The knock-off sneaker trade: from Putian, China, to fans everywhere thanks to Reddit, e-commerce and the globalisation of counterfeiting
Limited-edition sports shoes such as Adidas’ Yeezys are snapped up by resellers, driving collectors unable to afford their prices to the internet. An online community links them to sellers of high-quality Chinese fakes
Kevin longed for a pair of Adidas’ “pirate black” Yeezys, a charcoal-coloured edition of the ultra-hip sneakers designed by rapper Kanye West.
But the 22-year-old Los Angeles-area resident couldn’t just walk into a store and buy them. The limited-production shoes sold out soon after their release, and resellers online were charging upwards of US$1,500, seven-and-a-half times the original retail price.
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So the assistant high school football coach did what more and more collectors are doing to satisfy their Yeezy fix: he had a replica pair delivered to his doorstep from China.
“If I could readily buy a pair of Yeezys at the store right now I wouldn’t buy fake ones,” said Kevin, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition his last name not be published to avoid jeopardising his relationship with illegal sellers.
Kevin’s entree into the world of replica shoes was through the user-generated website Reddit, where collectors share photos of copycat shoes and contact information for sellers. They coach counterfeiters on how to get minute details correct. With each batch of bootlegs, the replicas become increasingly difficult to distinguish from their authentic counterparts.
“Why pay over US$1,000 for Yeezys when you can get a pair that looks the same for US$120?” he said.