DID SOMEONE SAY BOOTLEG?

It’s late 2020. Thinking back about this year in fashion, a few certain images shoot through my head. But one in particular is very vivid and I will get to this exact image in a few sentences. Firstly, the comeback of ‘croc embossed leather wear’. Secondly, the Grailed roasting meme’s because of the 9% fees, I mean, ‘come on man, how dare they?, LOL. Thirdly, the year where a legendary shoe, which has left a mark on the streetwear fashion, has been bootlegged multiple times.

Well, in this post, I will tap in to that third point. Let’s take a deeper dive in the pool of Nike Jordan 1 bootlegs that have been put out late last year and this year.

THE ‘FUGAZI ONE IN THE CHAMBER’

There is no doubt about the fact that this particular pair has been the most hyped and sought after this year. These are the ‘Fugazi One In The Chamber’ by Trevor Gorji.

In case you’ve lived under a rock this year, which seems very unlikely to me. The first colorway of the ‘Fugazi One In The Chamber’ were released in late 2019. In the original ‘Chicago’ colorway. Being followed-up by the second colorway on the 1st of July in 2020 in the ‘Neutral Grey’ colorway. Anticipation on these sneakers were going through the roof when they were teased, no wonder these sneakers were sold out in minutes.

Basically, they are Jordan 1’s, but they were over-succeeding the minimum points of differences for plagiarism. Which by the way, is 7. Using a upside-down revolver as the swoosh and bullet-like golden plated lace tips. Bullet holes as air vents on the toe cap, bandana print on the heel, as well as heat-pressed bullets on the side of the heels. It is a bootleg, though it has a lot of thought out details, which is semi-cool.

THE ‘INeverHeardOfYou’ 1’s

A big m*middle finger to Nike is what these are, literally. This pair is called the INeverHeardOfYou 1’s by Jon Lopez. They have been brought out in two colorways, the first pair was the original ‘Chicago’ colorway and the second pair has the colorway of the Fragment Air Jordan 1’s. To be honest, there is nothing much to say about these sneakers other than that they contain a big fat m*ddle finger serving as the swoosh. And laces filled with the slogan: ‘Fuck the fuck off’. How hilarious.

THE ‘Oree empire city high v1’s’

The last pair that I’ll bring up are the ‘Oree Empire City High V1’ by Ray Miah. I am not sure whether these are even more sophisticated than the ‘One In The Chambers’, but I do know that these are the most different from original Jordan 1’s than the other pairs.

This is the first pair with a ‘original’ colorway, using a different kind of green than the market has seen before. The ‘Statue of liberty’ serves as the swoosh for this pair, including the New York skyline on the side of the heel and a map of the lineway of the NY metro on the insoles.

In conclusion, bootlegs are a thing again. If you do the marketing right, add some funny slogan or graphic, it is highly plausible that you’ll win a grammy award for the next best bootleg.

All jokes aside, do whatever makes you happy, even if it is being creative over the back of someone else. If it makes you happy, the community partly happy and you make big bucks with it. Go on and enjoy yourself majestically!

By Kevin Vergeer