Lex Sonne

Counterfeit sneakers called "fakes" have hit every major city across the globe and, here in Chicago, they've become a major part of the fashion scene. That pair of Nike Air Force 1s in yellow and pink patent leather that your roommate got in New York for $75? They’re fakes. That pair of Air Jordan Vs that you bought off Ebay for $90? Sorry. They’re fakes, too.

While many look legit, fakes are poor-quality knockoffs of new and retro sneakers, made with cheap materials. The manufacturers often use bogus Nike Air units that are either flat or non-existent, and the rubber in the outsoles can be cheap and lacking the amount of carbon that allows the shoes to stick to a street surface.

The booming market for fake kicks came with the advent of the retro Air Jordans in the late-nineties. The demand for these previously released sneakers was there, and the counterfeiters jumped at the opportunity. Factories in China began manufacturing both the early and late Air Jordans and shipping them across seas to every country on the globe. Last year the Associated Press reported that fake sneakers were the number one counterfeited product shipped to the U.S.; of the $155 million in seizures by U.S. Custom Agents in 2006, forty-one percent of those were fake sneakers. But the Air Jordan isn’t the only sneaker being ripped off. While Nike is the most counterfeited brand, Air Force 1s and Nike Dunks are also in high demand.

Here in Chicago, the Croatian Sensation South Side shoe dealer claims to be numero uno in the sneaker black-market. This twentysomething works nights as a bellboy for an upscale downtown hotel and sells shoes by day.

"The summer months are when I make my money," he says. "In the winter I’ll keep around forty pairs on hand, but in the summer I’ll have several hundred." Buying in bulk allows him to keep his overhead low. "Last year I put in an order for 680 pairs. But if a girl needs a pair of Jordan XIs in Gucci leather to go with her new handbag, I can get them in a week."

He says he doesn’t know and doesn’t care where the shoes are manufactured. "All I know is that my customers come back to me because my shoes are legit." The Croation Sensation made $1200 to $1500 dollars a week last summer, and he expects to do more this season.

The hippest sneaker boutique on the North Side of Chicago, St. Alfred’s in Bucktown, has definitely felt the blow from bootleggers like the Croatian Sensation. Minimalism is the key to St. Alfred’s décor. The signage is a simple black sticker of an Old English letter "A" over a fleur-de-lis. The interior of the store is also barren: the floor is concrete and the only seating is a two-foot by fifteen-foot black pipe set in the center of the store. Five shelves of sneakers line one wall; original St. Alfred’s kicks and Nike apparel line the other, and three framed glass cases display vintage Jordans and one-of-a-kind shoes painted by local artists.

The manager of St. Alfred’s, Crabby Rangoon, a native Chicagoan and former shoe collector, has experienced the effects of the fakes firsthand. "It’s not as bad up here on the North Side, but the South Side is overrun with the fakes," he says. As for where the fake product is manufactured, Crabby has a couple of ideas. "Some people say that Nike is bootlegging its own product, but I don’t believe that. Maybe product is escaping, but I don’t think Nike is responsible."

Another premier sneaker boutique, PHLI (a reversed acronym for I Love Hyde Park), sits at 5210 South Harper. James, one of the managers of PHLI, decked out in a pair of limited edition Spiz’ike Jordans, says that the fakes definitely hurt business. "Everyone is losing business to the fakes. We loose a lot of the sales we would get from the kids at Kenwood [the local high school]. They pick up cheap pairs of Air Force 1s from the guy at 55th and State who sells them right out of his white van."

Maggie Mahler, media relations manager for Nike USA Communications in New York, states via email, "Nike has a vast network of independent security officers and in-house personnel combating counterfeit and trademark infringement. We aggressively pursue and prosecute offenders and conduct enforcement operations in conjuncture with other global brands…From a Chicago perspective, we often act upon tips from Chicago-based retailers and work with law enforcement there [and in other cities] to protect our authorized accounts."

But Sergeant Mullins, head of News Affairs for the Chicago Police Department, says that Nike hasn’t worked with the CPD on raids. "We have worked with the motion-picture industry and the music industry on busts, but Nike hasn’t contacted us. If the [peddlers] have a license to sell product on the streets, they can sell it. It’s not our job to spot counterfeit goods."

However, customs officials from both U.S. coasts have reported to the Associated Press that Nike is educating the officials to recognize counterfeit shoes when they see them. But can these infrequent busts save the sneaker boutiques in Chicago and other cities in the U.S. and abroad?

The Croatian Sensation doesn’t think so. "The little boutiques that you see around the city? They’re not going to last. How can they? I can get any pair that they can get and sell them for twenty-to-thirty percent less," he laughs. "Their customers are going to find me. You can bet on that."

(2007-07-17)

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