Nike says high hype is killing the culture / Sneaker culture is “gentrified”

[6pac]

imo it’s a great time to sell your shoes. i had two pairs of dunks buried in my closet. both were very used. bought the puttys for $100 from a friend and the smurfs for about $150 from yahoo japan. sold both as a set for $4500.

sold a few other pairs for about the same amount but the worst one was that a pair of forces that i sold for $500 a few years ago recently sold for over 10k

Some Rapper is gonna definitely pop out with these

who else dropping 5 racks on a pair of used smelly sneaks?

 

[tr1ll]

I mean…..if I had it..Yes, thats different tho.

 

[rbk93]

Will read through the thread later, but it's true. Felt like it had more of cult like following maybe 10-15 years ago. The upped frequency/availability of releases has just made it too mainstream.

Nothing will deter my love for shoes, just cringe sometimes at those who jumped in this late, especially the Dunk/AJ1s "collectors".

 

[you go boy]

nike acts like they are going to do anything about it... they just saying these things so it looks like they acknowledge whats going on...but in reality they content with the way things are

 

[Methodical Management]

Interested in your thoughts Methodical Management . WHAT responsibility/role does Nike have in being part of the problem?

Part of the problem?

Who else could possibly be at fault for their choices? Historically, Nike's operated like DeBeers. Resellers are a natural consequence of their artificial scarcity strategy.

Nike brass has long maintained that they are not a sneaker company; they are a marketing company. There's a new generation in charge there, including a lot of NT alumni, so I am glad to see that people there are making an effort to change things with regards to corporate responsibility, to varying degrees of sincerity, but all of these problems are of the company's own design.

Given Nike’s history, it's a little hard to take statements regarding how they care about "Black and brown communities." We're old enough to remember Nike's "guerilla marketing" strategy. We're old enough to remember what time of the month they scheduled their major releases. We're old enough to remember their response to kids being held up for shoes.

The "groups who originally shaped the culture" are still here. By and large, Nike decided they wanted to collaborate with rich kids on social media instead.
Nike chose to offshore production and rely on third-party contractors that left them with lesser control over worker treatment and compensation. A lot of their struggles with counterfeiting have stemmed from this decision, in the form of unauthorized after hours "ghost shift" manufacturing. They could certainly stand to care a little more about the "Black and brown communities" where their products are manufactured.

We could find posts in this forum from the early 00's warning that collectors were going to drop out as they decided to turn purchasing into some "meta-game" with an ever-escalating degree of difficulty.

Nike is no longer the renegade upstart. It has become successful to the point where it is generic, which makes it difficult to stay cool. Kids don't want to wear the same logo as their grandparents. The problem is, instead of just balancing their distribution strategy to keep the product out of sales bins at sporting goods stores, they made it so the only people you actually see wearing them on the street now are the people who buy NFTs. So yeah, gentrification isn't an entirely unjustified metaphor.

Again, I'm glad they recognize it but there is no question as to who is at fault.


I thought Nike was the coolest company in the world as a kid. It was like actually wearing the sports car from the poster on your wall. There was a time when you could see somebody wearing a particular type of shoes and feel like there was an instant sense of mutual respect and kinship - like this person "gets it." Depending on where you lived, though, there might only be a handful of people who were really into it - like “Eastbay catalog inside your backpack,” “memorizing the tech specs” into it. When the Internet became a viable tool to interact with people from around the world, the first thing a lot of us wanted to find was other people like us. To an extent, we wanted this to be "normal." We wanted Nike to acknowledge us and listen to us, to bring back the retros, to make them faithful, to go beyond the standard home and away colorways. In a lot of ways, we got our wish.

People who came up in the 80's and 90's can share the styles they love with their children now, decades after their original release. The torch is being passed. I am not going to be some old curmudgeon who rants about how things "aren't what they used to be."
We get to see OG sneakers reissued (albeit with varying degrees of fidelity), but we also get to see a new generation put their own spin on it. I think that's cool.

I like the Off White 1s. I like the Travis Scotts. I like the Saquon Barkley ATC3. I like the VaporMax and the ISPA Drifter. I like the chunky, utilitarian "moon boot" designs they've been putting out.
Nike puts out a lot of designs these days that I would absolutely wear, if only they were produced more ethically, and without animal products.


I haven't bought a pair of Nikes since the Obama administration, but everything that drew me to this community keeps me here today. At heart, it really is about the culture and the camaraderie for me. One of the most rewarding things about all of this has been seeing people who loved this stuff as kids go on to work for these companies and try to change them for the better - among them, original NikeTalk members like alphaproject , jumpmanst , airrev , and @kingmajix.

When Nelson C visited Nike campus a couple of years back for the 20th anniversary meet up event, one of his biggest takeaways was just how many of us now work in the industry. They haven't forgotten where they came from, because they never left.


If they and people like them are sincerely trying to reform the company and empower, rather than exploit, the people and communities they serve, I am all for that.
The history of the company and the intransigence of its worst practices gives me cause for skepticism, but I wish those who are truly sincere in their efforts success.

