If you told me a few years ago that the highest rating footwear on sneakerfreaker.com in 2009 would be a pair of luxury Vuitton sneaks designed by a rapper with a vocoder for a best friend, I’d have called Betty Ford quicker than you can say pass me another hit of Ketamine! Seriously, how far out is that? Somewhere beyond Pluto’s K-Hole I would have thought. Having mulled over this development for several weeks, I’ve mentally connected the dots and come to the conclusion that the transition does seem to flow. Most importantly, the timing is also correct for sneaker heads to buy into it.
Putting aside hip hop’s naked fascination with driving Bentleys and sluggin’ Cristal, high fashion has been influencing the street for decades in subtle, intricate ways. Conversely, as haute couture brands seek to connect with a younger, hipper and more sophisticated (not to mention wealthy) audience, you can also see how the street has been commodified by high fashion. They are watching us and learning, just as we are looking up at them! And in a happy coincidence for my argument, it is the footwear part of the business where the crossover is the most visible.
Prada, Lanvin, Dior, Hermes, Givenchy, Gucci and all the other prestigious Euro-brands are best known for their overpriced apparel, luggage, fragrances and handbags. Some years ago they also started creating sneakers ostensibly for their male audience. Bridging the gap between sneaker and shoe, these luxury kicks usually have no discernible sporty heritage, however they do reflexively hint at a casual state of being. What they are lacking in history they make up for in exclusivity. Up til now, these models were anonymous and devoid of desirability for the average punter. With the Kanye West project, Vuitton has despatched both these inherent problems rather efficiently. And then some.
From a street point of view, the Married to the Mob Dunks inspired by Chanel and the ‘Gucci’ Vans by Crooks indicate how sport/street brands have been adopting high fashion emblems for their own amusement. The Supreme x Nike Blazers were another release that repped Gucci’s trademark green and red webbing. It’s no coincidence that Nike are the most common source of these references, because they invented and perfected the notion of creating back-stories to sell product. I guess everything is fair game in the drive to plunder for profit, however it’s now got to the point where ‘green and red’ seems automatically tagged as Gucci, hence the new ‘Gucci’ Air Force II and black denim Dunks. In my day, green and red meant Christmas... bah!
BOOTLEGGERS
From the notorious Dapper Dan to the dodgy Canal St traders of NY and Guangzhou knock-shops, there is another area where the two worlds mingle freely and that is the counterfeit biz. Since bootleggers are drawn to the easiest path to the dollar, it is Nike and Vuitton that suffer the most from this chronic scourge. Wikipedia has an uncited statistic that suggests that less than 1% of LV branded goods being made are authentic, which is ironic as their ubiquitous monogram was originally intended to suppress counterfeiting.
This crossover is even more perverse when the two brands are frankensteined together in the fake factories, such as when the LV pattern was slapped all over Nikes some years back. Even relatively well educated sneakerheads still think some of these fake Air Force Ones were legit! On top of that, illicit Gucci, LV and Nike (but not adidas for some reason) are often sold on the exact same bootleg sites, side by side. This is one certain giveaway that the product you are looking at is fake-ass-shit. There isn’t a retailer in the world who jams these brands together, but somehow in cyberspace, old fashioned common sense does not apply.
A few years back, a project initiated by Junya Watanabe (of Japanese label Commes Des Garcon) developed a concept for Nike that can be considered hugely influential, possibly one of the simplest and neatest product ideas of the decade. Watanabe’s brief remade the earliest Nike runners for his runway show by adding a fake patina at the factory that gave them the appearance of 30 year old vintage models. Glue drips, yellow soles, weathered suede and scuffed panels gave the nylon runners a stunning sense of fake history. Since then almost every sports brand has copied the idea, which in this game is the sincerest form of flattery as we all know.
ITALIAN MASTERS
Another example of ‘their’ influence in ‘our’ world is the use of luxury hallmarks to transmit an elevated sensibility in sports product. Think about (both imitation and real) snakeskin, ostrich, alligator, walrus, wombat, cocker spaniel and shark skin all being applied to ‘deluxe’ sneakers and the inspiration is obvious. The pinnacle of this trend was undoubtedly the Air Force Ones made with genuine anaconda skin and alligator in 2007. Hand-made by Italian master shoemakers, the ultra-premium AF-1s retailed for a lazy $1500, a home-run price hefty enough to be smacked right into the ballpark of uptown luxury brands.
Whilst I’m on the point, with reseller Nikes regularly changing hands for $1000 and beyond, the most dedicated sneakerfreakers are unlikely to baulk at the prices being bandied about for the Kanye West x Vuitton sneakers. A starting point of $800 and a ceiling of $1250 seems to be where the gossip is at which will create some sole-searching for sure. For anyone addicted to the quest for the Holy Grail, the sight of these Vuittons has just added a new set of parameters to their eBay searches. Where will it ultimately end? Kids sleeping outside Vuitton in Paris? Mace and fists on Fifth Avenue? Nunchukkas in the Shinjuku store? Time will tell...
