Stylish shoe or symbol of slavery?
(Adidas)
After first defending the design of a new line of sneakers against accusations of racism, Adidas announced Tuesday it would pull its JS Roundhouse Mid shoe from production.
Adidas made the move after critics of the sneaker, which features plastic orange chains and a cuff that strapped around the ankle, said the straps resembled shackles – an image reminiscent of slavery.
In brushing off critics, Adidas said in a statement that the shoe was the ‘outrageous and unique take on fashion’ by noted fashion designer Jeremy Scott.
The shoe, which was going to sell for $350 a pair, was previewed months ago and generated little chatter until Adidas recently started promoting it on its Facebook page.
“Since the shoe debuted on our Facebook page ahead of its market release in August, Adidas has received both favorable and critical feedback. We apologize if people are offended by the design and we are withdrawing our plans to make them available in the marketplace,” the statement said.
Scott defended his design, saying the shoe was inspired by a toy called My Pet Monster. “My work has always been inspired by cartoons, toys & my childhood,” Scott said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.
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79 comments Add your comment
war eagle
June 19th, 2012
1:24 pm
Adidas needs to pull the shoe for several reasons- first-$350 is too much for a sneaker, 2, it looks more like a chain gang than anything else but of course, the NAACP would claim slavery. Everything is slavery to them. 3. Start designing shoes so people can afford them- like under $50.Sneakers should not cost more than a pair of Bostonians or Johnston-Murphy’s,
It appears they were trying to tarket the hip hop market again. Let’s stop catering to Thugs Adidas, Or I will take my business elsewhere.
Really
June 19th, 2012
1:28 pm
So I can see where people may take offense to these shoes but the bigger issue is the shoes are ugly. And who would want to hoop in those shoes with that thing around the ankles? Did Adidas do any R & D on these shoes? They should have never made it this close to coming out.
KeepinItReal
June 19th, 2012
1:30 pm
Slavery?? Seriously??? People, get over yourselves… I highly doubt they were thinking of slaves when they designed these shoes.. which btw are fugly.. let alone paying $350 for them.
mark
June 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
why not wear them as a symbol that we are past that period? don’t run from the past, overcome it!
C Riddick
June 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
Where is the shoe business going to? Who in their right mind would even spend 350.00 on a pair of sneakers? Oh my bad, someone who really can’t even afford them. The profit margin on shoes alone is rediculus alone.
By the way the shoe looks stupid!!
David
June 19th, 2012
1:35 pm
At $350 a pair how could it remind any sane person of slavery? That is unless I purchased them, forced them onto my neighbor at gun point then had him mow my lawn. Whether they were targeted to black customers, who are free to buy whatever they want, is another argument, one most would not discuss if it were true and the shoes sold.
GoCanes
June 19th, 2012
1:38 pm
war eagle,
$350 is too much for a sneaker – If you think so, don’t buy it.
it looks like a chain gang – last I saw, white guys were on chain gangs too
Start designing shoes so people can afford them…or I will take my business elsewhere – You can find $50 sneakers at your local Wal-Mart in downtown Auburn. Adidas can do without you.
Rablib
June 19th, 2012
1:39 pm
As a person of european extraction I personally don’t object to the use of shackles here. Even though the early Britons were enslaved by the Romans, and later Britons forced into chain gangs and pressed into servitude on board British ships. Slavery has a long history among all peoples. If these shoes smack of slavery it is only to prove their purchasers are slaves to fashion (and have more money than they know what to do with).
Call It Like It Is
June 19th, 2012
1:41 pm
I think the designer and shoe manufacture were right on the money. Tacky or not, much of today’s youth for some reason love to immolate the looks of a convict. The baggy pants worn below the waist, the prison shoes, tattoos that look like they came from the corner of a cell. Make an outrageous product and put on an outrageous price tag and the idiots will come in droves. I wish I had thought of it.
David
June 19th, 2012
1:41 pm
Well said Rablib, slave to fashion. I like it…
Stupefied
June 19th, 2012
1:43 pm
“Inspired by a toy”? Never seen a toy like that. And it couldn’t be any uglier or stupid.
KeepinItReal
June 19th, 2012
1:45 pm
I bet the real reason Adidas pulled them was because people said they looked stupid and wouldn’t buy them… so they just blamed it on the race card because they knew everyone would believe it.
