How Adidas Got Trolled By A Fashion Show Prank

Whether we like it or not, sweatshop labor is used by most of the clothing companies that are popular in the Western World. However, it is a rarity for the fashion industry to directly acknowledge this ugly truth in any promotional capacity. 

So it was probably a shock when Adidas announced a new co-CEO, Vay Ya Nak Phoan, who served as a union leader at a Cambodian sweatshop or that their new line would be composed of “carefully distressed garments upcycled from clothing worn non-stop for six months by Cambodian workers who are owed wages withheld during the pandemic” at a fashion show in Berlin, Germany. 

Except they didn’t… 

The fact that the press took this seriously is only shocking if you don’t take into the account the current state of fashion.

The entire announcement was a spoof by activist group The Yes Men, but that didn’t stop the mainstream media and many in the fashion world from believing that Adidas was proudly proclaiming to the world that they steal money from Cambodian workers. 

The models at the fashion event were bloodied and covered in bruises while on stage. One display even showed a pair of Adidas flip flops that had sharp metal spikes sticking out of the soles designed to stab whoever wore them. 

The fact that the press took this seriously is only shocking if you don’t take into the account the current state of fashion. While it may seem absurd to have bloodied models wear clothing that has been ripped to shreds or flip flops designed by Pharrell Williams to cause discomfort, this isn’t that far off from the stupid shit rich fashion enthusiasts actually pretend to be into. 

Adidas went into full damage control mode…

Kanye West, who used to be one of my favorite rappers, has basically become a weird combination of Candace Owens and Adolf Hiter. He also had a deal with Adidas, and aside from the Cambodian CEO, the clothes at the “Realitywear” event aren’t that far off from the trash Kanye West paid models to wear in the past. 

Adidas went into full damage control mode and announced they had nothing to do with the launch and that there was no co-CEO at the company. 

There were no updates about Adidas changing their business practice of exploiting poor and adolescent workers in developing countries.

That’s the funny thing about capitalism, they’ll drop a guy for saying something bad, but they won’t stop relying on what could be described as slave labor. Kanye West should have undoubtedly been dropped from the company, but the only reason why they dropped him is because antisemitism is taboo. If Nazis were considered palatable to a mainstream audience, Adidas would probably pivot and it wouldn’t be long before Ye was wearing an Adidas manufactured pair of Air Hitlers to go along with his Genocide Jeans made of Japanese denim. Maybe the T-shirt would be from Italy to really complete the Axis aesthetic. Possibly a Benito Mussolini muscle T?

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