757 Forgotten: The Irony of Pharrell's Virginia Shoe

A Virginia-branded shoe that completely bypassed Virginia? That's exactly what happened with Pharrell Williams' latest Adidas collaboration, the Jellyfish, and locals aren't happy about it. 

When Skateboard P revealed his chunky new silhouette with "Virginia" proudly emblazoned on the tongue, 757 natives were ecstatic. Finally, a high-profile sneaker representing our home! The excitement quickly turned to frustration when the release locations were announced – Washington DC was the closest option, with no Virginia stores or pop-ups making the list. How does a shoe explicitly celebrating Virginia exclude the very state it's honoring?

The missed opportunities feel especially glaring given Pharrell's recent Virginia projects, including "The Dome" at Oceanfront. The infrastructure existed for something special – perhaps a seven-day rollout across the 757's seven cities, culminating in an oceanfront celebration? Instead, Virginia residents were left entering online raffles alongside everyone else worldwide, taking L after L while watching resale prices climb to $700. Now people who've never set foot in the Commonwealth walk around with "Virginia" on their feet, while locals who would have worn them with true pride were left empty-handed.

This release highlighted the ongoing challenges in Virginia's sneaker retail landscape, with limited boutiques carrying premium drops. While it's exciting to see our state represented globally through Pharrell's design, the execution left the hometown feeling forgotten. Here's hoping future colorways might include something special for the people who share Pharrell's Virginia roots – we're still rooting for you, P!

🎧 First Wear Podcast: where sneaker culture comes first and hype takes a back seat. New episodes every Tuesday — audio drops at 6 AM EST, video at 6 PM EST. Follow @firstwearpod to join the conversation and share your sneaker stories with the community.

https://linktr.ee/Firstwearpod

Transcript

Virginia Shoe, No Virginia Release

Speaker 1 0:00

So P is from Virginia , the shoe has Virginia on the tongue and the one place it isn't dropping is Virginia . Now that's crazy work . Hey , welcome to the First Word Podcast . I am your host , edotreap . Episode 10 is definitely personal . It hits close to home . Well , it hits home Like it's not close , it hits home , it's crazy .

Speaker 1 0:26

This was not supposed to be episode 10 . I had a different episode mapped out , but you know this is a current event that directly affects the crib , you know , and it's footwear related . So of course the community spoke out , said this should be a topic and I said why not make it the next topic , since it is a current event ? So Skate be a topic . And I said why not make it the next topic , since it is a current event ? So skateboard p for real from the crib .

Speaker 1 0:50

He collabed with adidas , of course , human race line and his latest silhouette , the adidas jellyfish , has been making noise across the globe . Honestly , I want to say they did like a special release during Fashion Week . I want to say something like that . They had a crazy rollout with the packages and everything and personally I like the shoe from the jump . It's a chunky dad shoe , kind of like futuristic design . But the part that really made it special for me is that it has virginia on the tongue and there aren't many shoes out there that represent virginia or even have virginia on them . I want to say there might be a pair of like 92 all-stars or something . Shout out to Dion , he put me on to those I wasn't hip . And the only other pair , oh , kd18, . I want to say there's a pair with VA on it . And then you got the Sean Witherspoon Nike with LA to VA on the back . Outside of that , I can't think of any other shoe that you know nods to VA . Okay , but this particular shoe actually has Virginia spelled out on the tongue . So I was definitely excited for the release and you know , to my surprise and the surprise of a lot of my counterparts , my peers , my community members , locals , virginia was not on the release list .

Speaker 1 2:26

You know you had the online raffles , of course , which those are hit or miss . We had a whole episode about that . It's the safer option , but with all the bots and unlimited entries and you have people entering across the globe , your chances are slim for sure . I was hoping at least a local

Limited Release Options Explained

Speaker 1 2:47

store would have them . The closest store to me that actually had the raffle was Washington DC . So we have a Virginia born and raised artist dropping a shoe with Virginia written on the tongue , and the closest store to actually release this item is in Washington DC , not Northern Virginia , but Washington DC .

Speaker 1 3:20

Hey , shout out to , I'm on my year , though I'm a fan of the brand , it's not your fault . Hey , shout out to , I'm on the air , though you know I'm a fan of the brand , it's not your fault . But it's just crazy that a Virginia shoe , dc . That's the best y'all got , because even the DMV phones , they were exclusively , you know , released across the DMV , dc , maryland Virginia . Of course , the parts of DC , maryland Virginia that you can get to on the metro , not every square foot of the states , but you know it was special to the DMV area . So I would assume it'll be the same with this . But of course I was wrong and it's just so crazy to me , man , it's like so how did Adidas three stripes , how did y'all drop the ball , man ? Because Pharrell just finished up a special project , you know , down to Oceanfront , the dome . They could have utilized that , as you know , a potential pop-up location or something . I know there's some tension still with , you know , pharrell in the city of Virginia Beach . You know that's another story , I'm not here to talk on that , but I feel like there could have been something done for this release .