On a personal note, the more I stare at those plump Vuittons, the more I can detect that throb deep inside that indicates that maybe, just maybe, I could be tempted to turn, even if I’m restricted by morality to the all-whites (not to mention the sheer price). All you bolshevik naysayers out there, don’t hate on me or call me a turncoat, I ain’t going all bourgeois just yet. I’m just man enough to admit that even I could be turned to the pink side. And I ain't no Kanye fan. I’m just adaptable. And high-curious.
THE LOUIS VUITTON DON
There’s no doubt in my mind that both the West x Nike x Vuitton projects represent the pinnacle of hypey-heat in 2009. Whilst West is the common factor, the individual products are miles apart in terms of meaning and substance. If we can conveniently put aside the radiance of Mr West’s personal pulling power, perhaps it is the sheer newness and bravado of this type of product that is touching a raw nerve. It’s not retro in other words – even if the Yeezy is built on a platform literally made from the Jordan III.
Since what goes up must also come down, the detour by trad-sports brands into high-fashion, most notably by the rebel incarnate himself, Jeremy Scott, must also be factored into the overall equation. Scott has worn the sports badge close to his heart, adding multiple tongues, huge wings and a cheeky set of accessories to his series of legit shoes for adidas. Of all the fashion dabblers into our world, sneakerheads would probably have to admit that Scott has a good snozz for getting it right on the money. His shoes have that in-your-face sporty attitude that many kids want to project to the world.
DEVOID OF BRANDING
Kim Jones for Umbro, Alexander McQueen’s PUMA collection and Yohji ‘OG’ Yamamoto’s Y-3 label also add weight to a market pregnant with a multitude of fashionable new influences. On top of that, adidas has also just launched a new range called SLVR, with nary a Trefoil or 3-stripe in sight. Sleek, devoid of branding and archly styled with no sign of any tongue-in-cheek sports vibe, this ‘blank’ direction is clearly filling a void with consumers determined to resist external labels. Now that is a new definition of cool!
Whilst Y-3, Mihara and McQueen have all been too fancy-pants for most heads to date, you only need look at the success of Supra’s NS range to see where this has nestled and found a home, even in the insular and unlikely world of skate. With high top buckles and velcro galore and an acre of perforated patent, Supra’s once fashion-forward vision has now been vindicated as being right outta the Nostradamus novella on early adopters. Again, these are not trends for everyone’s taste but there is no denying that their creative risk has come to fruition.
Overall, you’d have to say that this aesthetic has more in common with Battlestar Galactica than Stan Smith. Admittedly it’s only a small jump from the gold edition Supra Skytops to adidas Y-3 and then onto Vuitton, as these brands all share a common love for ‘busy’ design, but there is also elbow room at this altar for the lo-fi sneaker, or ‘geography teacher’ models as they are sometimes called by us in the SF office. Add the indie street-cred of Clae, Gourmet, Android Homme, Cipher, Common Projects, Gram and others to that vibe, and you have the makings of a commercial slipstream bubbling away pretty damn close to the surface.
WORLDS COLLIDE
Are we really about to start dressing like Steven Spielberg with moonboots and an ankle pouch to hold our spare change for the hoverboard? Probably not, but it won’t stop some kids from dying trying. Perhaps this is all just indicative of a minority move towards a more mature, and dare I say it, fashion-reflective, rather than sports-driven, vibe. Not all of us want to wear t-shirts anymore. Or flashy, sporty kicks with jacked-up air bubbles. Some people call it growing up, others call it ‘cut and sew’. It’s merely a changing of the generational guard and a jump-off point to a new destination.
With so many brands priming the pump, the sheer overwhelming array of options in the market means that at any one time, dozens of trends and style directions are simultaneously happening across different continents. It’s a nightmare for store buyers and brands alike. Add to that recognition the reality that the retro market is by its very nature, both infinite and stagnant, and you can see that the light at the end of the tunnel for many might actually be boat shoes made in Milan by a geriatric cobbler rather than the latest boombastic Le Bron model from Beaverton. Prestige exists purely in the eye of the beholder.
So it is clear the two worlds have collided, but what happens from here is anyone’s guess. These heavy weight high-fashion hitters have been around for decades (or more) and even toddlers recognise their trademarks, but only a rare breed can lay claim to a deeper understanding of their myriad histories. Whilst I’ve done my best to lob a few haymakers, it’s now safe for me to hand the reins over to Claw Money, Tee at Trashbags, Gabriella and the awesome French folks over at le Black Rainbow to let them take you through a potted history of the high falutin’ high fashion world. Thanks to them, this feature came together... Keep your 24kt laces loose!
Woody, Sneaker Freaker Ed.