Blogs Question Basquiat Shoe

Maybe this is what happened in a Reebok boardroom recently: Some punk with his sneakers on the table comes up with, what he considers is, a good idea: "Hey man! The kids love sneakers. And the kids love street art. Why don’t we make a shoe "inspired" by one of the original street artists. Whasshisname? Basq-something. The guy’s dead too! We don’t even have to pay him royalties!" Reebok then pump the shoe out.

The problem is – some of the most influential blogs around question the motivation behind it:

"This one just doesn’t seem right to us." Wooster Collective

"While the concept of using Basquiat’s art on the shoe is good, I think
in reality it misses the mark. Basquiat is no doubt one of the most
highly acclaimed artists of his time in the avant-garde fine art world.
But it is ultimately his association with that scene, and not the
current realm of street/graffiti art, that results in the shoe’s
shortcomings."
Josh Spear