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(Lead image via Architectural Digest)
Accusations from former Tom Sachs employees have surfaced as the longtime Nike collaborator has allegedly created a hostile work environment within his studio, according to a recently published story by Curbed.
Sachs, who has partnered with Nike since the 2012 release of the NikeCraft Mars Yard 1.0, is being accused of the cult-like culture of his studio with former employees feeling unsafe — both physically and emotionall from sexually inappropriate comments to verbal abuse, and more.
“He talked to me about women all the time,” a former studio manager told Curbed. Additionally, when Sachs found out about one administrative employee’s living situation, he allegedly asked if she was “fucking all of [her] roommates”; another time, he told her she was “lucky to live in a day and age when curves and butts are in fashion.”
Sachs repeatedly made comments about women and their body types in an insensitive and misogynistic manner.
Excerpt from Curbed:
“He pointed to me and was like, ‘See, this is what we call a “shiksa goddess.” This is what we call Daddy’s type.’ He said that kind of shit all the time.” (Sachs’s studio says this was a joke.) Another young female studio member says she was afraid to be alone in the studio at night with him. He called a storage room in the basement the “rape room”; in 2016, he changed it to the “consent room.”
Sachs reportedly also made remarks that reinforced the cult-like culture of the studio.
“This is a cult. If you want to leave, we don’t want you. There’s a million of you,” he allegedly exclaimed at a studio assistant.
In the story, Sachs has been accused of throwing objects at employees when upset, calling employees “autistic,” walking around the studio naked, and even taking a Zoom call with Nike in his underwear.
Sachs and Nike unveiled the latest installment in the NikeCraft partnership in June 2022 with the launch of the General Purpose Shoe line — a “collaboration that creates new perspectives on serving the future of athletes and sport,” according to Nike’s announcement of the NikeCraft GPS series.
Nice Kicks has reached out to Nike for comment. At the time of publication, a statement has not been issued. The story will be updated if a statement is made.
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