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Hahaha.. I found that pair of those Adidas. Believe it or not these were huge in the NYC street skateboarding scene of the late eighties.. just as big as these dunks.
Ha.. these shoes cost $20 dollars a pop. If I could go back in time.
I owned many pairs of those Adidas Instincts. They were still cheaply built with the painted outsoles and weak dye. Jordan's were sort of an anomaly since they were well built (unlike the original Dunks) but less bulky than Weapons or Ewings. I couldn't bring myself to wear those Ellesses, although you could pick them up for $15.
In any case, I saw non-skate shoes in the mid-80s as an economic necessity. 95% of skaters, including those in magazines, wore Vans High Tops. Neil Blender was the only pro to wear basketball shoes until the first picture of Gonz wearing Jordans at Oahu skate camp ran in Thrasher. Ubiquitous bargain bin Jordans were comparable in price to $31 Vans Highs, but didn't blow out as fast. By the late '80s, almost every skater wore last season's dead stock basketball shoes since Vans still couldn't figure out the ollie patch and Airwalk was trying to shake their initial Mervyn's association. Eventually a skate shoe industry emerged to address the issues that non-skate shoes couldn't resolve.
We rock the CONS rex 400 hardly in the late 80s - you got them super cheap. Skateshoes where cooler but 3 times the price.
i had some Vans Caballero which was unbelievable expensive - i didnt buy them regular - some kid in my town which had fucking rich
parents got them - and i trade them against some dope i steal from my dad.
But if i would skate with that shoes my friends think i would be stupid - CONS and shoe-goo was the way to go.
Airwalk become big - but the sole was so unbelievable bad. You run through the sole in 2 weeks.
The first skate shoe which was affordable in europe was the airwalk vic.
I dreamed to get the Natas Etnies - which was a european brand back then but unbelievable difficult to get.
Its the same today - in my opinion the most skate shoe brands didn't build up a proper distribution in europe.
I am not wondering about the failure from brands like lakai, vox, ipath - it was nearly impossible to get them.
Still today you have at any Footlocker NewBalance - but the Skateshoes you only get in UK.
3 years ago it was not possible to get a black halfcab in europe - some stupid purchasing/ sales or product manger
in a warehouse in italy decide to run only other color way for a couple of seasons.
right now i try to get an Gilbert Crockett Mid in Black or an Chima Estate Pro in Black - i already visit
3 proper "Core" Skate and 2 Vans Shops - not possible to order or organize.
But the swoosh you get fucking everywhere.
I dont know if you only can blame the consumer that skater owned companies didt run.
and its quit easy to blame nike for it. but if you want to build up something you need to be better
or at least cooler then your competitors. And you need to handle your fucking business.
i have not many skate related companies in my mind right now i would say they do it right.
Topic: Fallen Footwear (Read 67417 times)