 

[Nereyda Vuelve Por Dios]

Part of the problem?

Who else could possibly be at fault for their choices? Historically, Nike's operated like DeBeers. Resellers are a natural consequence of their artificial scarcity strategy.

Nike brass has long maintained that they are not a sneaker company; they are a marketing company. There's a new generation in charge there, including a lot of NT alumni, so I am glad to see that people there are making an effort to change things with regards to corporate responsibility, to varying degrees of sincerity, but all of these problems are of the company's own design.

Given its history, it's a little hard to take statements Nike regarding how they care about "Black and brown communities." We're old enough to remember Nike's "guerilla marketing" strategy. We're old enough to remember what time of the month they scheduled their major releases. We're old enough to remember their response to kids being held up for shoes.

The "groups who originally shaped the culture" are still here. By and large, Nike decided they wanted to collaborate with rich kids on social media instead.
Nike chose to offshore production and rely on third-party contractors that left them with lesser control over worker treatment and compensation. A lot of their struggles with counterfeiting has stemmed from this decision, in the form of unauthorized after hours "ghost shift" manufacturing. They could certainly stand to care a little more about the "Black and brown communities" where their products are manufactured.

We could find posts in this forum from the early 00's warning that collectors were going to drop out as they decided to turn purchasing into some "meta-game" with an ever-escalating degree of difficulty.

Nike is no longer the renegade upstart. It has become successful to the point where it is generic, which makes it difficult to stay cool. Kids don't want to wear the same logo as their grandparents. The problem is, instead of just balancing their distribution strategy to keep the product out of sales bins at sporting goods stores, they made it so the only people you actually see wearing them on the street now are the people who buy NFTs. So yeah, gentrification isn't an entirely unjustified metaphor.

Again, I'm glad they recognize it but there is no question as to who is at fault.


I thought Nike was the coolest company in the world as a kid. It was like actually wearing the sports car from the poster on your wall. There was a time when you could see somebody wearing a particular type of shoes and feel like there was an instant sense of mutual respect and kinship - like this person "gets it." Depending on where you lived, though, there might only be a handful of people who were really into it - like Eastbay catalog inside your backpack, memorizing the tech specs into it. When the Internet became a viable tool to interact with people from around the world, the first thing a lot of us wanted to find was other people like us. To an extent, we wanted this to be "normal." We wanted Nike to acknowledge us and listen to us, to bring back the retros, to make them faithful, to go beyond the standard home and away colorways. In a lot of ways, we got our wish.

People who came up in the 80's and 90's can share the styles they love with their children now, decades after their original release. The torch is being passed. I am not going to be some old curmudgeon who rants about how things "aren't what they used to be."
We get to see OG sneakers reissued (albeit with varying degrees of fidelity), but we also get to see a new generation put their own spin on it. I think that's cool.

I like the Off White 1s. I like the Travis Scotts. I like the Saquon Barkley ATC3. I like the VaporMax and the ISPA Drifter. I like the chunky, utilitarian "moon boot" designs they've been putting out.
Nike puts out a lot of designs these days that I would absolutely wear, if only they were produced more ethically, and without animal products.


I haven't bought a pair of Nikes since the Obama administration, but everything that drew me to this community keeps me here today. At heart, it really is about the culture and the camaraderie for me. One of the most rewarding things about all of this has been seeing people who loved this stuff as kids go on to work for these companies and try to change them for the better - among them, original NikeTalk members like alphaproject , jumpmanst , airrev , and @kingmajix.

When Nelson C visited Nike campus a couple of years back for the 20th anniversary meet up event, one of his biggest takeaways was just how many of us now work in the industry. They haven't forgotten where they came from, because they never left.


If they and people like them are sincerely trying to reform the company and empower, rather than exploit, the people and communities they serve, I am all for that.
The history of the company and the intransigence of its worst practices gives me cause for skepticism, but I wish those who are truly sincere in their efforts success.

Very well said.

 

[TURBO UNO]

the idea of $200 candy rainbow luxury basketball sneakers becoming gentrified tho.

You just described a recent Reebok collab that had me scratching my head. I kid you not.....Candyland Reeboks


I mess with Reebok though, love that brand.

 

[wallyhopp]

They need to look long and hard. Do limited releases make them more than GRs? Many folks are the substance of impulse buys. I’ve lost out on 10/10 shoes on the SNKRS app that I’ve wanted in the past two years. Instead I went for 3 others that i also got lucky on. They lost about a grand from me since they were playing games.

people will gravitate towards something in stock or deemed higher quality most times. There are millions who are anti hype. They need to focus on the common man.

didn’t they close down or move Nike products away from many retailers?

also. If you are reselling and not wearing and being a brand ambassador in the traditional sense, the hype stuff fits into a very small window. Maybe Nike is realizing this small window is top 1% and you gotta expand it out some.

 

[stuntman mike]

the only people you actually see wearing them on the street now are the people who buy NFTs.

lol wow. i feel attacked

 

[rbk93]

If I don’t get em for retail I don’t want em…..feels dirty walking around in shoes you paid resale for, they just don’t hit the same.

