When you look at these sneakers what is the first thing that comes to mind? If it’s slavery and/or racism then you’d be in the majority of Adidas Facebook fans who are up in arms over what these shoes, called the JS Roundhouse Mids, imply. It seems that Adidas is in hot water over this $350 sneaker designed by Jeremy Scott which is set to launch in August.
While the sneaker design was more of a tongue-in-cheek statement about shoe theft, Adidas promoted this shoe on their Official Facebook page and the comments referencing slavery came rolling in. ”Slavewear” and “The Amistad Original” are just a few of the slavery and racism related comments while others said they would boycott the brand if these sneakers make it to the stores. Yet, there were fans who just thought they were plain ugly…which I agree. Although I have to admit, I did also think of the shackles slaves wore. I also I wondered who in their right mind would want to wear orange plastic straps around their ankles but that may simply be because I have fat ankles and don’t like anything around mine.
According to Shine.Yahoo.com, Adidas made a statement about the hoopla over this sneaker and its reference to slavery, stating:
“The JS Roundhouse Mid is part of the Fall/Winter 2012 design collaboration between Adidas Originals and Jeremy Scott. The design of the JS Roundhouse Mid is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott’s outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery. Jeremy Scott is renowned as a designer whose style is quirky and lighthearted and his previous shoe designs for Adidas Originals have, for example, included panda heads and Mickey Mouse. Any suggestion that this is linked to slavery is untruthful.”
So, what do you think? Are these shoes racist and insensitive, or are people just looking for another reason to be upset and offended?
