You’ve got to give it to Opel, its latest ad campaign is… eye-catching. The car maker has partnered with local shoe company Bathu to create a limited edition pair of kicks called the GSi Limited Edition Sneaker. Aside from their luminescent yellow hue, what makes the shoes special is that there are only 80 pairs of them, they cost R365,900 a pair, and they come with a new Opel Corsa GSi (which you can get in four colours, not just a matching yellow).
Bathu was founded by Theo Baloyi in 2015 in Alexandra, Johannesburg and now boasts four stores and 36 staff. The company spent a year and a half designing its footwear before bringing it to market.
With tongue firmly in cheek, Opel’s calling the Bathu GSI sneakers “the world’s most expensive sneaker”, and says the buyers won’t just get “foot comfort and uniqueness,” but with the accompanying Opel Corsa GSi they can look forward to “[d]ynamic, sporty design features and agile OPC sport suspension and brakes as set up on the legendary Nürburgring ‘Nordschleife distances’ to ensure precise athleticism, outstanding and agile handling and sudden braking”.
Heated Recaro performance front seats and a sports steering wheel, “outstanding throttle response and torque, OPC exterior and interior features PLUS superior connectivity, safety, innovation and economy,” round out the package. But who cares when you can have bright yellow takkies, right? Right.
We’ve got to admit, we rather like the sneakers. But, notwithstanding the price, sadly we don’t have room in the garage for the Opel. We might just have to see if we can get them on their own.
