Monday, September 6, 2010

Steve Madden + Gucci = Stucci

I have a pair of flats by Steve Madden that I have worn to the ground. I wore them to commute to and from work. Ghana streets are not very pedestrian friendly. Many don’t have sidewalks therefore, if you are walking you are either walking along the side of the road in red dirt or loose gravel. The soles of the shoes were pretty thin to begin with so after months of commuting via trotro, during rainy season, the soles were basically non-existent. In fact the soles had become so thin that water would seep into the shoe through the soles. I took the shoes to a local shoemaker/shoe repairer and asked him to re-sole the bottom. I also dropped off two other pairs of pumps to have their heel taps replaced. I showed him the Steve Madden flats and explained that I wanted a rubber sole slightly thicker than the original sole. He said sure.

I was shocked when I went to retrieve the shoes. I looked at the bottom of the Steve Madden flats and saw that he did replace the sole with a thicker rubber sole. But they weren’t the average rubber sole, the new rubber sole had interlocking Gs all over it. That’s right, interlocking Gs as if they were a pair of Gucci shoes!

Why is there so much counterfeit stuff in Accra? I realize that the goods are mostly China made products but why do we have such an appetite for it? I've seen so many Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci purses since I've been here and know that 99 percent of it is fake. Is it that people don't realize they are purchasing knockoff goods or is that they want those brands and settle for the counterfeit ones because they can't afford the original?

In the meantime I can't wait for the next rainy day. I will be sure to wear my Stuccis and leave G footprints all over Accra!

4 comments:

  1. Ha ha! Stucci! That is some zipsoling job.

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  2. love the post! Nice to meet you...I'm with you on commuting by tro-tro...with rainy season, chale, it's wild! My rather-expensive shoes have been suffering as I've left them exposed to the vagaries of the Ghanaian weather...by walking more than I should!;-))

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  3. Desert Flower: I am still LOL at the shoes. It was completely shocking to see the G soles and the poor shoe repair man looked so proud of himself!

    ekb-jr on gmail: Welcome and thanks for reading my blog! I feel for your shoes. I started wearing flats when commuting and then changing into my nicer shoes upon arrival at my destination. I figured that would cut down on some of the wear and tear because I certainly don't want all my shoes to turn into Stuccis!

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  4. My dear, the answer to your question is Yes and No. Some people don't realise that they are getting counterfeit stuff. Others know and settle for it all the same.

    You'll find that a lot of Nokia phones in the country are from China so, you'll see a cute looking E71 or N97 but, when you turn it on, you'll discover immediately that you do not have the real thing.

    Thats how it is in GH.

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