By law of averages, someone we interact with today wears footwear manufactured at a Yue Yuen Industrial production facility- most likely in China. Yue Yuen is the world’s biggest branded shoe and sneaker maker- think 3 stripes and the swoosh. For the past week, thousands of workers at a couple Chinese Yue Yuen factories have been in various stages of a strike; the biggest being estimated at 30,000 at a Y.Y. in Guangdong province. The issue seems on its way to being resolved in favor of the workers’ concerns. Meanwhile, Nike and Adidas look towards Vietnam as the place where a majority of their shoes will be made as wages and working conditions (hopefully) improve in China.
The guy who won the Boston Marathon wasn’t wearing Nikes, Adidas, New Balances, Under Armours, Newtons, or Altras while crossing the finish line. Wicked fast runner Meb Keflezighi has been sponsored by Skechers since 2011, and was wearing a pair from the company’s performance line of sneaks when he broke the tape on Boylston Street Monday. Next year I’d love to see him do a repeat while wearing a pair of Skechers’s infamous Shape Ups shoes.
TMZ is reporting that Chicago Bull Joakim Noah sued his former sneaker sponsor Le Coq Sportif last year. Le Coq countersued. The issue was settled last month. Noah now balls with Adidas. Today he was named the 2014 NBA defensive player of the year.
Pop boy act One Direction now have their own sneaker-shoes. Country singer Miranda Lambert debuted her own line of footwear. Brown Shoe Co. (act like you never had some Buster Browns) just celebrated 100 years on the New York Stock Exchange. Brown even had a little celebration at the NYSE building where Black Eyed Pea Fergie (has her own line with Brown) rang the closing bell Wednesday. Former prez George H.W. Bush has his own line of striped, colorful signature socks. What ? Check out GeorgeBushSocks.com
Those Bush socks are a little too loud for my tastes. In efforts to step up my sock game though- I did visit the REI store in SOHO last week and spent an inordinate amount of time in their impressively-stocked sock isles. I walked out with a purchase of Injinji toe socks- my first ever purchase of this type of sock. Look for a quick review in a future Popdiatribe.
Speaking of commanders-in-chief, the U.S. Armed forces are in the process of testing some new boot models. Last month I wrote about the Berry Amendment – that mandates the U.S. Department of Defense must give preference to domestically-produced items. For footwear this means that government-issued soldier boots must be made in America. A push to be Berry-compliant has created a little healthy competition amongst American manufacturers. Who can make the most comfortable, durable, quickest-drying boot that service members will love? Time shall tell. I’m not even sure at this time which brand produced the model below. The results of all these prototypes will certainly lead to civilian consumers getting some fresh boot options down the road.
