Tuesday, July 28, 2009

LA Lights


Whenever I'm shopping for practical, functional sneakers for my imaginary children, I always think to myself, "Wouldn't these be better with some sort of poisonous substance in them? Maybe we could line them with some cushy asbestos or inject a teeny syringeful of arsenic. Just a little something to up the ante on the excitement of wearing stylish, dangerous footwear."

I can only imagine my parents were thinking the same thing when they caved to my endless pleas and purchased me my very own pair of LA Lights. They wouldn't even let me touch the glass thermometer and always seemed a bit concerned I may take to munching on the paint chips from our basement window, but they seemed happy enough to buy me a light-up sneaker chock-full of good old fashioned mercury. Granted, they may not have known of the risk at the time, but I have my suspicions. After all, they let me lick all of those recalled lead-painted Happy Meal toys, didn't they?

LA Gear was a popular brand of athletic shoes, boasting endorsements from the likes of Michael Jackson, Wayne Gretzky, Paula Abdul, Kareem Abdul Jabar, and Joe Montana. In the 80s and 90s LA Gear churned out signature style sneakers marketed to both the athletic and fashion conscious, capitalizing on their celebrity endorsements and placement in high-end department stores to boost their image and project an elite manner of sneaker snobbery.


During the company's pre-light era (circa 1990), MJ danced in his LA Gear sneaks

In 1992, they introduced an innovative design concept that undoubtedly endeared them to children on the virtue of sheer novelty and value to the easily entertained. The concept was simple but new: light-up sneakers. It's a well-known fact that children are big fans of simple visual stimuli, and these shoes were no exception. With each contact of the shoe-wearer's heel to the ground, the shoe would emit a flash of colored light. The inevitable oohing and ahhing was certain to make you the talk of the playground. These babies weren't so great for sneaking up on people, but they certainly were, ahem, flashy.



The shoes were comfortable as any sneaker but with every step, a burst of red LED light would flash from your heel. A a child, this was really the ultimate footwear victory. Suddenly, your shoes were not merely a functional piece of clothing but rather a legitimate novelty item to amuse and distract your classmates. In their own way, LA Lights were hypnotizing; watch a wearer walk away and you became mesmerized by the glowing flashes of light emanating from their shoes.

These light-up shoes unfortunately had a dark side as well. Unbeknownst to us as innocent children, the substance activating that little LED light was indeed mercury, a toxic element that could induce adverse effects on those in contact with it. Let's be real here: the actual tangible threat of mercury in our sneakers was pretty low. After all, it was handily encased in multiple layers of solid plastic. Unluckily for LA Gear, neither the plastic nor its corresponding argument of safety were solid enough to ward off the Cautious Cathys among us.

And so it went. Just as these sneakers had bounded into our hearts and lit up our lives, so fleetingly did they pass. Parents and watchdog groups weren't particularly keen to the idea of a poisonous compound seeping into children's heels with every blinking step they took. Environmentalists in my home state of Minnesota were among the first to take action against the well-intentioned LA Lights parent company, LA Gear.



LA Gear settled with the Minnesotan group with both a financial agreement and by establishing a mail-in program to safely recycle and dispose of the hazardous elements of the shoes. I can remember that day we mailed in my shoes and I said goodbye to those twinkling lights forever. As a child, I was not particularly concerned with the environmental or toxicity implications but more that I was forced to replace my beloved LA Lights with a crappy pair of white Stride Rites. Traumatic, indeed.

The manufacturers changed from a mercury to an inertial switch, but their product image had been tarnished and the brand was in decline. In 1995, the company made an agreement for their products to be sold in Wal-Mart stores, a rebranding effort that diminished LA Gear's hard-earned upmarket image. Sales dropped and by the late 90s LA Gear took action toward bankruptcy.

While our 90s pal LL Cool J might tell us not to call it a comeback, LA Gear has taken serious strides* toward reestablishing their brand. LA Gear is bringing back many classic styles including the beloved lights line sans toxic liquid innards. Yes, you heard right. Your present and/or future children too can relive the magic of LA Lights. In fact, just a few days ago LAgearnews.com posted the following sneak peak at the new light-up LA Gear sneakers:



I know, I know, it's too dark to get a real handle on the detailing, but just use your imagination. After all, if a sneaker company can find a way to use poisonous chemicals to bring joy into the lives of easily amused children, the least you can do is find it in your hearts to be impressed with this tease of a promo.



