Welcome all to O Four and its first official video! In this, and all subsequent articles, you’ll find my (and O Four’s) opinion on all the latest footwear, gadgets, and accessories. This is also our way of communicating with you guys and hearing what you would like to see most. Feel free to follow O Four on Insta (@ofourme) and myself – Kareem – at @ofour_reviews. O Four strives to give you the latest products and all the information to make the most educated purchase.

 

Speaking of educated purchases, how sure are you that the Yeezys you’ve bought are legitimate? I mean, you really wanted them but didn’t want to drop a bunch of cash on those Yeezy Boost 350 v2 Zebras, right? Well, in today’s video, we’ll be talking about how to tell the difference between a fake pair of Yeezys vs an original. We chose to look at the Zebras because, well to be honest, they’re my favorite pair (so far). Click on the video to watch the comparison, or if you’d rather not hear my voice, you can read along here.

 

A decent replica would fool the untrained eye, but after watching/reading this, you will be able to spot a fake easily… hopefully you won’t be putting your friends on blast for their “lucky purchase of discounted Yeezys”.

 

Let’s start with the box. In the video, you’ll see (hopefully) a slight difference in the color. The original isn’t your average cardboard color; rather, there’s a slight green tint to it. The fake one looks like straight up cardboard that you’d buy from a U Haul store or something.

 

On the box, take a look at the branding. Make sure the 350 faces the right way, and make sure the lettering on the box actually fits the space. On the fake box, the lettering is smaller, less bold, and doesn’t take up the full amount of allocated space. Compare that to the real and you’ll be able to spot the fake at first glance.

 

Now, time to open the box… Look at the packaging! Yeezys come with specific paper wrapping to protect the shoes. The fake pair we found actually did a good job on getting the right paper, so you have to make sure you don’t assume it’s real just based off one thing they did right.

 

Remove the paper and take a look at the shoe itself. Well, actually, do something else first – sniff it. You read that right – take a whiff of that shoe (INHALES)

With the original, it’ll smell like just a plain unworn shoe. With the fake, or at least the one we got, it smelled like a plastics factory. Seriously. If I were to close my eyes, it reminded me of an inflatable pool toy; like an inflatable donut or water wings… gross. OK, clear out your nostrils now. I promise you won’t have to smell anything anymore.

 

Now let’s look at any obvious flaws. With the fake, the most obvious issue was the frayed stitching (stitching that’s coming apart) all over the shoes. In the video we only looked at the left shoe, but on the right as well, you’ll find frayed stitching all over. Original Yeezys shouldn’t have that. You are right to expect top quality products from Adidas, so if you see anything blatantly wrong, that’s a red flag and you should look for other telltale signs of flaws.

 

Another easy thing to checkout is the actual stitching. From the toe of the shoe and down the middle to the back, there’s a pattern of Xs and     s. They’re meant to be consistent and uniformed. Neither shape should be larger or smaller than the others and they should all be stitched tightly. On the fake, it was perfect! Yeah, no I’m messing… it was loose, the sizes were all over the place, and the tail end of the line was barely stitched together to begin with.

 

The Yeezy Boost 350 v2 Zebra was one of the most highly anticipated design from Adidas. Not only for its color and design, but also for the traditional Yeezy Boost shape of the sole of the shoe. There is a very specific curvature of the sole where the indentation is lower  on the sole. That may be the most obvious sign of an original or a fake. In the video, you’ll see the fake has a very different curve – it’s more of a rounded edge – than what the original should look like. On top of everything, the fake we got our hands on wasn’t even the same color! The fake sole color was a pure clear/creamy white as opposed to the yellowish/beige-tone that it should be.

 

Lastly, look at the heel tab (the flap on the back side of the shoe). An original Yeezy Boost’s heel tab would be matted, but in the fake we have, it’s quite reflective and glossy. That is another CLEAR indication of the authenticity of the shoes.

 

So, now you know what to look for when you’re shopping for Yeezys. Don’t always trust a major discount or sale on shoes of any type – especially highly sought after shoes. But you can always trust O Four to carry REAL products 😀

In the future, expect more footwear articles and videos. We’ll also be reviewing all the latest and hottest gadgets on the market. We’ll include accessories and other smaller items as quick reviews.

 

I hope this was informative and if there is any other footwear you’d like us to do a similar video, or just a basic review on, please feel free to hit us up on Instagram (@ofourme) and follow me directly at @ofour_reviews to keep up with all future reviews.

You can also check out the website at www.ofour.com or drop us a line at [email protected]. Thanks, everyone!

 

Kareem Hamwi