South African officials confiscate fake sneakers in raid

Several people were arrested in a raid on foreign-owned shops that were selling counterfeit sneakers. On May 21 a multi-agency operation between the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation ( or as they are colloquially known, the “Hawks” ), Polokwane Tatical Response Team (TRT), Musina Police and custom officials from the Beit Bridge border post raided four shops that were selling the illegal goods. Hawks Spokesperson Captain Matimba Maluleke said members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation received a tip about four foreign-owned shops that were selling counterfeit goods. Captain…

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Asics using robots to produce sneakers faster

Asics plans to institute a myriad of robots to a plant in Japan that will allow the company more quickly respond to ever-changing consumer trends and ultimately get its shoes on store shelves faster. Next spring up to a third of the production a factory in Tottori Prefecture will be automated. The robots will stitch the upper to the sole and will be used for the Onitsuka Tiger line and for walking shoes. This automation process will cut in half the number of workers needed. To keep labor costs under…

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Chronicle Aims to take High Tech Swing at Tackling Fake Sneakers

Fake sneakers are the nemesis of those who look to purchase kicks on the secondary market. This thorn in the side of sneaker culture has evolved to the point where in some cases, it’s difficult to differentiate the fake from authentic kicks. A company called Chronicled is taking an interesting approach to doing something about that. Their idea is to make an open-source, distributed and decentralized ledger of sneakers and luxury and other collectible goods. Chronicled has raised $3.2 million in seed funding to further its ongoing development of its…

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