Ugliest Shoes Ever Made?

Kanye West’s latest attempt at making footwear has produced what I feel like is quite possibly the ugliest shoe the world has ever seen. I mean, it doesn’t even look like a shoe. Just because something wraps around your foot doesn’t make it a shoe. It looks more like a parasitic organism that is awaiting to take a host by way of someone’s feet. And I really cannot fathom how this can appeal to anyone, but know that this is the power of a brand and its loyal and unquestioning followers. And that, no doubt, are the customers of this shoe.

As a shoe critic and designer, I loathe everything about these. They are an abomination to what it means to be a shoe. Unless we have moved away from shoes and have new terms for objects we put on the feet, this does not belong in the ‘shoe’ category. BUT, as a business owner myself and someone who owns a brand, I love the fact that Kanye can team up with Adidas and produce the world’s ugliest shoes and have people lining up to buy them. GENIUS. PURE GENIUS.

It is so comedic though as if this is just one big social experiment where Kanye one day thought to himself, ‘let me see if, with my brand power, I can make the world’s ugliest shoes and get the masses to buy them despite their absurdity?’ That makes the most logical sense to me. And it is crazy to think that a brand can have so much power that it can make people wait in line, spend high amounts of money, and be envious of others, all for the sake of a product. Real power there. And while some readers will say I am hating, please do not forget the name of this blog.

And nevertheless, while these should not be associated with shoes at all, I tip my hat to Kanye for proving that people will do anything to belong to an idea despite all rational sense!

All photos courtesy of Adidas