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At this point, shoppers who want to buy Kanye merch or Rihanna's furry shower slides or pretty much anything from Supreme understand that waiting in lines for hours is a given.
But Adidas stores in Thailand are upping the ante for the brand's latest sneaker launch. Mashable reports that Thai shoppers are not only already lining up for the region's new NMD release on Saturday, but they are being required to wear at least three pieces of Adidas to get their hands on the shoes.
Adidas posted on its Thailand Facebook page that NMD shoppers must show up wearing a full outfit of Adidas Originals pieces, and for some reason sandals don't count. This rule is causing some controversy, with one user calling it "insulting."
In Singapore, Adidas stores aren't requiring shoppers to wear Adidas in order to buy NMD sneakers.
Racked reached out to Adidas about the policy in Thailand stores, but PR reps didn't respond immediately for comment. Complex noted that perhaps the Adidas uniform rule was related to a melee that broke out in February at a Thailand mall over an Adidas sneaker launch.
Still, aren't fans already showing loyalty to a brand by giving up a small chunk of their life to wait in line — or pay someone big bucks to do so? The idea that a brand requires a specific line-sitting outfit on top of, y'know, the actual line-sitting seems like an extreme escalation of what's already a hype-driven launch culture that requires a lot of consumers.
But hey, if you're that passionate about Adidas that you'd give up several days in line, you could probably easily come up with three pieces to wear, right?