Drew Haines, the merchandising director at StockX, doesn’t think so. “I don’t believe this release will impact the prices of the OG pair,” he said. The sort of people who lust after the Tiffany shoe, he says, are exactly the least likely to be persuaded by a knockoff. “There are enough differences here, and obviously, anyone who’s a diehard collector and willing to pay $1,000 for the sneaker understands that the official Tiffany & Co. collaboration is what makes the sneaker so valuable.”
Haines added that interest in the ‘Aurora Green,’ however, should still be pretty high, pointing out that cheaper alternatives to similar-looking but more expensive sneakers are a major seller across StockX. “There is something to say about limited-edition collabs helping fuel hype for similar general release colorways,” he said. “We’ve seen this with the JJJJound x Asics collabs. The JJJJound x Asics Gel-Kayano 14 ‘Silver Black’ is trading for more than $600, but the similar-looming Asics Gel-Kayano 14 Cream Black Metallic Plum—one of our top-selling ASICS sneakers—has an average resale price of $181.”
Tristan Banning, a sneaker collector and co-founder of the style blog Sidewalk Hustle, said that he thinks brands like Nike often release these kinds of entry-level duplicate shoes as a kind of “consolation prize” version for the average consumer. “I would say this is standard Nike,” he said of the ‘Aurora Green’ and the Tiffany AF1. “No real collector or sneakerhead will grab that because they know the difference. But I always thought it was for people who might have seen the hype show in the periphery of their awareness and on social, and then go into the local Foot Locker and grab the thing that’s close enough.”
Haines echoed the sentiment. “The reality is that $1,000 or even $600 is a lot of money to spend on sneakers,” he said. “There are a lot of people who may appreciate a certain colorway or collab but at the end of the day would rather purchase a similar product that won’t break the bank.” That side of the equation, Banning pointed out, can actually generate more interest in the real thing among serious collectors, “like how knock-off bags make the real thing worth more, because of the status that comes with it.”
What it ultimately comes down to is the “if you know you know” factor. “Dropping $2K on a pair of AF1s is kind of ridiculous,” Banning said. “Unless you know.”
