Brenton
Blackspot Shoes
June 25th 2007 11:09
I don’t care about fashion. Not really. Ask my mother and sister, they’ll tell you how poor my taste in clothes is. However, I want this pair of shoes.
Why? Because they look good? Not really. They don’t look bad as such but they sure as heck aren’t the best looking shoes in the world.
I like them because they represent a kind of ideology. Just as someone wears a sports shirt to represent the ideology of ‘I’m so sporty’, or some dude wears a Ben Sherman shirt to promote the ideology of ‘look at me, I’m a wanker’ these shoes have a message they too promote.
They are symbolic of an attempt to create a new ideology of coolness. The main idea is that ethical and individual is cool. You don’t have to support companies that screw people over, rape the environment and exploit youth’s fears of not fitting in to have awesome clothing.
Because the thing about Blackspot isn’t just the end (of your legs – being your feet, haha) product, but the means to that end. Workers are given decent wages and union representation. The shoes themselves are made of organic hemp and have soles made of recycled car tyres. Basically they are made as an embodiment of an ideal – that capitalist shouldn’t automatically represent unethical.
UPDATE – I have shoes! After this article was finished I went off and bought a pair. I didn’t get the Blackspot Shoes. Instead I came across this sweet pair of ‘No Sweat’ Shoes. Same kind of thing, and they include a list of wage figures for the lowest paid workers in their Jakarta factory.
Can you see Nike or Adidas supplying that kind of information?
IMAGE 1
Image 2&3 Mine but on my Flickr account soon.
Why? Because they look good? Not really. They don’t look bad as such but they sure as heck aren’t the best looking shoes in the world.
I like them because they represent a kind of ideology. Just as someone wears a sports shirt to represent the ideology of ‘I’m so sporty’, or some dude wears a Ben Sherman shirt to promote the ideology of ‘look at me, I’m a wanker’ these shoes have a message they too promote.
They are symbolic of an attempt to create a new ideology of coolness. The main idea is that ethical and individual is cool. You don’t have to support companies that screw people over, rape the environment and exploit youth’s fears of not fitting in to have awesome clothing.
Because the thing about Blackspot isn’t just the end (of your legs – being your feet, haha) product, but the means to that end. Workers are given decent wages and union representation. The shoes themselves are made of organic hemp and have soles made of recycled car tyres. Basically they are made as an embodiment of an ideal – that capitalist shouldn’t automatically represent unethical.
UPDATE – I have shoes! After this article was finished I went off and bought a pair. I didn’t get the Blackspot Shoes. Instead I came across this sweet pair of ‘No Sweat’ Shoes. Same kind of thing, and they include a list of wage figures for the lowest paid workers in their Jakarta factory.
Can you see Nike or Adidas supplying that kind of information?
My No Sweat Shoes: Still Life with Shoes and Various Small Toys
My shoes (and toys) from another angle - They're alot like Converse but nicer
IMAGE 1
Image 2&3 Mine but on my Flickr account soon.
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