What would you consider an imitation? An inferior copy? Something that has been based off of an original product, but produced with inferior materials and then passed off as an original (and sold at the same price)? Well, if this statement holds true, all your “retro” Jordan purchases over the past couple of decades fall into the ‘imitation’ category. Sorry, bro.
The Air Jordan, and almost all of its iterations, are some of the most popular designs in sneaker history. First released in 1984, the shoe has become an undeniable staple in urban America, and all it takes is a quick stroll through any city to spot a few pairs. With three-figure prices, though, they represent the upper echelon of footwear attainable by the masses. Jordan Brand recently revealed that they will be unveiling a ‘re-mastered’ series of J’s, made from the high quality materials used on the originals — which begs the question – what quality of material have they been using on their re-issued, retro releases all this time, then?
Let us just cover our ass say that Jordans are some of the most beautifully designed footwear on the planet. They’ve changed and shaped the footwear industry in a lot of ways. And we’re not mad at the back office – the designers, creatives, and in fact most people that work at Nike/Jordan.
We understand that business and design/development often clash at the best of times (investigate the term “planned obsolescence” for a clear cut, universal example of this). What we’re mad about is their business model – the ‘front office’, the businessmen that think it’s okay to swindle devoted sneaker lovers, to produce inferior products and sell them at premium prices.
It wouldn’t be so much of an issue if Jordans weren’t associated with a premium status and cost. Every model is $100+ … so why the shortcuts? It doesn’t seem like Nike’s sales have ever taken a dive. Could they have sold Jordans with original materials for the same price this whole time, and still made a killer margin on them? Absolutely.
Think about this — they’re selling ‘re-issues’. That means that when they order production of these shoes from their factories, they already have all the patterns cut for the uppers, the sole molds have already been produced, and the designs were done a long time ago. There are basically no extra costs associated with reproducing retro Jordans, other than buying the material. They’ve been making money, hand over J, for the past 20 odd years — and now they’re set to make even more money by selling you what they should have been selling you this entire time. Nike’s laughing at us, all the way to their ‘re-mastered’ bank.
So why is no one pissed about this?
Because we’re programmed not to be.
In case you didn’t google planned obsolescence’ (P.O.), it’s basically one way a company ensures they’ll get repeat customers in the not too distant future. They construct their products with a certain quality of material, thats not too high and not too low, and will break down after a calculated amount of time (usually just after your warranty runs out). Apple actually spends more money on ‘P.O.’ than any other company in the world. It’s smart business (though horrible for the environment) to build products this way because they’re ensuring they’ll have people continuously buying their products.
For an example of how ‘P.O.’ has altered the landscape of product expectation, just think about any time you’ve listened to an old head reminisce about how long cars would last back in the day. This rant is actually true. Back then cars were built with stronger, longer lasting materials – until companies realized that if you build products this way, no one needs to buy anything else from you for years.
At the risk of sounding like a tired old man, what this has lead to is a generation (our generation) of young people that think it’s normal for their laptops to need repair a week after their warranty runs out, who feel the need to replace their mobile phone every year, and who think it’s ok that their sneakers are busted after just a few wears. This whole mindset has allowed Nike to sell us inferior shoes for the past 20 years, and still create a demand for their product.
Let’s be real, the Nike front office played us better then Jordan ever played anyone on the court. Hats off to them … well played guys, but you won’t be getting any retro J money from me.
Between rants, Daniel Bailey is actually a very productive member of society – designing shoes for some of the biggest names in footwear. He and his partner/fellow designer Omar Bailey work on some very special projects, which you can explore on their website Concept Kicks.
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The post Why All My Jordans Are Imitations, And All Yours Probably Are Too appeared first on SLAMXHYPE.