Why Endorsers Wearing Multiple Brands Is Actually A Good Thing

Rappers wearing brands outside their endorsements can be a positive thing.

words // Zac Dubasik

Whether or not we want to admit that they influence us personally, there’s no doubt that entertainers, and especially rappers, are influential when it comes to sneakers. There are different ways they can influence us though.

The way marketing works today, especially since the rise of social media, celebrities offer an opportunity to showcase a product directly to its target audience. Rather than buying an ad spot on national TV, which may be fast-forwarded through via DVR, a company sending a celebrity a shoe early costs next to nothing, and their followers more than likely will be interested. Whether or not anyone cares about how that particular rapper dresses, the exposure is there. So, at the very least, they influence awareness.

But then again, there are those individuals, such as someone like Kanye West, who are followed for their style as much as their music. When he wears something, people pay attention. And even through his deal with Nike, he could often be seen wearing footwear from brands like Visvim and Margiela.

Kanye may not have gotten what he wanted monetarily from his Nike deal, but he was obviously compensated. When he wore Nikes, it felt authentic, in part thanks to him sticking to his own personally curated mix of models, and an assortment of other brands too.

No one wants to hear from a paid spokesperson, and when an artist who has been seen primarily in Air Jordans for their career suddenly starts showing up at promotional events for another brand, it reeks of a paycheck. And that’s fine. Most people, if offered money to wear a product, would take the check as well. But does it really influence anyone, further than basic exposure?

Oftentimes, the same rapper cashing a check from one brand, is wearing another the next day. And while that may initially seem like a negative thing for that brand signing the check (and a possible breach of contract), it isn’t always a bad thing in the bigger picture.

Like it or not, Air Jordans are a worldwide symbol of what’s cool. “Cool people” tend to wear “cool things.” So, if a rapper wears a pair of Air Jordans one day, and another brand the next, it’s a lot easier to view them being authentic to things they actually like, rather than wearing something because they’re getting paid for it. When Kanye wears a high-end, European-made sneaker, then changed into a pair of Nikes, it didn’t come across as him doing so because he had a deal. It made both scenarios feel more authentic, and in a way, elevates the Nike into a tier above it pricewise.

While not every rapper with a shoe deal has been completely on the up-and-up about not straying from that brand, it hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing. Air Jordans are highly revered in the sneaker community, but so are shoes like the Shaqnosis. It makes sense that someone truly into sneakers would want to wear both. Sure, it’s a bad look to show up in Air Mags for a paid performance at a Converse event (we witnessed this actually happen), then insist on only performing in the said Mags, but having and wearing both Chucks and Mags makes sense. At the end of the day, it's on the brands to create product that's worthy of coming across as believably worn by their endorsers for the influence to actually be impactful.