Zara, the fast fashion behemoth has launched an Athleticz startup brand, including affordable high-tech running shoes. Can we trust this gear to run a marathon in?
The art direction, stolen designs and corny branding of “athleticz” says Zara is not at all serious. So even if the product is decent (tbd) the rest of the package totally misses. Zara we can fix this, call me 😂
What if it's in keeping with the rest of their (very successful) business?
This reminds me a little of when I say Metallica's stage show is boring and hackneyed, and then I remember the inescapable perspective of millions of people paying a lot of money to see them do that every year.
"We’ve been working on Athleticz as if it’s a little startup inside a big machine"... I wasn't aware that little startups' first step in creating a brand is to directly use their parent company's weight to rip off actual startups. Also not sure why a $170 EVA shoe would raise eyebrows? If anything, it's terribly overpriced; nobody uses full EVA in a performance shoe at this point. And the fact that it's carbon-plated for no discernible purpose makes me believe it's pure gimmick. This just appears to be more fast fashion with stupid high margins built on cheap materials sold to consumers who don't know any better.
My feeling is that it’s going to take Zara a long time to change brand perception. They’re known for fast fashion and knock-offs, not innovation. Why didn’t they just go with a running shoe brand collab? Or try to acquire a small-but-influential running brand? 🤨
Fast fashion and all the bad rap that comes with it, but I think most of the Athleticz stuff has looked nicer than the brightly coloured anti-vibe gear that Hoka & other top tier brands are making. Smart but uncool move ripping off the boutique brands, but such is life.
The problem with Hoka, Nike, Asics etc is that the running shoes don’t look cool. Gimme an all black, all white, whatever. Let me decide my look. No FKW has ever had vibes
Such an interesting and thoughtful take on these shoes and how they came to be. I can’t lie, the widespread use of carbon plates concerns me because they’re very much handle with care not for every day use tech. As you say, no one wants more injured runners! There is definitely something to be said for the democratisation of the tech however, although we also need to balance that against how the brand behaves in other respects (pinching designs for example). Ultimately if we can attract more people to run that’s positive, and I think it presents an interesting challenge to established brands around making tech more accessible.
I don't think the design pinching / ethics is a deal breaker for 99% of people. Kinda why I used Vaporfly as the first comparison - nobody's sacking Nike off, and we know all about their ethics.
The art direction, stolen designs and corny branding of “athleticz” says Zara is not at all serious. So even if the product is decent (tbd) the rest of the package totally misses. Zara we can fix this, call me 😂
What if it's in keeping with the rest of their (very successful) business?
This reminds me a little of when I say Metallica's stage show is boring and hackneyed, and then I remember the inescapable perspective of millions of people paying a lot of money to see them do that every year.
“Success” is a very subjective term if we are talking about a fast fashion brand. Many oil and cigarette companies are “successful” too
"We’ve been working on Athleticz as if it’s a little startup inside a big machine"... I wasn't aware that little startups' first step in creating a brand is to directly use their parent company's weight to rip off actual startups. Also not sure why a $170 EVA shoe would raise eyebrows? If anything, it's terribly overpriced; nobody uses full EVA in a performance shoe at this point. And the fact that it's carbon-plated for no discernible purpose makes me believe it's pure gimmick. This just appears to be more fast fashion with stupid high margins built on cheap materials sold to consumers who don't know any better.
My feeling is that it’s going to take Zara a long time to change brand perception. They’re known for fast fashion and knock-offs, not innovation. Why didn’t they just go with a running shoe brand collab? Or try to acquire a small-but-influential running brand? 🤨
Fast fashion and all the bad rap that comes with it, but I think most of the Athleticz stuff has looked nicer than the brightly coloured anti-vibe gear that Hoka & other top tier brands are making. Smart but uncool move ripping off the boutique brands, but such is life.
The problem with Hoka, Nike, Asics etc is that the running shoes don’t look cool. Gimme an all black, all white, whatever. Let me decide my look. No FKW has ever had vibes
Such an interesting and thoughtful take on these shoes and how they came to be. I can’t lie, the widespread use of carbon plates concerns me because they’re very much handle with care not for every day use tech. As you say, no one wants more injured runners! There is definitely something to be said for the democratisation of the tech however, although we also need to balance that against how the brand behaves in other respects (pinching designs for example). Ultimately if we can attract more people to run that’s positive, and I think it presents an interesting challenge to established brands around making tech more accessible.
I don't think the design pinching / ethics is a deal breaker for 99% of people. Kinda why I used Vaporfly as the first comparison - nobody's sacking Nike off, and we know all about their ethics.
A good point well made!