For many, disregarding how distasteful and boring the shoe can sometimes be viewed as, they became a staple feature for the standard outfit; relaxed sportswear, denim fanatics, technical get-ups, Yeezy have made appearances in every style mentionable. Essentially, a shoe that can’t quite be labelled, being shared across every genre to form what can now be seen as the new identity of fashion today; no limitations, no boundaries, they function as a minor detail or major feature within a market that has changed monumentally image-wise over the last 5 or so years.
SZN 5 has teased Kanye’s ‘Calabasas’ collection, which has, and always will be likened to the notorious Reebok Workout. As an invitation to SZN 4, recipients were noted to have receive said track-pants; thus initiating this highly anticipated combination and kick-starting a Three Stripe track-pants frenzy…once again spreading across every accessible platform. He’s started to indirectly re-introduce a mentality revolving around self-expression incredibly, influencing what can only be described as a herd, aiming to dress as he does but also those outside of this following have been encouraged in other ways.
Injecting my personal viewpoint into this piece, it hass encouraged ‘creatives’ to find their own guidelines or path to follow, in turn spreading individuality in an expansion of brand use and knowledge. Recently, Karhu were pictured on Kanye’s feet- a brand sidelined as it struggles to find a stature-post, regardless of Foot Patrol or Patta collaborative releases. This raises my recent point of exploring brands not normally associated with the relevance of Nike and Adidas, as prime suspects.
Other occurrences and releases worthwhile to mention include a majority of H&M’s annual collections, seeing at least one exclusive designer collaborative drop per year from the likes of; Alexander Wang, Balmain, Margiela and Versace to name a few. What would these workings be classed as? Highstreet or cheaper designer brands?
The same can be asked of Raf Simons working on Stan Smith silhouettes - where does this sit on the spectrum? What was once an everyday ‘tennis’ sneaker, now receives the quality treatment of plush leathers and exuberant block colouring season-in, season-out without fail.
Admittedly, his other Adidas silhouettes which hold no obvious purpose other than to look pleasing, Ozweego per se, couldn’t possibly be marked down as streetwear with such high pricing and to some a lack of historical heritage.
YEEZY SEASON