David
June 19th, 2012
1:46 pm
In respect to it being inspired by a toy, though I lean towards it being BS, the orange color offers some plausibility.
JF McNamara
June 19th, 2012
1:48 pm
Seems like something the free market could have taken care of.
Ricky
June 19th, 2012
1:51 pm
Slavery? Yes!! Slavery to allowing someone tell you it’s okay to wear something that is outrageously over priced and impractical. This has got to be one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. Of course, now that it’s getting all of this attention, it is only going to increase interest in these shoes. Of course, Adidas is saying that they will not make them available, but don’t be surprise if you see them being sold on the black market.
David
June 19th, 2012
2:02 pm
Call It Like It Is, you clled it!
Drexel Gal
June 19th, 2012
2:06 pm
Most of you are too young to remember this, but, in the 1960s (and previous decades), there was a sneaker brand named Servus. “Servus” is the Latin word for “SLAVE”.
The more things change …
durrrhh
June 19th, 2012
2:07 pm
Very well said, Rablib. I love that people don’t catch the irony- anyone who pays that much for any piece of clothing is clearly a slave to fashion.
ROLL TIDE!!!
June 19th, 2012
2:08 pm
The shoes are ugly and overpriced. PERIOD!!!!
Wayne
June 19th, 2012
2:11 pm
There are so many reasons this should not be newsworthy, including the main one which is, no one other than folks with a financial reason to focus on race care. Real efforts in eradicating poverty, racism, and all other -isms in the Third World and America, are a much better use of time. But of course that is too hard and cannot be accomplished from a microphone or megaphone.
Toni
June 19th, 2012
2:14 pm
I won’t or never will wear or support Adidas. This is just another way of offending all those that have paved the way for Black Americans!!!!
Coachurly
June 19th, 2012
2:14 pm
The shoes look awful and I’m a Lakers fan!
gadem
June 19th, 2012
2:20 pm
As a black man, I don’t see slavery…I see jail or inmate.
202dawg
June 19th, 2012
2:23 pm
Most SEC football fans should immediately thing “TENNESSEE”!
Arlo
June 19th, 2012
2:25 pm
These will look perfect with my hangman’s noose necktie!
Bob LaBlah
June 19th, 2012
2:32 pm
A slave to fashion, maybe.
202dawg
June 19th, 2012
2:36 pm
*think
Tellingthetruth
June 19th, 2012
2:41 pm
Looks more like chain gain shoes, does it come with a cannon ball attached? $350.00 = stupid.
Chuck
June 19th, 2012
2:42 pm
We have to get past the slave equals black argument. In history every group that beat another group in battle enslaved those people, Egypt, Rome, Huns, Goths, …….. Even the some native american tribes would enslave other tribes after winning in battle.
FalconsFan
June 19th, 2012
2:46 pm
Ok clearly this was designed by a child of the 1980’s, anyone in their late 20’s and early 30’s would remember “My Pet Monster”, the chains are a direct copy of those found on the toy. The gray/purple color scheme are found on the monster toy as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Pet_Monster
“Scott defended his design, saying the shoe was inspired by a toy. “My work has always been inspired by cartoons, toys & my childhood,” Scott said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.”
The only people making the jump to slavery or racism are those who are uninformed. While the shoes are ugly as sin, they’re only a tribute to a massively popular toy.
Default Settings 2.0
June 19th, 2012
2:47 pm
I wonder what the matching socks look like.
irishmafia
June 19th, 2012
2:51 pm
Ho Hum –another charge of racism –boo hoo–does it even mean anything? Lets just go ahead and say everything.everbody,and everywhere is racist and get it over with
charles barkley
June 19th, 2012
2:54 pm
The brothers will be fighting with each other to be the first to have a pair in their hood!
You gotta be kidding
June 19th, 2012
3:03 pm
Adidas and other companies need create a ‘you will offend’ position. That person would have seen the shoes and told them to get rid of the chains and change the name.
Slugworth
June 19th, 2012
3:04 pm
I bet these shoes would be a big hit with today’s youth. I’d beware, however, that kids would get capped and their shoes jacked as us the case with every new version of the Air Jordans. Malls might get rioted… store clerks trampled… offspring left in hot cars for hours as the lines linger. Hey, maybe it is best they are pulled.
