Hi all, sorry for the extremely long hiatus, but rest assured I will be back and posting more regularly. Fresh start!
Recently, a kid in Birmingham was jump-kicked by a gang of ten other kids who tried to steal his triple black Huaraches. Bad news was, he broke 3 ribs. Good news - he managed to get away, and with his Huaraches.
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| Nike Air Yeezy Red October 2. Its iconic triple 'Solar Red' colourway has inspired other sneakers like Nike Air Max 90 Hyperfuse, Adidas mizxflux. Credit as tagged. |
The subject I want to shine light on this week, is the 'reselling hype' behind 'triple' coloured sneakers.
Triple sole = sole, mid-sole, upper-sole.
Triple black Nike Huaraches, triple 'Red October' Nike x Kanye Wesy collab, triple white Adidas ZX fluxes, Nike Air Max 90 Hyperfuse (you can now also customise your own colours on these), and very recently Pharrell's somewhat excessive release of Adidas x Stan Smiths in colour code Skittles (see below for rainbow. Warning: bright colours may cause epilepsy. lol just kidding)
- what these triple-coloured shoes have in common, is the fact that they have often had limited numbers released, being passed into the cruel hands of resellers.
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| Pharrell Williams jumping on the hype wagon? Pharrell x Adidas Stan Smiths available now in stores and online in the UK |
What's with the Power of Three?
The first notable triple-coloured shoe was the Yeezy 'Red Octobers', which released to the public in February 2014. They retailed in limited numbers at $265, but are being resold for up to $5,000! The triple 'Solar Red' colourway has become so iconic via Ye that it has also inspired inspired the Nike Air Max 90 Hyperfuse and Adidas mizxflux. The triple black Huaraches, which retailed at £80, are still flogging at up to £200 on Ebay. It seems Pharrell Williams has also jumped at the opportunity and created his own palette of Stan Smith's with Adidas.
The age range of resellers probably doesn't matter, but there are kids out here claiming that reselling is the only way to make money, whether they're under 16 or at uni or simply unemployed. Some people are in the culture for the community it brings for like-minded people. I guess some people just enjoy camping to get first in line for the latest release (and then to resell).
These tri-colour trainers are proving to be a massive hit in the sneaker market, the cool kids join the triple bandwagon, paying way over their retail to other kids who just wanna make some £, and so much that eventually fake copies have started to appear online. And ultimately, the thing that makes us the saddest, is the fact that kids don't even know that they're fake! *sad face*.
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| examples of [left] Legit Triple Black Huaraches [right] Fake Triple Black Huaraches. Watch out! |
Reselling isn't so bad, I suppose. It raises awareness of new releases so a possible marketing technique here, people are making money in a legal way, and sneakerheads can unite.
So the point of this post really, is:
1. Do not buy fake sneakers because they fuel fake production, and you'll look like a right plum when somebody calls fufu on them.
2. Kanye is cool, but that doesn't mean you have to wear everything he releases. Triple coloured shoes are cool, but don't cop them just because everybody has them. Enhance your own style.
3. Being a reseller isn't at all a bad thing, but if you're going to be prickly and charge extortionate prices or sell fakes then you can think again about entering the sneaker world full of people who know their expertise, and do actually take the shoe game seriously. It is a business as well as a hobby, afterall.
Check out my favourite sneaker groups:
Emily, LDN
