(Lead image via Architectural Digest)
Yellow Nike SB 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.
Stefoy-les-lyonShops 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.
Stay tuned to Stefoy-les-lyonShops on Instagram as the story develops.