UNITY… U.N.I.T.Y YOU GOTTA LET THEM KNOW!!!
Ok sorry where was I… yes the Power Circle of some very well respected male and female Sneakerheads in the game and the circle was straight Fire!!! I mean you had the good dude The Word On The Feet with Ronnie Fieg’s 1st Asics collaboration, you had Van Wills in Kid Robot AM1s, Kambition in the Patta AM1 I mean it was straight Fire… It was a very refreshing selection of different trainers and not your typical Jordans or Huaraches… I mean it was a very serious circle!! And me being the King I went HAM!!! I posted it tagged everyone who was present in it… Then I thought this circle is way too good for just us so I had to tag possibly every relevant magazine or sneaker blog/brand in the UK & US.
But I have to admit I felt a bit like “what’s going on?” ’cause firstly the King’s picture didn’t branch over 200 likes, shootouts to FreshLaces and Solelove1 for winning that silent comp for who got the most likes, lol the Kingdom let me down on that… Also that picture was posted around 11 more times throughout Instagram with full tags etc from members of the circle… But I couldn’t help but notice that not one of the “Sneaker influencer” brands reposted the picture even though they clearly state that people should tag them or use their hashtag and they would post??? But they didn’t and this wasn’t just UK brands/influencers it was US as well, which tbh in my opinion it shows that either the picture wasn’t “Good Enough” or people didn’t think there was enough heat in the picture ??
Oh Please… I can’t help feeling it was something else I know there weren’t enough Jordans in the picture or Huaraches. Or could it be because it was nick-named the #BlackPowerCircle ? And no I ain’t making this a race thing at all I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this ? And whether people like it or not if you are really in this UK scene you gotta admit there is kinda an elitism in the way brand influencers promote each other…? If I’m wrong tell I’m wrong but have a good explanation ’cause I come with good debate facts Ready!!!
My opinion is Trainers are for everyone the term “Sneakerhead” is not reserved or as the YouTube dude DBrown24 would say “it doesn’t give you any form of influence in any way in the real world”…. but I do think that some people because they may have a certain following or something feel like I will not support anything that doesn’t fit into my box! The King does not care for this in the slightest and will shoutout and support anyone in the UK game that does something dope or works hard and catches my attention… There is no time for segregating, overlooking, ignoring, etc etc. This here UK trainer game is for us all and if you disagree with that you are gonna be one of the ones who gets left behind as everyone builds together. As I regularly say on my hashtags #TeamWorkMakesTheUKSceneWork !
Shoutout everyone who was in the Power Circle and everyone who supports building together !!
Until the next time keep safe and keep it Kinging!!
Peace
The King
Categories: Feetures, The King's Comments
The Word on the Feet 
I don’t think that hashtag had i noticed it would have personally stopped me from liking the pictures (tbh i don’t always notice what the hashtags say lol) might of for some others maybe. I think you’re right on that elitism though and cliquey behaviour in the kicks scene and it’s not just at those levels i think there is some of that on various levels working down too. There is some good ones out there like you who are encouraging growth in the kick scene and promote and support others.
dear KOT sir,
not only is what you say in the article very true about the current elitism of the UK sneaker scene, but the fact that no one comments/the silence itself is also indicative of sheepherding and ‘self congratulating’ that is currently rife. the UK sneaker scene is in a whole new phase of growth whereby the so called current ‘influencers’ are from the ‘heat’ and ‘hype’ generation and not the old school /hiphop/streetculture generation of respected and genuine sneaker lovers.
There is no scene as such, but amongst the few individuals who run successful ‘reseller events’ that have become brand targets and messengers for the sneaker masses who only buy ‘collabs and so called ‘exclusives’. It just goes to show how completely saturated the UK sneaker market has become
(….Got an IG account of 50k followers? quick get them to the press releases and give them some free shoes!!)
The Individuality in sneakers as self expression is long dead. these ‘influencers know nothing of personal taste & sneaker style and are obviously caught up in the windfall of excitement of suddenly being courted by big brands to do their bidding. Is it any wonder you only hear of the same names and see the same lame pics of the same lame individuals on every social media channel that is sneaker related?
Stop with the self importance already. please!
long live the King.
I think its the jealous and narrow minded comments like the one above that is rotting the UK sneaker scene from the inside out.
Everyone is a hypocritical keyboard warrior these days who don’t have the balls to air out their true feelings in public.
You basically Ethered yourself in your first paragraph homes.