Pictured is a 90's Vintage Nike Bootleg piece. In order to find one of these, envision yourself at a mom and pop shop, or travel back to a real 90's flea market. A sketchy-looking place might do the trick too. Today, bootlegs are generally not as cool as having originals. As humans, we value what's hard to obtain. When something is readily available, it loses part of its value.
It genuinely surprised me when Nike collaborator, CPFM was granted the freedom of copying a bootleg version of this shirt. Brands are suddenly interested making their own "bootlegs". They want to stand out, especially in a world where trends are constantly, rapidly changing. However, fashion bootlegging has always been about making luxury brands more accessible to the general public. How will bootlegs work in a less affordable setting? Maybe we pretend they aren't bootlegs, and so we continue to pay upwards of five hundred dollars for a "real" bootleg. Whatever that means.
This is the 90's we're talking about. Looking back now, pieces like these were definitely overlooked as they were never officially released by Nike. Yet, someone's bootleg idea now validates a CPFM collab. It's 2023 and vintage bootlegs are making brands cool! I hear there's been a huge popularity spike in vintage bootlegs lately, and maybe this hints at a new found appreciation for current bootlegs in the years to come.
