Written By Zaaim Hariz
We have seen a variety of sneakers that has successfully saturated the market and went down the drain right after. With the release of Nike React Element 55, the story is bound to go the same curve. Speculating are rife that this new ‘take down’ of the Nike React Element 87 will fall to the same fate. The silhouette of the new take is entirely the same but it comes with a non transparent upper, made off from synthetic materials instead of translucent upper, and it’s $30 (RM120) off, but this is not the first time we’ve seen this marketing tactic before.
Let us look back at a well-known design, now disgraced in the sneaker community, which is the Nike Roshe. When it was first released, the Roshe line has amassed both sneakerheads and general public to cop a pair of their own not only because it’s comfortable, it’s also minimally stylish and importantly, affordable. Which explains its overwhelming popularity in the scene.
Seeing its potential, Nike was able to push for more colour ways out for everyone to cop. So from there, we ask ourselves, where did it all go wrong for the beloved Roshes?
Well there is such thing as too much. Back then, Nike stores will release exclusive and limited colour ways of the Roshes but now, we can’t escape 20 different colourways that were put on display at Sports Direct or Al-Ikhsan. These days, the over produced sneaker line is frowned upon by the sneakerheads and for the Roshes, spelled its own demise. The 2nd iteration in the form of the Roshe Run 2 had figuratively zero traction too, as the hype moved on to another silhouette.
Same story plays out for the Adidas NMD. When they came up with their first iteration of the line, the NMD R1 Primeknit OG rocked the sneaker community by surprise. There was only one colour way available and of course, instantly sold out everywhere. The rise of the NMDs didn’t stop there as collaborations with Pharrell Williams, Bape, Mastermind and many more countless variations came out and changed the landscape of the sneaker game. As compared to the Roshes, this Three Stripes line is still selling relatively well but there are glances that it’ll suffer the same fate as the Roshes. For the moment, we can definitely see it was not hyped as much as it used to be due to general releases, and discounts, even filling up the sales rack at many outlet stores.
From a standpoint, the ‘take down’ version of Nike Element React 87 was marketed at a lower price point, hence casting a wider net, at least that’s what we’re thinking. Do you think that the Nike React Element 55 or the whole Element React line will go down to the same path as the Roshes and NMDs? Let us know your opinion.