*please excuse this shoe joke

29 comments:

  1. I'm not ashamed to admit I owned these.

    Judge away.

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  2. I was always jealous of kids who had shoes that lit up. So unfair.

    And you licked Happy Meal toys? Haha!

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  3. Oh I've always loved the lighted shoes! I bought some for my little cousin once and he just thought they were the coolest. At first he kept looking back as he walked and almost fell over!

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  4. Ohhh light-up shoes! Coolest things ever! My nephew still has a pair, haha!

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  5. They were the coolest at night or just before dusk when you would see the streaking patterns. Thanks for bringing me back to happier times.

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  6. I owned three pairs of these..*hung head in shame*

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  7. lol I wanted these so bad! I DID have the la gears with the flowers that changed color in the sun though, so I shouldn't complain!

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  8. have you done a hypercolor post yet?!!

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  9. these shoes were the bomb. i had my with mis-matched colored laces!

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    1. Let me guess. You grew up in LA? Those were a major no go in NY. We all had to wear the same Jordan's he was playing in at the time

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  10. I so wanted a pair of these back in the day, but sadly my parents couldn't afford them. I did have some rockin' pink, neon green and purple LA Gear high tops though...

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  11. What are you saying? These wouldn't be cool to wear now as ADULTS???

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  12. These + high top reeboks (the multi-colored ones) + keds were my JAM back in the day.

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  13. I was one of the hundreds in my school who owned LA gear shoes.

    I remember one time we had a tornado drill in the basement and they killed the lights before my class got to the appropriate hiding place. We found it by following the blinking lights of the kids in front of us.

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  14. I had these...omg I want to die now. haha! Once my "lights" stopped working and I cried.

    your posts always have me laughing outloud...

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  15. Oh my goodness- I SO had these! I wanted to have the pink ones but my Mom thought they were too "flashy" for a little girl so she made me get the black ones from the boys department!!! I was mortified so I never ever wore them! Great post, as always :)

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    1. You had to be living in LA to even dare wear these without some serious repercussions at the playground

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  16. "mom, can I PLEASE get some LA Lights shoes, they are so cool!"

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  17. I loved mine. I think almost every kid in my class had some. Honestly, I still think they're pretty cool! haha

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  18. Heck ya, those were great.

    I was shopping for pink cowboy boots for my daughter and they have them with lights. Little Kids cowboy boots with lights in the heels. I admit I did not point these out to my children and teach them the joy of the lights. Regular shoes... sure. Cowboy boot... not so much. but it was funny to see.

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  19. My mom wouldnt spring for these I had british kights bk's. I did have a pair of black and pink la gears though that were bitchin. I still laugh when i watch old episods of cops with the guy running through the woods in the dark , but they were able to follow him because of his light up shoes. Classic!

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    1. Hahaaaa o man u so right . Cops get him follow the lights. In NY though it was all about the shoe Jordan was playing in at that time. Any other shoe was considered trash .meanwhile 30 if us wearing the same exact shoe was cool to us. Smh so sad

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    2. Parents just don't understand. We wanted nikes they comn home with sykes

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  20. Elizabeth, I remeber kids getting real but hurt at lunch when they quit working usually one at a time you would be smaking it trying to make it work. hahahaha

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  21. Speaking of British Knights, remember BK Ratch Tech? Hello, 6th grade envies.

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  22. I loved every moment wearing my L.A. Lights.

    I'm also not ashamed to admit that I'm 27 and I own a pair of Sketchers Hot Lights. I'm the 'coolest kid on the playground' when I'm picking up groceries or walking around the office. Eeehehehehee I'll never grow up!

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  23. All I know is in the 90s if u weren't Rocking anyg other than the Shoe Jordan was playing in you were getting made fun of. Whole crews wearing 20-30 pairs of the same exact shoe. & we thought we were the cool ones lmao. But yeh these LA lights were never a go in New York. Definitely in LA tho. Hence LA lights!

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