Feb
Former President Donald Trump unveiled a shiny new shoe at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia. The high-top sneaker is impressively stylish and fresh. Many urban footwear enthusiasts will surely agree that “it goes hard” (which is a strong statement of approval). The shoe looks like what many rappers, hip-hop stars, and fashion models are wearing right now. It’s therefore no surprise that Trump’s latest product drop sold out within two hours.
The ‘Never Surrender High-Tops’ are strikingly gold, with a red and white bottom trim. Red and blue American flags with metallic gold stars line the uppers. “Bold, gold, and tough, just like President Trump,” is how they’re described on the website. Only 1,000 pairs were made, each with its own unique number. Trump autographed 10 of them. Sneakerheads usually crave this level of exclusivity. But they can’t buy these. Question is, would they if they could?
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People in Trump’s Philadelphia audience were holding signs exclaiming, “Sneakerheads Love Trump.” How many of them do, who are they, and where do they live? Sneakerheads spend $100 or more on shoes and they typically buy three or more pairs each year, according to a recent consumer report. They tend to be millennials, male, and disproportionately Black. They’re likeliest to reside in large urban contexts.
Trump’s sneakers debuted in America’s sixth-largest city, where Black people comprise the single-largest racial group. They’re 40.1% of Philadelphians. Will we find lots of hot ‘Never Surrenders’ in predominantly Black neighborhoods across the City of Brotherly Love? Probably not, as few people who live there have shown up for Trump at the ballot box.
Nationally, only 6% of Black Americans voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, Pew Research Center data show. That number increased by two percentage points in the 2020 presidential election, a small gain attributed largely to Black men. It seems unlikely that a group that massively withheld support of Trump in the two most recent presidential contests will put politics aside to rock his new shoes, regardless of how dope they are.
Price point definitely isn’t the biggest reason why Trump’s sneakers will never make their way into many Black people’s closets. Irrefutably, $399 is quite pricey for a pair of high tops. But as Robyn Mowatt noted in a recent Essence article, “Consumers are willing to pay any amount to be the first person to have a coveted release – this is why the normalization of $300 sneakers will persist.” While Black women and Black genderqueer persons sometimes spend this much money on a pair of kicks, it has long been Black men who’ve contributed most lopsidedly to the enormous profits of Nike and Adidas.
Urban sneaker culture is just that – it’s cultural. It draws heavily from Black hip-hop artforms. Cultural influencers (especially rappers and basketball stars) often accelerate sales of new shoe drops. Most of them are Black and they usually live in cities. Trump didn’t need Kanye West, Sexyy Red, Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, or any of the other Black celebrities who’ve endorsed him in various ways over the years for an instant sellout of his sneakers. Interestingly, the influence of those high-profile celebrities hasn’t really turned out significant numbers of Black voters for Trump. Could they have gotten lots of Black consumers to buy his sneakers if there were a bigger first-run release? Unless this year’s GOP presidential frontrunner and his shoe manufacturer change their production plans, we’ll never know.
“Only 1000 pairs will ever be released,” the Trump sneakers website indicates. Some of them may be spotted on the feet of loyalists at his campaign rallies between now and the November 2024 presidential election. Because they’re so rare, the shoes are likelier to be stored in display cases in the homes of lucky Trump supporters across the country. We probably won’t find them on the streets of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, and predominantly Black New York City neighborhoods. Even though they can’t buy the ‘Never Surrender High-Tops’ anywhere at this point, Trump lovers can purchase two other styles of footwear that are now available for pre-order on the website.
https://www.youmagine.com/rugbyfanstore/designs
https://www.theoutbound.com/rugby-fan-store
https://findery.com/rugbyfanstore
https://www.multichain.com/qa/user/rugbyfanstore
http://hawkee.com/profile/807086/
