Trumps Never Surrender High Tops embody the worst of sneaker culture
“these are almost certainly white-label sneakers, generic designs which can be altered for your particular branding (for example, adding a flag, a T and making them gold), and are manufactured in Vietnam or China in small batches for commercial clients. Go through Alibaba and you will find pages and pages of generic leather high-tops. Having done so, I wasn’t able to find the exact white-label shoe that the “Never Surrender” high was adapted from (no, it isn’t this pair on Temu). But speaking to a range of sources in sneaker manufacturing — including three from sneaker-production capital, Putian, China — there was no doubt they are a white-label product. The cost per pair varies based on the order quantity and manufacturer, but my sources estimated these shoes would cost between $13 and $17.
This gets even worse for the upcoming Yeezy 350 knockoff “T — Red Wave” and “POTUS 45” knit sneakers (which Ginger Gaetz happily tweeted she was buying as an “early birthday present” for her congressman husband Matt). The pictures on the website are clearly, unquestionably made with AI, and then tweaked afterward, and the website even includes a disclaimer: “The images shown are for illustration purposes only and may not be an exact representation of the product.””
Out now in The Spectator: on Trump’s golden sneakers and why they’re almost certainly a rip-off. Give it a read!
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