As the old saying goes, if you can’t import popular sneakers into your totalitarian nation-state, make knock-offs. According to a recent Quartz story, Kim Jong Un’s regime has instructed local footwear factories to start copying designs from western sneaker brands.
“Sneakers from leading brands such as Nike and Adidas aren’t readily available in North Korea,” the story says, so “at the behest of the country’s government, local producers are… filling the gap themselves, cranking out look-a-likes of Air Jordans and other styles.”
Per the article, the endeavor offers “a glimpse into the way pop culture and consumer goods… in the extremely insular country are changing. While foreign products are restricted, the public is still often aware they exist, and has an appetite for them.” And the knock-off sneakers indicate that the ruling regime is “open to satisfying at least some of that appetite,” if only to “keep the loyalty of the small circle of elites who can afford to spend on consumer goods.”
Of course, there are those who are (justifiably) skeptical of the whole thing. Andy Polk, senior vice president of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, tells Quartz that the dozens of purportedly North Korean made sneakers featured in photos taken by the AP are “likely not produced there… because the skill and industrialization does not actually exist for shoes.” To him, the whole thing is yet “another example of North Korea putting on a show for the outside world.”
You can read more about it at Quartz.
