Old news, but @nikesbornothing (not affiliated with Nike), held a ‘design-a-Dunk-SB’ and got a ton of submissions…the winner was the ‘Welcome to Virginia Beach’ Dunk Low. The winning design would actu

Old news, but @nikesbornothing (not affiliated with Nike), held a ‘design-a-Dunk-SB’ and got a ton of submissions…the winner was the ‘Welcome to Virginia Beach’ Dunk Low. The winning design would actually be hand made and would be available for sale as a ‘custom’ ‘not Nike’ shoe. The waves along the vamp, the gum soles, the turquoise looking blue…I think it’s a pretty dope shoe. I think pricing recently surfaced and you can purchase a pair for around $899.  
 
My first thought…I wish Nike did more stuff like this. I wish Nike went to the sneaker community to figure out what people wanted to see. Instead of just picking ‘tastemakers’ and ‘influencers’ and people who already have businesses - why not open the whole thing up to everyone and let the consumers decide? I know there are logistical challenges (ie: rigged votes), but can’t they figure out a better way to reach their demographic?  
 
Second thought…I’m happy for @kenjo757 whose design is getting made. I read a bit about him and it seems that it’s been a bit of a blessing for him to get his idea out there. Nothing hits like when when your creative ideas goes viral.  
 
Third thought…the price. $899. There are so many questions about that price…and, honestly, I’m not really one to make a judgement. I know that when I see a customizer asking this amount of money for a custom build, my immediate thought is: ‘well, I’m out.’ No matter how much I like ‘em. Ain’t no chance in hell I’m paying that for any pair of shoes, unless I know it’s actually worth 10x that amount. To me, a ‘custom’ ‘not Nike’’ pair feels ‘not real’. It’s too much of a grey area for me. I do know that there are ways to get your own shoes made and I know that they are really really expensive, (but there are cheap-ish ways to get it done), and in that sense, $899/pair sounds reasonable. I also know that Nike themselves used to charge $1k+ for bespoke pairs (ie: AM1’s and AF1’s). But this is all speculation…Would there be significant differences in the ‘Nike’ vs. the ‘Not Nike Nike’? Do you think $899 sounds fair?