For decades, counterfeiters have been making some nice money selling items falsely branded as genuine merchandise. The counterfeit sneaker has been a particular cash cow for these overseas thieves, peddling their wares on the internet through wacky online stores and even on eBay. The New York Times delved a bit deeper into the world of counterfeit sneakers last August and later in November, U.S. Homeland Security took action by shutting down counterfeit footwear sites, but for every closed store, a handful of new ones pop up, so the only way to truly fight the counterfeit sneaker market is to smarten up with your sneaker knowledge and laugh at the truly hideous beasts that have surfaced.
Take for example the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse ‘Grinch’, which wouldn’t be a bad shoe were it not for LeBron’s L23 logo on the heel, or the grey/neon Air Yeezy with the Air Jordan VI midsole. Just what are they thinking? Then again, the thought of an Air Jordan shoe with a full-length Air Max unit would be laughable (that funky-looking Air Max Jordan XIII 360 or Air Max Jordan IV 360), but Jordan Brand just released the Air Jordan 2.0, which is exactly that – an Air Jordan shoe with visible full-length Air. It seems like a hit or miss with these counterfeiters. In any case, Complex compiled a list of the twenty craziest footwear fakes, so head there for the full feature after checking out the sampling below.
