Chains have always been a cool addition to any form of footwear and can even make demure patent pumps look edgy. But for people who prize political correctness over being just plain cool, even a sloppy sneaker can appear to be completely outrageous. And that’s just what happened when Adidas Originals posted a picture of its latest creation, the JS Roundhouse Mids, on Facebook.
Even though the post received 38,536 “likes”, 4,223 “comments” and 9,097 “shares”, Adidas was forced to cancel the launch of the shoe because a lot of people objected to the orange plastic chains and lock design dubbing it symbolic of racism. The majority of the people who viewed the June 14 post claimed that the design looked like the shackles used to contain people of color sold as slaves. Some even went as far to say that anyone who chose to wear these shoes would be voluntarily supporting slavery.
The company dismissed the criticism in a press statement and stated that the design had nothing to do with slavery and were simply a unique and outrageous take on fashion by designer Jeremy Scott. Scott’s previous creations have featured Mickey Mouse and panda heads which have been wildly popular. A few Adidas fans dubbed the outrage hilarious and defended the design as being playful though Adidas was forced to issue an apology and retract the shoes from the market.
