This shoe costs $350 dollars. If you want a second one for the other foot, that'll be another $350. There are a few factors involved in the pricing of this haute-footewear specimen: the limited edition (250), the plummeting dollar (retail: £345), and famed Madchester nightclub, The Hacienda, for which the shoe is named.
Adidas' luxury brand Y-3 developed this hot property in collaboration with Peter Saville who did a great deal of album art for Factory Records, Ben Kelly, the architect who designed the Haçienda interiors, and Peter Hook, bassist for Joy Division and New Order. Not sure exactly what input Mr. Hook might have had but it's nice to put him on the press release, if nothing else.
This generational psychographic must be the absolute most fun to market to, ever. We're especially keen on counter-couture, completely vulnerable to nostalgia and rare collectibles, and newly flush with
disposable income after deciding that bearing young is just a totally environmentally irresponsible move, man.
But damn those are some beautiful sneaks. The FAC51-Y3 is pictured at right perched upon a slab of metal flooring and with a hunk of pillar removed from the original nightclub.
They look like Sketchers
Posted by: taco truck | November 20, 2007 at 02:17 PM
now if only they could get the right pitch-man for these:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gLAKJiHQcTo
Posted by: doron | November 20, 2007 at 03:35 PM
Sorry Marcus, but these look exactly like the kind of thing the local street kids buy for about 20 bucks from a chinese importer on Canal St. Get a puffy baseball cap with the Yankees logo and a big fake gold chain to go with it. I shudder to think of the kind of woman you'd be picking up in that gear...
OTOH, you could instead stop at the new Pearl River and pick up a 10 dollar pair of chinese slippers. Go for the black ones with the white stripe; just like Patrick McGoohan wore in "The Prisoner". And yes, I have actually had the ladies say to me, "Those are some stylish shoes". Stylish sneakers are an oxymoron. Even those old school converse; too much exposure.
Posted by: K | November 20, 2007 at 04:34 PM
--This shoe costs $350 dollars.--
Kelly, anyone?
Posted by: Parq | November 20, 2007 at 09:27 PM
these shoes are for factory-completionist nerds
Posted by: James | November 21, 2007 at 01:02 PM