Make the Collabs Stop
This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here.
Earlier this year, while waiting for the subway, I encountered one of the most revolting pairs of shoes I’ve ever seen on the feet of a fellow commuter. They were the unholy spawn of a Gucci loafer and an Adidas sneaker. The design mushed together the noncomplementary traits of both brands: a slender black-leather upper with Gucci’s signature brass horsebit hardware, three white stripes on either side, and an inch-tall wooden heel stamped with a golden Adidas trefoil logo. They were the footwear equivalent of semiformal gym shorts. They looked like the shoes of a meathead leprechaun.
The offending loafers are a product of the ubiquitous marketing tactic (and frequent aesthetic boondoggle) known of co-branded clothing, shoes, and accessories since 2022: Logo bucket hats, ribbed-knit sweats, brightly colored leisure suits, handbags straight out of a Pan Am stewardess’s work wardrobe, a golf bag swathed in Gucci’s monogram fabric. These products have garnered an enormous amount of attention from celebrities and fashion media. In December, the college quarterback Caleb Williams wore a plaid Gucci x Adidas suit, complete with three stripes down the body of the jacket and each pant leg, to collect his Heisman Trophy.
