actually get to use the USPS eagle logo 🙄 SKU: CZ1528-100 https://www.nike.com/launch/t/air-force-1-experimental-postal-ghost
"Do any of them work?" as in "Do they make sense?" I'd say these combos *do* make more sense:
1. Air Jordan 1 x Dior. "low fashion" x "high fashion" -- although these terms hardly mean anything anymore.
2. Crocs Jibbitz x M&M's. The Jibbitz are already silly, and many of them reference pop culture items, including edible product.
Does Air Jordan x Levi's make sense??
There are other Nike x Brand "collabs" that just involve branding with a non-fashion entity and no significant design element, like Roc-a-fella AF-1 (although there is a history that explains this one), Wu Tang Clan Dunk, Supreme box-logo Nikes (although Supreme is a skate-shop, and skating involves sneakers), and one other that just slipped my mind.
I suppose you're right though, Nike is definitely stingy when it comes to mixing brands. They famously did not allow Virgil Abloh to put a Swoosh on the Chuck Taylor.
Oh, the one that slipped my mind was the recent Dunk x Polaroid! What'd you think of those? I couldn't see the connection or the point at all, but it is a really nice design!
I just looked a bit more closely - the 'polaroid' script is on the heel and that's it. Good point. The one thing about this collab - it's just not overdoing it by just plastering their name/logo all over the place...