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“If you look at what skater-owned shoe companies were making in the late ‘90s, right before Nike was able to successfully come in — these plastic and suede tanks of shoes with giant molded cupsoles and puffy tongues and all these bells and whistles — that, to me, killed the skate shoe industry more than Nike coming in,” Barrow said. “Looking at weird tech éS shoes is like looking at fourth century Rome having a decadent orgy while barbarians are at the gate… Am I supposed to feel bad for them? I’m the one that’s paying money. I’m the skateboarder here. They’re not doing me any fucking favors by making shitty shoes just because they skate.”
This is fucking naive it makes me want to vomit.
Social media has Ted's ego more inflated than a d3.
Wanna know why "core" footwear is gone? Capitalism you fucking idiot. Nike has absolutely endless capital and bought their way in--this isn't complex nor is it up for debate. It's so tiresome hearing everyone spout off their two-bit hypothesis' about why we have such limited skater-owned footwear options while never once even pondering the role of capital. That doesn't absolve core footwear from their past sins and financial fuck ups, but ultimately it's just victim blaming. These companies are basically nonexistent almost solely from the cut throat nature of capitalism and not their own undoing. Skateboarding was 100% fine without sports footwear. We did not need them. They saw a niche market and gobbled it up like they always do. When the bubble bursts, they'll be the first to leave.
Stick the museum tours Teddy.
Ok but if core companies made shoes people want to wear maybe they would do better? And maybe if core companies treated their team riders better, they would stick around a bit and give the brand an appealing image? Maybe if eS didn't lay off their whole team, including Bobby Worrest, Mike Anderson and Ben Raemers, and replace them with Kelly fucking Hart, people would give half a shit about them?
I concede that big companies and their large budgets give them an advantage, but at the end of the day markets change, and if you're not willing to adapt then you'll die like a dinosaur. I stuck with core companies up until VERY recently and I don't feel too bad about it. Most of the companies I sported had very inconsistent quality and made very few moves to actually make me excited about them as a brand. I'm the consumer, and I'll buy what I want.
Re: your first paragraph, I highlighted my original statement in regards to that.
Is what éS did fucked up? Yes.
To me, the more important question is why they had to do that in the first place.
It's because sports footwear put them in that position.
Again, we didn't need Nike, they saw an opportunity and they pillaged the market; adaptability has nothing to do with it.
edit: in fact I would argue that all the (admittedly extremely lame) collaborations Lakai has been doing is exemplary of their adaptability. You think they want to do that shit? They have to in order to broaden their market.
With all due respect, I don’t buy this one bit.
They made a huge deal about shutting down only to return less than a year later. They rebranded into something that barely anybody wants, but only after soughting after “core sympathy” as an excuse to fuck over the people that stuck around in the first place. Look at Huf. What’s happening to them is unfortunate, but they’ve been very transparent about their intentions and they’re actually working with their team to make sure they’re taken care of and find new homes. Capitalism sucks, but that doesn’t mean you can’t operate fairly. Hell, even Fallen has made it a priority to get back the people who made the brand what it was in the first place. It’s dumb marketing, but hey, at least they’re trying. I bet someone out there has called Bobby Worrest a sell out for going to Nike even though he stuck with es until the end and then tried very hard to get on Huf only to be passed upon.
And regarding the “unwanted collaborations”, IE Lakai, how does that give them integrity as a skate shoe company over companies that are actually catering to their consumers? I LOVED Lakai. Then before I knew it, they became the brand known for neon colored cats, Hello Kitty shoes, and frankly racist collab commercials. They want new demographics? Fine. But they don’t get to be mad when their former demographic gets soured by them and moves on to something else. You don’t get to have both.
And to bring it full circle, in browsing Lakai’s Instagram looking for horrendous marketing plugs, most of the posts I encountered were women asking why their shoes are only sized for men. Their response? “Oh, anyone can wear them!” Yeah, no shit. Women are aware they have human feet. What an EASY accommodation to make for a potential demographic. But instead they’ll dig their ripped up heels into the ground and then women will flock to companies that will easily accommodate them.
Topic: "core" shoe companies stay blowing it by not sponsoring female skaters (Read 9105 times)