How To Tell If Your adidas Yeezy 350 Boosts Are Real or Fake (2024)

Don't get burned when buying the summer's hottest shoe.

by Brandon Richard

There's no hotter sneaker on the market right now than the adidas Yeezy 350 Boost. Kanye West's latest design officially released in late-June, instantly sold out and is re-selling for no less than 5 times the retail price.

Before Kanye inked a deal with adidas, sneakerheads didn't have much to be concerned with when it came to counterfeit 3-Stripe branded product. But that all changed with Yeezys, and the 350 is one of the most reproduced adidas shoes to date.

Below is a step-by-step guide to assist you in seeing the differences between an authentic pair and a knockoff, broken down by @Fake_Education.

Heel-Tab

Fake Education: "First, in the highlighted green area, you see on the unauthorized pair the heel-tab is placed a lot further away from the ankle collar."

Toe Stitching

Fake Education: "The black stitching pattern going up the middle from the midsole on the unauthorized is just adisaster. On the retail real pair, you can see that there is a clear pattern that looks like an "X" and then a square —and it repeats."

Insoles

Fake Education: "The writing on the insole of the unauthorized is white, which is incorrect. It'sblack on the real pair. Also, the wording runs in the opposite direction on the unauthorized."

Bottom of the Insoles

Fake Education: "The underside of the insoles are completely different on the unauthorized."

YZY

Fake Education: "The 'YZY'is massive on the unauthorized. The font is tremendously larger. Easy to spot."

Trefoil

Fake Education: "The adidas logo is super-sized on the unauthorized."

Size Tag

Fake Education: "Inside size tag says 'Sample'on the unauthorized,which is incorrect."

Footbed

Fake Education: "When you remove the insoles, this is what you see. Notice the retail pair has a black strip going thru the middle, while the unauthorized has exposed stitching."

Box

Fake Education: "The unauthorized box is all wrong."

BEWARE!

UPDATE There is a new "fixed" Unauthorized Yeezy Boost low in production now. I was told they will not be ready and on the market for 15 days. As soon as they are I will be doing a new comparison. This pair here is a sample of the new unauthorized from the supplier of @perfectkicksnet So my comparison is still relevant and useful. The updated comparison will be a tough one, these look VERY VERY real.
A video posted by Real VS Fake Kicks (@fake_education) on Jun 29, 2015 at 7:22am PDT

Fake Education: "The wew unauthorized 350 Boosts come with the correct box now. Stay tuned for the updated comparison."