Skechers is currently one of the most profitable sneaker brands in the United States thanks to its sporty look and affordable pricepoint. Their revenue has allowed them to open up some major doors while signing on some reputable celebrity endorsers, but it’s hard to mask that the brand is a copy-cat that’s getting into some legal trouble. Over the years, the “S” has blatantly knocked off some popular designs, which has resulted in some lawsuits from other brands in the category that devote a lot of effort into creating these original designs. In light of today’s news of adidas’ lawsuit against Skechers, we decided to look back at some of the most blatant and laughable rip-offs ever pulled off by the brand. We’d like to point out that Skechers is not the only brand to “take inspiration”, but some of their recent stuff is an undeniable copy and paste. Check out the list below.
This atrocity came about a decade ago, when A Bathing Ape, one of the few brands that made rip-offs look cool, and the Euro-trend of “driving” shoes took over the world. This particular model doesn’t rip-off a specific release, so you can rest easy that another version of this sneaker never existed.
The best part of this atrocity is the name of the shoe – OG 85. Skechers just slapped the two terms together on this obvious knock-off of the Nike Internationalist Mid.
The only notable crossover between Nike and Cole Haan was the debut of the LunarGrand, which featured a classic Oxford upper above a comfortable Lunar outsole. Nike and Cole Haan are no longer affiliated and although the silhouette exists, it is now called the “ZeroGrand”. Skechers made a pretty accurate copy of the shoes that aren’t bad actually and several other brands ripped off this style.
adidas’ latest lawsuit against “The S” is in regards to the Power Blade sneaker line. It’s an obvious copy of adidas’ Springblade technology that debuted a few years back. While the idea of Springblade was interesting, the shoes itself were a bit gaudy and quite honestly, we forgot about Springblade until today’s news dropped.
adidas pops up again thanks to this clear jock of the iconic Stan Smith shoes. Had Skechers not gone with the perforations on the upper and the green heel-tab, they might’ve squeezed by unnoticed.
This one’s a double-whammy. The upper has the distinct lines from the knit pattern of the Flyknit Air Max, while the bumpy sole is an attempted imitation of adidas Boost sole. The not-so-subtle approach has caused an uproar.
This one’s similar to the one above in that it features a pairing of Nike Flyknit on the upper and adidas Boost on the bottom end. The upper “knit” is taken from the Lunar Flyknit Chukka from 2012. Skechers actually pays singer Demi Lovato to be an ambassador of the brand and this model in particular.