Speaker 1 4:39

Now I understand that this particular shoe had a . You know it's a special tier . You know , when it comes to certain releases , you get like the tier one , tier zero type releases and only special stores with those accounts are able to drop them . So the one store we had two options you got Cream and then you also have Commonwealth . Either one of those would have been a good spot to drop them . Cream lost its Adidas account a while ago , so they were out of the question , and then Commonwealth , I guess they just weren't , you know , on that tier level .

Speaker 1 5:18

But I feel like there could have been a pop-up , like a special pop-up , you know , in the city , somewhere on the oceanfront . It could have been like a very special activation , a special rollout , just because this was it's not his first shoot , but it's the first shoot . That really says you know , this is where I'm from , I'm from Virginia , and everybody is going to know there are people walking around with that shoe right now

Missed Opportunities for a Special VA Rollout

Speaker 1 5:53

that I'm sure never stepped foot in Virginia . It's so crazy Like not saying , like I'm not mad . They released Worldwide Like , let's not , you know , I don't want to get that , you know , misconstrued . I'm glad that it was a global release . People from all over have the chance to represent Virginia and that is dope to me , like in totality , you know that's dope .

Speaker 1 6:17

But I just feel like we should have had a better chance of copping . You know , even with some boutiques and stores , when they do like online raffles , they ask you or they say , like locals first , so like locals get priority . Like you have a better shot of winning the raffle if you're a local . Not saying that , you know the Pharrell website , this Virginia website , didn't take that into consideration because you did have to put your number and zip code in there . I think something like that . Maybe they did have some kind of filter system and you know , I just unfortunately I wasn't selected either time the raffle popped up . Maybe they didn't , I don't know . But I feel like there could have been something special for the 7.5 . You know Virginia for sure , but the 7.5 , like , come on , that's the crib P . You could have done something special for us . They did something special for us . It's just like you know .

Speaker 1 7:15

In my opinion , they could have did like a week-long release , like a week-long rollout . You know , seven days in a week , seven cities make up the 757 Hampton Roads area . It could have had a pop-up in each city and for the end of it it could have culminated Sunday down at the oceanfront boardwalk . You know , could have had a crazy like block party . You know they have the infrastructure to do it . Of course , if you're familiar with something the water festival down in the ocean front , the last time there was actually , you know they were actually able to , you know , get everything rolling .

Speaker 1 7:59

There was a human race Adidas activation where he dropped the Sambas early , like it was like a rainbow pack . I want to say something like that . It was like a rainbow pack . I want to say something like that . And you know that's not a boutique or a store with , you know , an Adidas account . It was just a standalone pop-up activation joint and with a point of sale and it worked . So it's not like the infrastructure .

Speaker 1 8:25

It wasn't there for like a pop-up style release . For like a pop-up style release , I guess it just wasn't priority , which is , you know it's tough . It didn't hurt me , you know , like , like pharrell doesn't owe me anything like I know that I was just hoping that you know a release like this , of this magnitude , I thought , you know , maybe there would have been something special . Not saying you , you might have something up his sleeve that could be like a wider release . It may be a special colorway that'll only drop in Virginia or only available to those Virginia residents who knows . It could be something , could be something , it could be nothing .

Speaker 1 9:09

But this from the initial release and how it went down , these are my thoughts and opinions and feelings on it . Like I said , it would have been dope for , you know , a local rollout , disappointed that we didn't have a better chance to secure it , that we didn't have a better chance to secure it . But I am excited to see what the future colorways look like . Maybe it becomes , you know , an additional line under the three-strike brand and you know Pharrell can continue to promote VA , rep VA can continue to promote VA , rep VA and

Boutique Struggles in Virginia

Speaker 1 9:53

the whole world can rep VA by wearing shoes . It's just like the senior community , especially the local community . Man , it's just , it's tough , it's really tough and we didn't have a fair chance to acquire the Eagles .

