So About Those Kanye West Sneakers...

Maybe I was a little wrong about what I said with regards to the whole release of Kanye West's Louis Vuitton collaborative sneakers. Fact is, my previous speculation that the launch would be about as benign as they come was wrong on all counts. Unlike my prediction that the sale of the shoes would be relatively gradual till they all sold out within a week or so, Kanye's Kicks have already sold out!

My dude D. asked me though if the shoes are really worth it? And to this question I must answer, is a Louis Vuitton bag really worth it? I mean, philosophically speaking of course, when you can evidently just get a bag from The North Face and have it serve a comparable, if not superior, function. Better yet, is a Ferrari 430 really worth it if you are going to do nothing more than take it up to 40 MPH and keep it parked in your garage the way most people do? Like all luxury items, the shoe's worth isn't found really in the good's function much less it's frequency of use as it is the status you're paying for. And lets be real here for a second: gallivanting about town in $1000 kicks with a group of your closest sneaker heads will buy you quite a bit of worship in this world.

But there is something else that can be learned from this scenario too as shoe retailers should relax and take notes. There are realities that need to be faced with the sneaker game and though the whole camping out thing has worked for the last decade or so for the consumer base, perhaps having a waiting list would be a much more effecient use of time. Just saying, it worked for Louis Vuitton and they liquidated their stock across the board without any ugly tents chock full of grown ass men who want nothing more than to buy some... pause... shoes.

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