As part of its spring 2018 drop, Vetements recently revealed a white leather court sneaker, a shoe its followers on Instagram have responded to with ire because of its close resemblance to Adidas Originals Stan Smith sneaker.
One Instagram commenter wrote, “Thought you guys were more original than this,” a sentiment repeatedly echoed on the post.
The Vetements heel tab is shaped slightly differently and rather than Adidas’ three perforated stripes, the entire shoe is etched with an all-over perforated Vetements logo. Unlike the Stan Smith, the Vetements’ version lacks a logo imprint on the outsole.
Priced at $890, the shoe is now available for pre-order on matches.com with a description that reads, “Vetements reinterprets a traditional trainer style with a perforated all-over logo and a branded heel tab in contrasting red. This piece is made from white leather, grounded on a rubber sole, and features a lace-up front.”
Vetements is not the first company to copy the Stan Smith. Adidas successfully sued Skechers when it attempted its own version in 2015. French label Isabel Marant offered her take on the look in her spring 2015 collection. And while Marant’s shoe was only available for one season, Alexander McQueen has had a Stan Smith look-a-like shoe among its offerings for the past two years.
Adidas has filed in the United States for protection of various “trade dress” Stan Smith designs including the heel tab though it’s not clear if the one element on its own is enough to merit protection. Outside of the Skechers design, which included multiple references to the Stan Smith shoe, there’s no record of Adidas suing any other companies for Stan Smith-inspired shoes.
At the same time, Adidas has aggressively gone after Marc Jacobs, Tesla, Nike and Forever 21 in protection of its three-stripe logo, leading one to believe it’s more challenging for Adidas to protect the heel tab as an design element distinct to its brand.
Check out Vetements shoe below along with Skechers’ version.
