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Originally Posted by Method Man
To be candid, I think this is part of the problem: people within some of these companies seem to think that we've reached some sort of postmodernist stage with sneakers. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's not that sneakers have reached the limit of what they're able to accomplish, it's simply that the industry as a whole has stagnated and become complacent. I think the retro craze, and I'll readily concede that we have an awful lot to do with that, has been complicit in this stagnation, if not catalytic.
We have so much hope for the team line - but at the end of the day the team line, however ambitious, is always shoehorned into low end tech, inferior material quality, and forced design cues from old Jordans - which shows zero faith in either the designers or the consumers. I don't envy the designers. As an artist, I'd tend to think the last thing you'd want to do is be told to produce a takedown Jordan XI year after year and slap on the gimmicky outsole pattern from the newest "game shoe," which no one of significance even plays in, to make it "current." If all they have left is retro, then at least let me build the retro I want on ID - because I have zero faith in the taste of anyone who'd produce some of the shoes pictured in this thread. ID didn't kill the Dunk, Nike killed the Dunk. ID didn't kill the AF1, Nike killed the AF1. ID won't kill retro Jordans, either. They've been assiduously bleeding them dry just fine on their own.
I'm glad to hear that the XX3 has a unique fit and a couple of new production techniques... but honestly I wonder how well that will translate to the real world. Often times sneaker fans get so into this stuff they lap up the pamphlet fodder and subsequently imagine some sort of psychosomatic benefit that simply doesn't translate to the average person. You'll listen to some people write about sneakers here or in print, and they'll pen some dripping love letter to a designer and pretend that they can REALLY feel the performance benefit of the reinforced eyelets, inspired by the welding on a German hang glider... it's ridiculous. When I was maybe 3 years old I distinctly remember feeling as though Zips sneakers would make me run faster, wondering why I couldn't catch the older kids. It was on that day I stopped believing the hype. You read about what people think makes the XX3 special, it's not a tab on the tongue, it's the metallic paint on the midsole or the stitching. Come on. Last year, the big innovation was color changing plastic. COLOR CHANGING PLASTIC. It didn't even make it into the final product. I don't recall anyone marketing hypercolor t-shirts as performance wear.
I'll readily admit that I'm cynical, but I can't imagine that you could hand a pair of XX3s to a player who knows only that they're Air Jordans and nothing else, let them play a couple games, and that person would then say "WOW!! That's incredible. Something about the fit of these shoes just blows away what I used to use. They must've improved the contour of the lining and added a second lacing tab! I'll never go back to a pair of shoes with just ONE lacing tab again, that's for sure!" This is the hope we're clinging to? A lacing tab? It's a $185 sneaker released in 2008.
Perhaps the best industry-related post I've ever read while on NT... because it has been my sentiment for years as well.
First off, just to beat a dead horse with the ID thing one last time, I don't care at this point about ID'ing retros. Retros have been butchered beyondsaving with certain models. It's no question JB has used their retro releases to appeal to urban fashion ONLY, and these outlandish color schemes areshining examples of how they've managed to turn yesteryears' performance Jordans into a blatantly corny attempt to connect with their target market.Not to mention the downright laughable names we're giving these shoes now (OO'wee? B'Tru?)...
But we're talking about the XX3. As an aspiring footwear designer myself, my worst nightmare is waking up and realizing the defacing of the Brand hasleaked all the way into the CURRENT MODEL of 2008, not just retros, by way of ID. That is like punching yourself in the face. JB would be saying to the public,"we put the most talented designers in the world to the test for 2 years to create the XX3, but this year, you get to slap whatever colors you want on itno matter how ugly or how much it defaces our beloved product because we just don't care anymore." What a disgrace that would be. Again, the colorwaysthese designers choose, ESPECIALLY for the XX3, should be special.
The point about the extra lacing tab, you're right. It's pointless in the grand scheme of things. I haven't slipped my foot into a XX3 yet (thankyou JB for your new definition of the word "limited"), but what we can be hopeful about is that Tinker is trying to change the way the shoe isshaped....for the better. And more than a lace strap, a person wearing them for the first time will notice the so-called track spike fit before anything else.That shows me there is some innovative thinking left, at least.
Which brings me to one last point. If the sneaker design world was like the economy, we are in the midst of the Great Depression... x 100. There are a millionpossible reasons for this but the only one I want to mention is that Nike sits atop the basketball kingdom with no competition. In the 90s it used to be a moreeven playing field with adidas/reebok/nike. Nike at this point can release recycled garbage over and over and make exponentially more profit. No one istouching them. Adidas decided that competing with the swoosh meant coming up with retro-inspired bull as well. What we got was the TS line. Oh that'snice...styling from the 70s. What happened to the TMac 1 and 2, or the Kobe from 2000? Reebok has been dead for 9 years now, I'm surprised they're notout of business...they don't even use a cushioning technology anymore.
So Nike and JB can keep doing what they're doing, and go corrupt in the process in the areas of creativity and quality. The questions now are will the everchange.....and/or who will uprise them.