Did Madewell Just Out-JJJJound JJJJound?
Is Madewell coming for JJJJound's brown crown? On February 10, the youthful J.Crew sibling label introduced a unisex Reebok Club C Revenge sneaker that, at least to my eyes, has JJJJound written all over it.
Now, it's not that JJJJound has the market cornered on beige sneakers necessarily. But, for better or worse, the Canadian creative studio is borderline inextricable from the idea of earth-toned footwear.
That means that when other brands inevitably offer even kinda similar takes on the same shoes, comparison is inevitable.
And, let's be honest, JJJJound doesn't care about comparisons — its following is surprisingly dedicated considering the ultra-normal stuff that JJJJound specializes in — so no harm no foul. And, no, I'm not being paid to stan Madewell (if you guys are cutting checks, though, HMU! [editor's note: this is a joke]).
That being said, I'd have to say that Madewell's Reeboks — which boast a reasonably attractive mélange of beige-y leather panels on their uppers — stack up pretty well against JJJJound's take on similar models.
Dare to compare the Madewell Club C Revenge against JJJJound's comically simple Club C (all-white with a logo as the sole accent) and slightly more interesting beige-tinged Classic Nylon.
Point is, if the latter two Reebok models lacked JJJJound branding — and there are general release models in very similar makeups — they'd only be marginally exciting to sneaker obsessives whereas if the Madewell Reeboks were instead a JJJJound collab, they'd be a must-have.
But that's not even a hot take, really. That's really just an obvious observation about the power of branding.
Logos make everything more exciting to a certain type of consumer. Remove Prada's triangle, Gucci's Bee, YSL's badge, or Chanel's interlocking double-C from any of those brand's respective handbags and demand would plummet.
Compared to JJJJound's barely-edited shoes, though, Madewell's Club C at least has offers an interesting colorway. The shoe's affiliation with a fast-fashion brand that lacks JJJJound's cultural clout, however, will likely prevent it from achieving runaway hit status.
Available on Madewell's website for a reasonable $80, the Madewell x Reebok Club C is a worthy study in, well, worthiness.
What makes a sneaker desirable? Is it the model? How it's promoted? The brand(s) that put their stamp of approval on it?
I'd say any and all of the above help but, especially in the incredibly crowded collaborative pool we collectively swim through on a near-daily basis, you can't undervalue the power of a co-sign.