Ivan Cohen
June 19th, 2012
3:04 pm
Jeremy Scott “My work has always been inspired by cartoon, toys & my childhood.” His explanation is so lame that it needs crutches, a wheelchair, a walker and a telethon to prop it up. His shoe design will come in handy for drama clubs that want to re-enact the “Defiant Ones”(movie which starred Tony Curtis and Sidney Portier) My summation of what I think of the sneaker ” Jeremy Scott must have been under the influence of drugs” and I want Adidas to put its announcement in writing. I don’t trust them. I believe they will wait until the brouhaha subsides and then ease the shoe out on the market at a reduced price. Jeremy Scott shouldn’t be permitted within 5 feet of a research and development lab.
You gotta be kidding
June 19th, 2012
3:04 pm
charles barkley…as much as I would like to tell you off, some fools would wear these shoes.
KIM
June 19th, 2012
3:11 pm
Quit catering to the evil and negative parts of our world, whether it is slavery, prisoners, thugs or whatever. How about something that holds up responsibility, great athletic ability, skill development, etc. What happened to those??? And $350 plays to our insecurities…makes us feel worthy and that we are outstanding. We are outstanding fools to buy those.
mamaj
June 19th, 2012
3:14 pm
@ Chuck; if the shoes were being marketed in Egypt and Rome, etc., I wouldn’t have a problem with it, because they don’t concern themselves with the racism over here, but they’re not. And for those who think that EVERYTHING is always about race– it’s not; but too much IS!
Jerry
June 19th, 2012
3:17 pm
Charles Barkley- that is hilariously funny. Slugwoth you too. It would be wise to buy a pair of these shoes and skip paying the mortgage in South Dekalb where the foreclosure rate is amoung the highest in the nation. Then make a 325 on the SAT at Columbia high school but yo shoes sho would look fine! Just the facts mister. We want just the facts.
VPERRY
June 19th, 2012
3:20 pm
These have got to be THE UGLIEST DARN THINGS I’VE EVER SEEN!! Saggy pants showing your BUTT know this!!!
denise
June 19th, 2012
3:23 pm
@Jerry…I am the ONLY one commenting on this page that is trying to make a difference. I don’t have children but I am interested in the well being of those who just don’t know better. Your help would be appreciated more than your “facts”. But you may be better at complaining than problem solving…my bad.
ssmith
June 19th, 2012
3:23 pm
Oh brother. If you want them, buy them. If you don’t, then don’t buy them. Isn’t there something more worthwhile to blog about?
jerseygyrl
June 19th, 2012
3:26 pm
This is plain old FOOLISHNESS!!!!! $350.00 for sneakers? Let’s take them to the HOOD FOOLISH PEOPLE will use rent money to buy them.
Charles Barkley's Brother
June 19th, 2012
3:27 pm
Do you think they would sell better if they were chrome?
I'm wit Jesse
June 19th, 2012
3:30 pm
I was walking through Jared the other day when a saleslady asked if I would like to try on a gold chain. I said “WHAT?!? What are you trying to say?!? That I am your slave and should have a CHAIN around my neck?!?!?” I immediately called her supervisor over and threatened legal action if the saleslady was not fired on the spot!
breez
June 19th, 2012
3:32 pm
You all have it wrong; the shoes are $30.00 the chains are $320.00
get over it
June 19th, 2012
3:36 pm
These are one pair of UGLY shoes. I have an extensive wardrobe of Adidas gear, enjoy wearing their clothes. Do these shoes have anything to do with slavery, White Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, chain gangs or anything other than a sales gimmick, of course not. Get serious people, I mean really, GET SERIOUS!
Jerseyboi
June 19th, 2012
3:37 pm
jerseygyrl….I find your comment funny being from Jersey and everything where looks and fashion are above everything no matter what it costs.
I think your boy Pauly D would snatch them up in a hurry…
“Dude, stop being a grenade, you dripped hair gel on my new sneakers!”
Jerry
June 19th, 2012
3:39 pm
@denise, thanks for your comment…But it’s beyond complaining. It’s about just laughing now. It’s beyond helping.All you can do is laugh. It’s a no win situation.Demographics prioritize on buying expensive useless shoes? Had your home appraised lately? Smart people in North Dekalb would never throw money away like this. Hey gotta know your priorities, right? My bad back at you, thanks.