This year the investment into sneaker related startups continued a trend that arrived with the initial IPO of Hypebeast and the investment into Campless which became StockX. This year LVMH invested into Stadium Goods and Felix Capital invested into GOAT to allow the acquisition of Flight Club. Tomorrow on April 26th the GOAT App will exclusively make available the ‘Chain Reaction’ trainer from Versace. The shoe is a collaboration with rapper 2 Chainz and designer Salehe Bembury.
While the collaboration is not quite an investment, consider the fact that a luxury brand feels the need to align itself with what many analysts and insiders consider a niche market in sneaker reselling. Interestingly enough the collaboration isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. I’ve made the case a number of times that the demographics of sneaker culture has shifted to the point that the market doesn’t even realize they are failing to cater to certain groups within the culture. Luxury is niche. There is an obvious parallel there which is a perfect opportunity to hit a market that cares about luxury items and will be willing to purchase the footwear.
Versace leaves their mark on sneaker culture with the release of the Chain Reaction. Unveiled at their 2018 Fall/Winter Milan Fashion Week show, the sneakers were made in partnership with hip-hop artist 2 Chainz and Versace footwear designer, Salehe Bembury. The Chain Reaction is designed to be a comfortable runner that includes branding details which honor the heritage of Versace. The sneakers are releasing exclusively on GOAT and Versace on April 26th at 7AM PT.
The shoe features a couple of elements that will feel familiar to sneaker collectors: the chunky outsole is on trend, the splash of materials and colors keeps in line with Versace’s design aesthetics and the braile on the toebox is a clear nod to the Kobe Code (I haven’t seen a braille styled element really used anywhere else) and the upper clearly has a connection to runners from Pharrell and Yeezy with adidas. This is only natural considering Salehe’s previous job with Yeezy. To learn more about the Chain Reaction use this link to visit the page on GOAT:
Source: https://www.goat.com/collections/versace
Sneaker Resell presents a unique opportunity for brands and businesses. This collaboration only solidifies the importance of the resale market on the overall market as it relates to both luxury and everyday retail.
Sneaker Retail and Sneaker Brands Can Align With ‘Resellers’ To Better Gauge Brand Trending