Speaker 1 10:10

You can go to DC and I was about to do it , but it's like you know , for one you got to travel to DC in that certain time slot , hopefully well , in hopes that you can , you know , be able to make it for the round . You know the traffic is crazy and you don't know how many people are in line by the time you even get there , if it's even worth it , and then it's still a raffle at the end of the day . So you do all that , you go out of time for whatever , fill out the raffle , come back to the crib and then you have to hope that you get selected and then , if you do get selected , you have to go back , travel back up there in that time slot to get the shoe . It's a lot , man . If it was like a guaranteed joint , maybe , but to fill out a raffle out of like three and a half , four hours , depending on traffic , it's too much .

Speaker 1 11:04

As much as I wanted a shoe , I entered the raffles out of like three and a half , four hours , depending on traffic , you know it's too much . As much as I wanted to shoot , I entered the raffles , of course , and took l's on everything , multiple l's on the virginia , the pharrell site , adidas , confirmed , kith , those other packer , but it is what it is . I did my best . It's just crazy that we don't have more . We need more boutiques locally . Cream is cool . I got love for cream . They definitely get stuff that most don't in the area , so I definitely appreciate that .

Speaker 1 11:38

Commonwealth is dope . I feel like Commonwealth should get more . I remember they used to . I know they used to get the easy releases and that was when they were in lenny haven mall and I didn't have a standalone , you know , down there in the town center and I don't feel like they really get releases like they used to , which is crazy , unless they lost their account as well . I'm not , but it should have been something better than what it was Like . I'm not in those meetings . I'm not on the board , you know I'm not in the boardroom . I don't make it . I don't call the shots over there . Maybe P did .

Speaker 1 12:18

You know voices , you know opinion on having a local release and the company just wasn't rocking with it . Maybe , like I said , he has something planned in the future to make up for this or something dope and he's just keeping on the raps , which I'm not mad at that at all . But , like I said , these are my initial thoughts and opinions and feelings on the whole situation . So this is more like a little rant . You know I just I got called out to , you know , drop something about it and I'm definitely anxious to see how y'all feel about it .

Speaker 1 13:01

You know , I can't be the only one feeling some type of way about it , especially locally , and I know a lot of a lot of my peers , or like my friends , family , whatever , like we all , we all in this together , that moved out of town . They were trying to get it too , like my dog Dion . He said thank y'all , he in Texas right now . I want to put his location on there , but he's in Texas . So he was like he would have popped up . You know , if there was going to be a local release , he was going to come in time for the release . Like it would have been like kind of like a homecoming reunion type joint , because you know a lot of people move out of you know VA and go elsewhere . But that really would have brought the community together .

Speaker 1 13:41

Then you had the Cousins Festival coming up this weekend . That could have been another opportunity to have some type of pop-up or whatever during the festival , which would have been dope . But I don't know , man , like I said I'm going to give it some time . See what happens . See what happens down the line with new colorways , maybe something special , like I said , said who knows , I don't know .

Speaker 1 14:07

I took the l and my mat for sure , like am I ? Like hurt , hurt , like no , it's another

Community Impact and Resale Exploitation

Speaker 1 14:13

release for me . I took the l . Keep it moving , get something else . Not paying resale for the as much as I rep va to the fullest 757 forever . The prices on these are crazy . So now y'all exploiting the crib . Now you know people walking around with $700 Virginia shoes on it's dope and crazy at the same time .

Speaker 1 14:39

But yeah , please tap in . I want to hear your thoughts and opinions on the situation . But yeah , please tap in . I want to hear your thoughts and opinions on the situation . Is it an overreaction on my part and my counterpart's that felt like we really got snubbed ? There should have been a local release , or , yeah , I feel like you know it is what it is . You know what I'm saying . Either get them or you don't Pay to play , which a lot of people will do . I'm not one of them .

Speaker 1 15:04

But yeah , man , I appreciate y'all for checking this episode out . It's probably a short one . For sure , I don't want to do nothing too crazy , I just want to . You know initial thoughts and feelings , pure emotion on this one . I didn't want it too structured because it's basically a rant episode . But you know , the next episode episode 11 , will be , you know , back to the regularly scheduled program . But I definitely had to drop this man for the people , for the culture , for the 7-5 , man . But shout-out to Skateboard P man , shout-out to Pharrell , shout-out to the Three Stripes ,

Closing Thoughts on the Release

Speaker 1 15:40

he definitely representing us . Overall it was a pretty good representation of the crib . I just wish this release was a little bit more . A little bit , you know , catered more to the crib than it did . But you know it's still all love . You already know how we get down man 2 up , two down , forever . Appreciate y'all for watching . As always , buy what you like , wear what you love . This is the First Word . Podcast .