End Of An Era?

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End Of An Era?

It was all good just week ago? Well not a week, maybe more like this time last year. Is it just me or are collaborations losing their steam and luster? It seems like the recent collabs are nowhere near as good as those we have seen in the not too long ago past.

There have been many iconic collabs throughout the years that have been highly touted, hyped, and influential pieces to the sneaker culture. Of course that has happened for various reasons, i.e. unique twists on classic silhouettes, premium materials, vibrant attire and packaging to support them, and of course limited stock. But, are we seeing the end of the impact that these collaborations once had? Has there been a drop in quality?

I don’t think there has been a drop in quality, but I will say there is a greater quantity now. There seems to be more and more collaborations as the time has gone on. Boutiques have taken notice to their competitor’s success throughout releases and have followed suit. Now when I said quality I was referring to the materials used on the shoes, which always seems to be an unexplainable complaint of sneaker “hypists”. I do think that there has been a lack of creativity in many recent collaborations. A collaboration should deliver something you normally don’t get from the brand. This does raise the question, due to the flair and creativity of collabs, have brands started to do more to shoes? This is a strong possibility, but there are many themes and opportunities yet to be attempted and perfected.

The “It guy” of the collaboration over the last couple of years, Ronnie Fieg, has been a major player and staple in the collaboration side of the sneaker game. Fieg has released many amazing sneakers from various brands that have turned heads, resold for astronomical prices, and also changed the climate amongst the brands. With that said, his recent releases haven’t delivered the punch that his shoes of the past have. 2014 did not see as iconic of releases from Fieg. The “OG Kithstrike”, “Metallic Gold”, “KFE”, “Achromatic Pack”, “Brooklyn Bridge”, “Central Park”, “Pony M-110”, “Buscemi 110M”, “Atlantic”, “Pacific”; where ALL cool at best. None of them really were “must have” shoes. I’m not saying they were weak, but definitely far from necessary.

This isn’t just happening with Fieg either, a lot of recent collabs over last year, and the early part of this year have not had the prestige of their predecessors. So is it over? Has that era ended? That can’t be answered at the moment. Time will only tell with this one, but we will keep you posted with the thoughts and views on it. But, I personally look forward to the days when Concepts, Extra Butter, Bodega, Kith, Ubiq are delivering the BEST release of the weekend.

  1. Fieg’s “Sakura’s”, Feature Las Vegas’s Saucony collabs, and Bodegas Get Wet collabs were all AMAZING….so there is hope kids.

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