REEBOK FREESTYLE FOREVER!

Needless to say, Reebok’s rivals were green with envy thinking of that phat money spinner. Unfortunately for the footwear game, all is fair in love and war and every mega-successful design is copied to some degree. Sometimes it’s because of the inherent coolness of the design, but usually it’s the sound of the cash register ringing that does it. Some call it homage, others call it outright theft, and whilst shoe-lovers all loathe the practice, history is littered with diluted imitations and direct copies. No brand is immune. 

To their eternal shame, Nike released the Aerofit in 1987. Let’s be blunt. The shoe is a Freestyle with a Swoosh slapped on the side. Shame on you! Publicly attributing its shape to a hybrid hi-top Cortez was a very long bow and few were impressed with Nike’s bullshit excuses for being a copy-cat. Conjecture says that the Aerofit fizzed and failed. Strange then that it has resurfaced again in 2008, just as the Freestyle returned to the (skin) fold!

adidas just couldn’t seem to get with the program and to my knowledge, never really produced a significant aerobic range. The exception is a model called Grace, which surprise, surprise, is also in the market right now! They also have the Concord, an OG ball shoe which they stripped down for female consumption by adding an ‘innovative’ ankle strap. Neither of these lightweights could go head-to-head with the Free’ in any fist fight.