Thanx to my boy Pache if found this really great article, which I think really fits into my blog. 2fresh4yall ya diggg?! lol Sneakers are a part of a Lifestyle. So what about luxury Sneakers..?! Future or history? This ish will give you kind of an answer to some questions. You'll finde this feature in the new SneakerFreaker issue #15, be sure to cop one.
Here some of the collabos:
I know there are many different/split opinions about luxury and sneakers, LV and Kanye, 2fresh4all or not...lol, but i think this article will change some opinions right away. Anyway , 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!
This feature appeared in issue 15 of Sneaker Freaker. Buy it HERE
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