There's no difference really.

You either got them or you don't.

 

[6pac]

****in missed it

just wanted the Red 5’s and Cool Greys



Glad they doing stuff like this now

 

[Bert.]

Honestly I only hit on Christmas release kicks now. I don't even remember the last time I won a draw or SNKRS raffle besides Xmas 11s
This will be a slow gradual process, but the fact that over 90% of people who want the shoes can't get them directly from you is a problem.

The only thing that irks me is that they could easily kill the bots & reseller ****, but that would kill companies like StockX, GOAT, etc. so they refuse to.

How? People always selling shoes, their collections, whatever

**** Nike tho

 

[tr1ll]

How? People always selling shoes, their collections, whatever

**** Nike tho

Thats the problem. Stop paying resell. Actually, let me rephrase. Stop paying resell on shoes that dropped 20 minutes ago.

 

[langfor5]

Maybe it is an age thing for me and what is important in my life but shoe purchases are probably last. The sooner I realized it is all material and I really don't need anything the better off I was. Don't get me wrong I still purchase shoes but only at retail or under.

I've had my time to shine and stunt. I'll leave that up to the young bois to blow a paycheck on the newest releases.

As far as Nike goes, again, I can't emphasize this enough they will do whatever to keep their share holders happy. Period. Now what that ultimately means I have zero idea but Nike has and always will be the best at using trends (zero admission, LGBTQ, black and brown initiatives, etc) to mask what are really cost cutting measures to increase profit shares.

 

[Air Champa]

It's pretty funny going on Stock X and looking at the prices of shoes everyone hated and seeing what they're selling for. Black Cat 13s for nearly $500 in my size? A pair of Royalty 4s sold for nearly $600 a few days ago. LMAO.

Who in their right mind is doing this? Kids who just got in the game and don't know better?

 

[Deleted member 42060]

I put blame towards both Nike and these new jack resellers and botters. I've seen a number of these biters with Instagram pages where they post non sneaker related posts in 2012 or 2013 and then around 2017 or 2018 to present, they have so many resell listings. So many "cook" groups. So many high tech bot setups these days.

And the ones like nters and other long time collectors and consumers who have been into the sneaker scene since the 80s, 90s, and mid 2000s are getting fleeced.

So when the majority want to fleece the minority, the minority might fleece too. We all become a part of it since there's no balance.

 

[blastercombo]

We do need to understand that sneaker collecting is over for a couple reasons

1. we KNOW they’ll come back

2. The “hunt” is gone because they’re all consolidated into 2-3 apps

3. There’s a release almost every other week

times Have changed and I’ve accepted that.Im happy to of been there when things weren’t garbage

 

[nonnative]

It probably helps that i have a wide range of tastes but I can’t understand people that pay resell cause there’s ALWAYS something I want to cop coming down the pipeline. If I miss out on one for retail, there’s always something clean coming up these days.

 

[rbk93]

Maybe if FLX wasn't catered to resellers, paying retail would actually be feasible.

I've only bought 4 pairs of shoes at retail this year, everything else has been on the resale market.

 

[rbk93]

To each his own.

 

[SoleByThePound]

Waiting for this sneaker bubble to pop
At some point the resellers will diminish.

 

[executive76]

I read "giganto designer" in his voice

 

[WASHED KING]

Maybe if FLX wasn't catered to resellers, paying retail would actually be feasible.

I've only bought 4 pairs of shoes at retail this year, everything else has been on the resale market.

Before FLX I hit on every GR I wanted, and most of the times multiples. Worst thing to ever happen to footstores hands down.

 

[moonman818]

What is FLX? And why is it so trash?

If I can't cop on SNKRS i don't even try anymore.

 

[FlightNikes]

It is gentrified & it’s due to the connected/resell savvy having directed & guided access to launches thru hype channels like SNKRS & other Well known Jordan Brand accounts/stores. They are either hype havens for resellers knowing where to go or staffed with backdooring resellers. If you put merch where resellers & resell savvy employees know where it’s at and what is what.. then it will be resold & backdoored at a higher rate.

SNKRS & well known JB accounts allowed this access which in turn became destructive.

They led the horse to water & he drank way too much water.

I say shut it down, go back to randomizing where JB Merchandise ends up to make it harder to plan on & give it more life beyond reselling. You don’t have SNKRS & landing zones like JB accounts? It becomes harder to plan a quick buck.

I would even take it as far as running Nike, FLX, and all other merchants as companies that hire only seasonal terms & people that are not sneaker junkies. This way no one knows what is what.. & no one gets to capitalize & bank. It’s only the experienced & knowledgeable that take advantage of retail markets.
Besides why would you want stale faces in your fashion centric stores? Keep them limited as seasonal hires in the shoe industry.. they gotta know when they’ve overstayed their welcome. Basically you don’t get to become an inside man of an employee.

To encourage one that they’re gonna sell shoes all their lives in a shoe store is a dead end, unless they own the shoe store. It gets to point where one has to grow up & find a Real job. You can’t allow them to stay in a company long enough to harvest resell/backdooring power.