OK, I would imagine Yo is the best for answering a bit to this one. I heard today that Nike has teamed up with Eminem to have him “design some shoes”.
First of all, is this for real? And if so, how does one define “design shoes” when it comes to a rap star? Is this basically creating the Eminem high top to match your grills? At the end of the day does he actually participate in the design process, or does he just sign his name to the final product based on a licensing agreement?
Maybe I have crossed that chasm called the generation gap, but I just didn’t get this one when I heard it.
well i know that eminem is a sneaker guy and has collaborated with nike before on a few shoes, and i think even has a few custom jordans.
adidas, new balance, and nike have all added or invited popular culture figures to there line ups, albeit in a quasi fashion, and since most are involved in some way with sneaker culture they would most likely be excited to participate as much as they can…
for the most part the collabs are usually an existing shoe with the artist/star/boutique deciding on color blocking, materials, and/or symbols added unto the pre existing shoe.
i am not sure but i believe reebok is the only sneaker company to actually design a new sneakers for non athletes(a move that initially, at least seemed to be really successful [see jay-z; 50 cent; sneakers] but may have cost them as far as perception towards some of their performance stuff), and some of them have noted more in depth involvement in the design & development of the shoes.