--- title: Internet Slams Golden Goose Shoes For Tape Controversy description: Golden Goose, a deluxe sneaker brand, is in hot water for featuring a $530 sneaker that are styled to look worn-out. canonical: https://time.com/5402192/golden-goose-sneakers/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-20T17:57:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:59.840Z og:title: People Are Not Fans of These $530 'Crumply' Sneakers og:description: Some don't think it's a good look og:url: https://time.com/5402192/golden-goose-sneakers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Are Not Fans of These $530 'Crumply' Sneakers twitter:description: Some don't think it's a good look twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # People Are Not Fans of These $530 'Crumply' Distressed Sneakers  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 20, 2018 5:57 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 20, 2018 5:57 PM UTC Italian luxury sneaker brand Golden Goose came under fire after it debuted a pair of $530 sneakers that are styled to look dingy and worn-out with duct tape accents that’s described on [Nordstrom’s website](https://shop.nordstrom.com/s/golden-goose-superstar-taped-sneaker-men/5029413?siteid=TnL5HPStwNw-7c0zzwU.88JtoQLX4BVV4g&utm%5Fsource=rakuten&utm%5Fmedium=affiliate&utm%5Fcampaign=TnL5HPStwNw&utm%5Fcontent=1&utm%5Fterm=593370&utm%5Fchannel=affiliate%5Fret%5Fp&sp%5Fsource=rakuten&sp%5Fcampaign=TnL5HPStwNw) as “crumply, hold-it-all-together tape.” The design is a riff on [the “distressed” fashion trend](http://time.com/4768796/maison-margiela-destroyed-sneakers/), but some shoppers think that the intentional wear and tear of a pair of brand-new sneakers is in poor taste, especially when seen in the context of those whose shoes look like that because of economic depression as opposed to a style trend. Some disgruntled shoppers took to social media to sound off on what they thought was a tone deaf fashion statement. Twitter user Christine Sydelko’s [tweet criticizing the footwear style](https://twitter.com/csydelko/status/1042508074374725632) was liked nearly 50,000 times as of Thursday afternoon. > [](https://twitter.com/b%5Fhecky/status/1042810028821020672) However, this isn’t the first time that the brand has been critiqued for its distressed styling; two years ago, Golden Goose was criticized for a similar style that featured ripped laces and stylized “duct tape.” At that time, the company gave the following statement to [_US Magazine_](https://www.usmagazine.com/stylish/news/golden-goose-responds-to-distressed-sneaker-controversy-w437661/): “\[Our\] company is proud to highlight its pioneering role in the booming of the distressed look, one of the current biggest trends in fashion,” the Venetian label said in a statement to _Us_ magazine. “The duct tape reinforcements appearing on the \[Superstar sneaker\] style pay homage to the West Coast’s skater culture — professional skaters, who have inspired the brand’s shoe collections from the beginning, repair their shoes with the same kind of tape.” Some other Twitter users also reiterated that the brand had been designing shoes like this for years. > [](https://twitter.com/BlackNorbit/status/1042719028236759040) > [](https://twitter.com/Jayhall09/status/1042776131043315712) > [](https://twitter.com/HessaAbul/status/1042808996128849920) Golden Goose did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment on this story. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5402192/golden-goose-sneakers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5402192/golden-goose-sneakers/"},"headline":"People Are Not Fans of These $530 'Crumply' Distressed Sneakers","datePublished":"2018-09-20T17:57:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:59.840Z","description":"Some don't think it's a good look","url":"https://time.com/5402192/golden-goose-sneakers/","keywords":["Newsfeed","fashion"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5402192/golden-goose-sneakers/","name":"People Are Not Fans of These $530 'Crumply' Distressed Sneakers"}}]}] ```