Opinion: is it really worth footing the bill for designer sneakers?

Go ahead and scoff at my knock-offs, but cheap sneakers make sense, writes Yolisa Mkele

Last year I made what I thought was a smart decision. Faced with wading through December in sneakers that looked like they'd been fished from a skip, or forking out R10-million for a pair of name-brand sneakers, I opted for something in between: a R99 pair of imitations that vaguely resembled the name brand I had my eye on.

Now, the good folks at fashion magazines have spent so much time extolling the virtues of brand-name clothing that we take it as gospel that expensive is better. After all, they allegedly last longer and have the added benefit of prestige. But December, and the penny pinching that follows, has turned me into a brand agnostic where sneakers are concerned and here's why:

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IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?

Eighteen months ago, I bought a pair of Nike running shoes thinking they would turn me into the next Mo Farah. It was love at first fitting. They felt as though 100 cherubs with foot fetishes were hugging my hooves. They cost R1,500 and lasted about 18 months.

Their replacements were a reasonably sexy pair of unknowns from Mr Price that cost R99 on sale. If worn as often as their predecessors my knock-offs have no chance of seeing 18 months, but the beauty is that at R99 I could buy 15 pairs for the same price as one pair of Nikes. Sure, I'm now walking on what feels like slightly used pillows, but they are not 15 times less comfortable and I'm fairly optimistic that 15 pairs of cheapys will last more than a year and a half.

MOST PEOPLE STRUGGLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

Unless you hang around with Señor Fashion MacFashionable, there's a good chance that everyone will look at your feet and politely remark what nice shoes you have. They may struggle to place what stable they come from, but that adds to your air of mystery.

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YOU'RE NOT AS INVESTED

Shelling out a vast amount of money for shoes invariably puts you on a constant state of high alert. The floor is littered with dangerous and dirty things that all seem to want your podiatric demise.

This is why fights start when someone steps on your fancy shoes. When your outlay is minimal, however, the world becomes a whimsical place in which shards of glass and muddy puddles are mere jungle gyms in the playground of life.

WHERE THIS ALL FALLS APART

Firstly, the Adidas NMDs are the Helen of Troy of the sneaker world and all posers look like one-eyed ogres that have just been fished out of a fire in comparison.

There will also come a day when you'll find yourself surrounded by people who have an encyclopedic knowledge of Nike Air Force Ones that dates back to 1998. These people will smell your knock-offs before you walk into the room and laugh like hyenas on nitrous oxide. If you have a thick skin, you will only cry on the inside.

• This article was originally published in The Times.