The Dichotomy of adidas Originals ‘Donald Glover Presents’ 

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adidas Originals and Donald Glover officially launch Donald Glover Presents, revealing the fruits of a creative relationship that began in September 2018.

Source: Donald Glover and adidas Originals officially launch Donald Glover Presents

Childish Gambino isn’t for me, but I did get heavy into the Awaken, My Love album and the song 3005 was everywhere. When This is America popped, I wanted to celebrate it, but when I discovered it was basically a bootleg of American Pharoah by Jase Harley, I was like alright this is what Donald Glover does… he appropriates. I mean I really like the show Atlanta, but that’s because of Paper Boi and Darius. Donald Glover is talented, but the more I dig the more I find that he is more Elvis, than revolutionary and I say this because the dude has to be sued to pay Bootsy for I’d Rather Be With You, when his hit Redbone is directly taken from I’d Rather Be With You, but like Robin Thicke and Pharrell saying Blurred Lines wasn’t a copy of a Marvin Gaye hit, or Ed Sheeran now also having to pay Marvin Gaye’s estate for Thinking Out Loud, he has to be sued to do what’s right. Donald Glover is full of contradictions. He appropriates and then he hires an all black staff for his television show. He writes comedy and then he sings a classic Tamia hit with conviction.

Dang, this is turning into something less about shoes and more about authenticity; and that is the point.

 

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Donald Glover and sneakers feels a lot like another collab that never caught on. The difference is that collab I actually liked, but the problem is the connection was more about the art associated with the person behind the design. That collab happened between Andre 3000 and Tretorn. I actually liked the shoes. I liked the art of 3000 placed on the insoles and the style of the shoes. Everything matched. The problem is the Tretorn collab was severely undermarketed and failed to capitalize on 3000’s music, but that was by design as Andre 3000 isn’t really as into music anymore. Outkast has been around for 25 years and while I know he is the dopest emcee of all time (sorry Nas, Rakim and Scarface), kids don’t respect OutKast so Tretorn failed to market their campaign.

Tretorn by Andre 3000 Needs to be More Vocal | Marketing

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So, I’m not quite right about seeing this Donald Glover campaign in the same light, but if I were in the room with adidas I would have definitely referenced it. The difference is Donald Glover is on top of the world right now and working with him is a bit different than Tretorn and 3000, but the feel is similar and that’s because everything Donald Glover does feels like it’s a copy of someone else. No one can put a finger on what Glover represents. He doesn’t feel authentic, but he is blacker than anybody in music and television right now by default because of This is America, but that song was stolen. He’s rich asf, but he has created a collection that looks inspired by Golden Goose, but with better pricing. He’s not trying to bust heads for those who want to rock with his footwear, but it takes a different kind of kid to want to rock distressed and damaged new shoes.

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The question becomes, is this a good collab? The silos being dropped are currently on sale at retail. The only difference is these are by Childish Gambino… and I have to be honest I had a bias against Donald Glover for borrowing a Wu Tang nickname reference with Gambino. I thought it was disrespectful, but that’s a different discussion.

Who is this for? The Tetorn Collab had a target group and I was a part of that target, but the brand didn’t find a way to market it to me. I don’t think adidas knows where to target this campaign because Donald Glover is a bit of everything; which should help, right?

Wrong. Here is a quote on what this project means to Glover:

“Rich is a concept,” said Donald Glover. “With this project, I wanted to encourage people to think about how their stories can be told on their feet. Value isn’t quantified by what you wear, rather the experiences from them. And you make the decision on what works for you, you live through your own lens. The partnership for me is about being able to exemplify what doing your own thing truly looks and feels like.”

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This dude is a millionaire creating a shoe for rich people who are trying to look poor. When kids get a fresh pair of kicks it’s about looking rich for that moment. The goal is to be fly and fresh as can be. Sneakers are the Mercedes for the hood. I’m not a poor kid anymore, but I still see kicks as status symbols for recognition and acknowledgement. I have three degrees and I probably have more in common with Donald Glover because I have to live in various worlds.

Where I came from

What I’ve experienced

A life as an Academic

A life as a small business person

Being rich

And losing everything

He’s right that kicks are a personification of my experiences, but I know what a fresh pair of shoes means for a kid, and an adult. At least for one day you get to be king of the mountain. Should a pair of shoes be seen this way? Of course not, they are simply leather and rubber and they don’t speak to my life, but there is only so much that a person can buy that gives them a moment to feel good about themselves and kicks do that.

In the picture above is a rich dude who looks as if he is preparing to host a dinner party in a house that looks antiquated, but he’s serving shrimp cocktail and tapas and he looks to be in deep thought… but that’s a picture and it undercuts the actual blackness of the campaign and there lies the problem with coming at Donald Glover. He understands what he is and he is fine with being a bit of everything to everyone, and he is undeniably Black. The picture above is from the short film Polenta by Donald Glover. In this series he gives maligned comedienne Mo’Nique the stage to move back to the forefront of a Hollywood that blackballed her and disrespected her. Glover is the anti-Oprah and I celebrate him for making this series of films with adidas.

Now that you’ve read all of that, I’m going to tell you what I think. I think adidas nailed it. Yep, nailed it. Everything is right about this collab and the presentation. The videos are perfect and the message behind them more powerful than is being presented. I don’t hesitate to think that adidas doesn’t even realize what they’ve just done. Donald Glover is hard to classify. I may complain about his appropriation, but I bought Awaken. I’ve watched seasons of Atlanta intensely. Everything he’s done, I’ve supported because the guy is truly talented and this collab with adidas… I’ll probably buy because of the social commentary on Hollywood and their treatment of the queen Mo’Nique. Below are links to the series of films and the prices of the project.

The Donald Glover Presents film series releases today. Watch below.
All three styles will be available globally on April 26th.

 

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