Combat Sports Fashion: Kendall Jenner’s Taekwondo Shoes Expose the Real Issue
When Kendall Jenner posted herself wearing Adidas Taekwondo sneakers, traditional martial artists erupted: cultural appropriation, disrespect, Instagram posing. But here’s the complicated truth about combat sports fashion crossing into mainstream: taekwondo has a visibility problem, and someone with 290 million followers wearing your gear is a bridge whether purists like it or not. The economics matter – more sales mean better gear for practitioners. Yet there’s legitimate concern about combat sports becoming pure aesthetics, reducing fighting tradition to costume jewelry. Within five years, we’ll see massive combat sports fashion collaborations with traditional martial arts. The question: will brands connect fashion to function, or just extract aesthetics while ignoring substance?