Make no mistake, we love Kanye but there are of course certain ideas that we may not agree upon and one of them appeared back in April when Kanye West casually tweeted out that:
“too much emphasis is put on originality. Feel free to take ideas and update them at your will all great artist take and update.”
It seems like many in the fashion industry and specifically the footwear industry have taken this as a pass to be lazy as far as design goes. Walmart looking mid 90’s women’s platform sneakers rebranded as high end “dad shoes” anyone? -I’ll get to that topic in another write up-
You can be original without being original and you can update without being lazy and uncreative.
Let me explain.
Take Nike Air cushioning in sneakers. Unbeknownst to many, Nike was NOT the first company to put air cushioning in their footwear line up. Don’t believe me? First and foremost the Pneumatic Insole an invention from 1893 was the first air cushioned sole (not to mention the first PUMP shoe and an invention cited by both Nike and Reebok). Then comes the Weyenberg Shoe Manufacturing Co. massagic air cushion shoes from the 1950’s and last but not least Karhu who begun using air cushioning in 1976.
So you see Nike of course was not the first company to use air cushioned shoes but they are most noteworthy for the tech and for good reason.
While the idea of air was not original the many stories they told in conjunction with fresh design that saw its inspiration come from mostly real untapped sources and a quality product made for something special. An evolution. Even Kanye’s Yeezy 2 made for something special in the way he took the midsole of a Nike Air Tech Challenge II and did something special with the upper in a package that was exclusive to him.
Images via FLIGHT CLUB
It was well thought out. My only gripe? Not enough respect was paid to the original design as so to educate the customer as to where the design originated and what made that shoe special.
Then comes lazy #$%^
Slapping the upper of an old shoe on new tech
or doing hybrids that just don’t make sense. A Jordan XX on an Air Force 1? -Someone explain the evolution of that shoe and why that even made sense-
You can look to music and dance for proper evolution examples as well. Take for example Michael Jackson. There is no denying that his famous Moonwalk was directly inspired by James Brown and Mike has paid MUCH respect to Brown in public -something many so called “designers” RARELY do.
Another great example is Dr. Dre and the whole G-Funk era directly inspired by Parliament-Funkadelic. Dre Featured a snippet from a Parliament performance at the end of Let Me Ride,
Snoop paid tribute in Doggy Dogg World for his 70’s inspired style
and even Ice Cube featured George Clinton in Bop Gun.
The transparency of where the inspiration was coming from was there in broad day light updated in a young, original and refreshing way.
With that being said Kanye’s statement was on a topic that needs way to much explanation to have just been tweeted out. So, to counter Kanye’s statement to those aspiring to design or create; BE ORIGINAL, BE YOURSELF. There is only one you, let your life experiences and your personal tastes guide you in your creation no matter what that may be. Pay proper respect to those that inspired you and in the end your inspirations coupled with YOUR vision may create something special that individuals will cherish for generations to come.