Compare and Contrast Essay: Jordan vs. Yeezy

The developers for each brand are both well-known in the world and are huge inspirations to many people. Each of the shoes is in partnership deals with huge brands to help each shoe with sales and get more popular. Jordan was more successful with the number of sales sold in 2020 than Yeezy was. Sneakerheads are in love with each of these brands because of the potential Yeezy has for the future and future plans in designing and fabricating shoes. Although, Jordan shoes are better than Yeezy shoes, due to the origin, popularity, and design of the shoe.

Michael Jordan is the creator of Jordan. Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players that has ever played. He played for the Chicago Bulls in the years of 1984–1993, 1995–1998, and played for the Washington Wizards during the years of 2001-2003. During his basketball career, he got sponsored by one of the most well-known brands in the market, Nike. Nike allowed Michael to create his own shoe which later on turned into his own company. Michael Jordan created his first shoe in late 1984 called the Air Jordan 1, which he wore during his rookie year. Michael released his shoes to the public on April 1, 1985. Michael also played a little Minor league baseball and golf which allowed the company to make more than just basketball shoes and every day wearing shoes, also selling baseball cleats and golf shoes to the public adding more to the sales. 

Yeezy was founded by Kanye West. Kanye West is a well-known person around the whole world for his rapping, singing, songwriting, and record producing. Kanye was also in a partnership with Nike until 2013. Until he made the switch to start a new partnership with Adidas. Kanye's first-ever shoe was designed and created back in 2007 but unfortunately never got released to the public. But, Kanye released “Yeezy Season 1”  on October 29, 2015, for the first time the public got to purchase and own the shoes. They got the name Yeezy from the nickname “Kanyeezy” that Jay-Z gave Kanye in an intro to a song the two made together called “Lucifer” in 2003. 

In 2019, Jordan’s sales skyrocketed from the year before. Many find this happening due to all of the “special edition” shoes they dropped that year that sneakerheads and shoe lovers had to own a pair. Special edition shoes are shoes that are in the market for a limited time and can resell double or triple than the original price. Sneakerheads like these shoes because they can make more money by selling the shoes and making a profit off of it. Also, Jordan was able to exceed their goal of making 4.7 billion dollars as the Jordan revenue goes up by 31%. The Jordan company sold a total of 17 million items just from eBay, which is just one of many sources you can purchase Jordan from. The shoes are a little more expensive than many would think but sneakerheads around the world are not worried about the price they are more interested in the background the show brings along with it. Sneakerheads are people who are very invested in shoes for multiple reasons. Some like the shoes because they can make more money reselling the shoe for more than the price they bought the shoe for, or because of the background the shoes have such as the Air Jordan 1 was his first shoe added to the collection of Jordan shoes.

 Along with Yeezy, the sales in 2019 were $1.5 billion. Which was 50% better than the sales in 2018 for the brand. The sales for Yeezy are significantly lower than the sales of Jordan in 2019 which shows how Jordan was dominating in sales in 2019. Yeezy only sold a total of $1.8 billion in the year 2019. Which was remarkably lower than the sales of Jordan throughout the year. In 2018, the price of a pair of Yeezys cost about $350. As time went on the price of a pair of the cheapest Yeezys in 2021 costs about $200. That is a $150 difference in a span of 3 years.

Jordan buyers prefer to wear their shoes because of the extra support and comfort the shoe gives them. The shoes also have high-quality materials built-in with the shoes such as Full-grain calfskin and premium leather uppers. Which is one of the reasons why the buyers would spend the extra money to own a pair. In the game of basketball, many hoopers would prefer Jordans because they trust that the shoes would give them the best overall performance. Not only for basketball but also for baseball. I personally used to wear Adidas baseball cleats to pitch in because I thought they would be the best to pitch in but this past year  I bought a pair of Jordan baseball cleats. After a full season of pitching in them, I do not prefer any other brand to wear from now on when I go on the mound to pitch. As of Yeezy, they do provide each shoe with great comfort but the materials used in the Yeezy 350 are made out of Primeknit which is a fabric that is easy to rip and tear apart after being used for a while or used for sports activities. Many buyers state that the shoes rip easily after they use them to cut quickly to change directions. After the shoes get holes in them the holes start to expand and get larger eventually making the shoes not wearable. The logos of the two brands is another reason why sneakerheads prefer Jordan. Yeezy and Adidas is just a plain jane logo as the Jordan logo is much cooler as it is a snapshot of Michael Jordan doing his signature dunk. 

After further review, the advantages and benefits of the origin, popularity, and design of Jordan shoes are better than Yeezy’s. The material, fabrics, and the designs used to create each Jordans are better than the foundation of Yeezys. It is also shown in the sales of Jordans that they are more popular and bought than Yeezys are.