The 1st series of Air Wovens were hand-made and released in limited quantities in small boutiques, such as Rivington Club and ReadyMade(now HeadPorter). That was also the pre-cursor of the shoe boutiques that we've come to know today.
Needless to say, black market sales of Wovens shot up astronomically. Anticipation and the rush to be the first to be seen with these kicks were high. As we've seen with all limited edition sneaks, that throws wide open the door to immitation.
Take a look at the comparison between the Real and Fake wovens. The one on the LEFT (black with red stripe)is REAL while the FAKE is on the RIGHT (white with olive stripe). The Fakes have an almost 80% resemblance to the Real thing. The shape is almost spot-on, but with a wider ankle opening, bigger tongue tab and a slightly odd-looking toe box area most of the time.
Notice that the Fake (white) has a wider tongue tab compared to the Real (black). It doesn't flow with the overall shape of the shoe compared to the Real shoe. The Nike swoosh is also out of shape.
Shoe Tage of REAL Woven
Shoe Tag of FAKE Woven
Notice that the production dates on the Tags differ. The Real Woven has a production date of "00" denoting the year 2000 while the Fake pair has "98" denoting 1998. Wovens were not even produced in 1998!
LEFT - REAL RIGHT - FAKE
Take a look at the soles of the wovens. The Fake woven uses cheap plastic-based rubber, which is very hard and unsuitable for shock absorption. It also becomes slippery in wet conditions.
The Real Woven uses patented "Phylon" rubber for the outsole, which is able to absorb shock, and retains grip in wet conditions.
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