LoveGalore said:

These aren't Prince shoes. They're First Avenue shoes. And considering First Avenue is struggling to stay alive (as are many classic venues due to CV), you could consider buying them.

Completely valid. This is to honor Prince, not recreate his life story on a pair of kicks. It's very much First Avenue, with the black background, white stars. I do think the larger star should've been gold like on the wall on First Avenue now. But maybe it didn't look right.

And they're trimmed in purple, so yeah, they are "remotely" connected to Prince. Everyone gonna act like Prince didn't use purple now?

And yes Prince wrote sneakers. Y'all not see his ass playing basketball with his pants tucked into his socks, which were pulled up to his knees? Hell, the little muthafukaa wore flipflops with socks, which ... if that ain't some middle aged dad shit, I don't know what is!

People, they're shoes. Sorta meh design, but at the end of the day, this is an independent business trying to stay afloat.

LoveGalore said:

I mean, slapping purple laces on a black shoe and calling it Prince is a little extra. With white laces, the shoes would look even more dapper. Like a tuxedo or some shit. Idk, I like them. They have a pretty low profile, imo, except those neon laces.

Well, I feel like there's a bit more effort than that put into it. You'll notice the brick wall design on the back quarter of either side, as well. I do think the purple laces sorta darken it all down a bit more. But if it were all black and white, maybe it'd be too saddleshoe look, or too generic.

I believe the foxing and/or piping should've been purple, to match the other trim.

Also, the inside of the shoe and underside of the tongue should've been purple.

The eyelets should've been purple. Leave all the rest black.

Then the white laces (maybe with a purple tip on them) would've cleaned it up a bit, given it that tuxedo look. Still advocating for a gold star, too. Hell, put one gold star in the sea of those other smaller stars, so it stands out or is different.

These do feel a bit like a prototype.

Having designed a pair of Chuck Taylors I still wear, I think there are many details that have gone unnoticed or ignored on these shoes. Wherever I had an option to change something on my Taylor's, I did. They're a few years old, but I still got compliments on them a couple of weeks ago at a sewing machine store. Of course my usual response it, "Thanks. They're custom." ha

LoveGalore said:

I mean, slapping purple laces on a black shoe and calling it Prince is a little extra. With white laces, the shoes would look even more dapper. Like a tuxedo or some shit. Idk, I like them. They have a pretty low profile, imo, except those neon laces.

Well, I feel like there's a bit more effort than that put into it. You'll notice the brick wall design on the back quarter of either side, as well. I do think the purple laces sorta darken it all down a bit more. But if it were all black and white, maybe it'd be too saddleshoe look, or too generic.

I believe the foxing and/or piping should've been purple, to match the other trim.

Also, the inside of the shoe and underside of the tongue should've been purple.

The eyelets should've been purple. Leave all the rest black.

Then the white laces (maybe with a purple tip on them) would've cleaned it up a bit, given it that tuxedo look. Still advocating for a gold star, too. Hell, put one gold star in the sea of those other smaller stars, so it stands out or is different.

These do feel a bit like a prototype.

Having designed a pair of Chuck Taylors I still wear, I think there are many details that have gone unnoticed or ignored on these shoes. Wherever I had an option to change something on my Taylor's, I did. They're a few years old, but I still got compliments on them a couple of weeks ago at a sewing machine store. Of course my usual response it, "Thanks. They're custom." ha