Another day, another luxury label riffing on a streetwear staple, this time it's Dior dropping a suspiciously familiar looking Nike Dunk-esque sneaker.
The B57, as it's officially titled, is Dior’s latest footwear offering and comes with all the hallmarks of a classic Nike Dunk: a padded low-cut collar, color-blocking on the upper, and the signature perforated toe box.
Thing is, the only real visible difference between Nike’s Dunk and the B57 is the French house’s Dior Oblique jacquard “CD” motif placed where a Swoosh would usually be housed.
Shame really because as far as luxury sneakers go, Dior is up there as one of the best for me. Its B33, which dropped earlier this year, stands as one of my personal favorites down mostly to its originality.
Fact is, in the world of luxury footwear, originality is often what’s lacking. Unlike the B33, the majority of splendor sneakers draw glaringly obvious inspiration from already-popular streetwear silhouettes. Take Bottega Veneta’s ASICS-Esque Orbit for example or Gucci’s MAC80 that bears a striking resemblance to New Balance’s 550.
So when Dior presented its new B57 – which set to pre-launch online on October 10 – the fact that it appeared to be a carbon copy of a Nike Dunk Low didn’t come as too much of a surprise, although it’s an unfortunate step back from the heady heights of the B33.
Of course, this isn't the first time a luxury label has riffed on a streetwear staple, and it certainly won’t be the last. This is just to say that: Dior, I’m not annoyed, I’m just disappointed is all.
