Wacky designer Jeremy Scott has served Adidas well throughout the years but what was he thinking with these basketball shoes that feature shackles?
The controversial designer’s work with Adidas is probably best remembered for his “winged” footwear but we doubt the German sportswear brand were too happy with his JS Roundhouse Mids, which we’ve featured above.
The basketball shoes were due to be released in August but have now been cancelled after critics pointed out that the bizarre shackles could be compared to those of black slaves in the 19th century.
As odd it sounds, the ideas behind the shackles was that they could be attached to the wearer’s ankles yet their Facebook unveiling did not go down too well, with over 2,000 comments posted, most of which were extremely negative.
Syracuse Unversity professor Dr Boyce Watkins was particularly upset by the creations, writing in Your Black World: “Shackles. The stuff that our ancestors wore for 400 years while experiencing the most horrific atrocities imaginable.
“Most of which were never documented in the history books and kept away from you in the educational system, all so you’d be willing to put shackles on your ankles today and not be so sensitive about it.”
On the plus side, at least Nike will be happy to hear that people will have frgotten all about their ill-advised “Black and Tans” shoes from earlier this year now.
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