Quote:
Originally Posted by
jet 
^this will not stop people from buying NBs I don't know why you guys keep bringing up average joe's wearing big 5 edition new balances
Items tend to either enhance, detract, or are neutral. I like nice boots because they nearly always enhance an outfit. Likewise I like white tees because they fall into the neutral category-- you can typically pair one with almost any outfit. But NB frequently falls into the "detract" category, making them a questionable choice for daily footwear.
Thus far I have not seen even one fit where NB made the outfit better. At its very best NB appears to rise to no higher plane of existence than merely "passable", and frequently it falls short of even that.
If the Olive Garden added a new higher end line to their menu which truly was a huge improvement would you start eating their food? Probably not I assume. But what if your favored cultural/fashion intelligentsia approved of the new Olive Garden and started frequenting it, making it appear savvy, cool, and sophisticated?
There is really not much more to describe about the NB popularity serge beyond the above. The promotion is likely mostly commercial in nature and not grass roots, with the company working to ensure their product gets placed at the so-called most "influential" shops. Sure, NB likely morphed their product slightly to match what they perceive to be the current tastes of these target customers. But largely it is still the same sneaker, with the same giant "N" that reeks of the same kind of blatant sport shoe commercialism one associates with Nike. Yet, now it has become cool.