I'm Drew. I'm from the Bahamas and I'm in my final 3.5 weeks of my BFA in Interdisciplinary Design. I like design. I love art and photography. We'll get to that later...
Above is the Nike Air Yeezy. This collaboration between Kanye West and Nike which resulted in just 9,000 pairs of sneakers worldwide (not much considering the forum on http://www.solecollector.com/ alone has over 180,000 members). It's a "modern classic" which incoroporates parts from past Nike sneakers such as the Air Jordan III and Air Assault (both circa 1987 and both have since been re-released or in sneakerhead terms "retro'd" by Nike). In addition, Mr. West put his own spin on them - such as the colorways and materials, which include glow-in-the-dark soles - with the help of Nike creative director, Mark Smith. This collaboration marked the first time Nike awarded a signature sneaker to a non-athlete which resulted in a comfortable, stylish (in my opinion), performance sneaker which pays homage to some of the greats that came before it while also having it's own unique, original look to it.
Edit:
The Name 'Yeezy' refers to Mr. West's nickname and a line in his song 'Flashing Lights'. The retail price of the sneaker was $225+ tax, which went to the charity of his choice. However, to find them anywhere now you're looking at spending about $750 - $1,000 from resellers.
The Air Yeezy was not marketed as an environmentally friendly sneaker as the only "recycled" uses were aesthetic based. That's not to say that Nike doesn't promote environmentally friendly materials. A good example of that would be Steve Nash's sneakers for the past few NBA All Star games.
Thank you. Am I being ignorant or lazy if I ask to what the name 'Yeezy' refers? I am also curious about the price tag and how that situates this artifact, as well as being interested in whether this product is part of Nike's attempt to forge environmentally responsible products or maintained as a different marketing strategy.
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