Rep sneakers have increased in popularity over the past 5 years. Being cheaper, more common, and almost indistinguishable in quality. Does this run the risk of undermining the position of Authentic trainers as the heart of Sneaker culture, or is there enough space for both
in today’s sneaker market?

“Your Jordans are fake!”

The reputation of replica sneakers was in the gutter even as recently as 5 years ago, as summarized by one of the biggest memes of 2020.

Replica sneakers, or ‘reps,’ were once synonymous with cheap, poor-quality knock-offs that no one with any self-respect would wear.

However, Reps sneakers have exploded in both quality and popularity over the past 5 years, with more and more people going out and buying them from the factories through middleman websites such as Pandabuy, DHgate and TaoBao.

You can buy replicas of designer shoes that went for £200 on release and resold online for £500 for only £20, severely undermining
authentics.

This is just one of the factors that have contributed to the rapid increase of the rep shoe market.

According to RunRepeat, the counterfeit shoe market was worth almost $600 Billion (£455 Billion) in 2023. That’s larger than the economy of Israel as well as 1.5x larger than the authentic market.

This is a drastic change from 2019, where the authentic shoe market was 3.6x larger than their counterfeit counterparts, and 1200% larger than what it was worth only 10 years earlier.

This large rise in the market has resulted in people collecting replica sneakers in place of authentics.

Many post on Reddit, with the largest rep sneaker subreddit having almost 900k members.

One such person is Fugiwara, who has spent over $10K on his collection of over 500 pairs of replica sneakers, his favourite piece being his off-white Air Jordans.

He posts his collection and purchases on Rep Subreddits.

“I started collecting reps pre-COVID. I wanted a pair of Air Jordan 1 Banned but didn’t know where to find them. I found them eventually.”

Fugiwara has noticed that since he started collecting, the quality has increased significantly yet gradually over the years, to the point that there is minimal difference in quality between reps and authentics.

“Some of the perks of buying reps over authentics is that they’re lower cost for the same quality. You can even get custom pairs and you don’t have to worry about them selling out.”

“The stigma around reps is with the younger crowd. Younger buyers care more about what their peers think about their shoes.”

Although convinced in the quality of rep sneakers, Fugiwara doesn’t endorse reselling replicas as authentics on sites like Ebay and StockX.

“Reselling falsely is very unethical. It deceives buyers and undermines trust in the community.”

The increase in the quality of reps has led to online resellers passing them off as authentics.

Many online authenticators are having trouble distinguishing reps trainers from authentic, leading to many people paying full price for reps, undermining not just authentic shoes, but online reselling websites as well.

It is illegal to sell replica sneakers in several countries, such as the UK, as it is in violation of copyright law. Pandabuy, a well known middleman website for selling fakes, had their headquarters and warehouses raided by Chinese authorities in April 2024 after 16 brands took legal action.

In 2022, Nike sued StockX, a famous online reselling website, for selling counterfeit Air Jordans as authentics. One buyer from the site got 38 pairs of replica Air Jordan 1s that passed StockX’s authentication process, which made up over 50% of the batch he bought.

Christian Cardnuto, who runs a YouTube channel and an Instagram page called Uncle Chrissy’s Kicks dedicated to authentics sneaker news, claims that online reselling and the increased quality of reps has led to this becoming more commonplace.

“The quality is honestly lightyears beyond what I saw when I was a kid.”

“It’s right on par with what you’re seeing from the actual factories. A lot of times, they’re built with the same materials, the same machines.

A lot of times, in the exact same facility as the actual, authentic pair. To an untrained eye, even to a trained eye, it’s tough to tell.”
“I’m not that seasoned in spotting out replicas, but it is very hard to tell with the quality that’s being put out.”

Cardnuto had worked with Sneaker News and GQ magazine in the past before starting his own sneaker blog on social media.

“Reselling has taken off since the online platforms such as GOAT, Alias and StockX, because it allows someone in one city in Middle America that may not have a lot of buyers to touch buyers in LA, Miami, New York.”

“The downside of that is it allows bad actors who are selling these reps to do the exact same thing.”

“StockX’s authentication facilities, they’re a little bit short on bodies. They’re trying to push as many shoes as you can in a day, and of course things are going to get through.”

Despite the fact that replica sneakers have increased in quality, Cardnuto, who has been collecting sneakers for 30 years, is still very much against them and wouldn’t own any personally.

“It’s disrespectful to the artist. That sneaker that someone put together, that’s a piece of art that somebody put a lot of thought, a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, to be frank, and to just knock it off like that, I think it’s just disrespectful.

“It’s not something I would want to partake in, I wouldn’t want a fake Mona Lisa hanging in my house.”

Despite his views, Cardnuto admits that the stigma around reps has worn off in recent years, but claims it’s mainly due to the younger generation.

“I think it is a generational thing, to tell you the truth. I think older folks like myself, a lot of them are against it, but I think that the younger generation are really starting to adapt to it.”

“It’s definitely a lot cheaper, there’s no doubt about that.”

Due to the inescapable fact that replica sneakers are cheaper and more common than authentics, with minimal quality differences, it seems like reps are here to stay and will continue to be a major part of sneaker culture.