Vanessa Bryant, wife to late basketballer Kobe Bryant has called out Nike for releasing 'Mambacita' shoes without notifying her.
Vanessa said she custom made the shoes to pay tribute to her husband Kobe and daughter Gigi following their death last year in a plane crash.
"It appears someone already has Gigi’s MAMBACITA shoe in their possession. If someone can share how they have these shoes in their possession, that would be great because my daughters and I don’t have any of Gigi’s MAMBACITA shoes." she wrote
In an Instagram post, she explained that she had not renewed Kobe's contract with the company.
Image: Courtesy
"This is a shoe I worked on in honor of my daughter, Gianna. It was going to be called the MAMBACITA shoe as an exclusive black and white colorway on her daddy's shoes. I picked the colors in honor of her uniform, the number 2 she wore just like her uniform, the inside pattern, Kobe and Gigi on the back in gold instead of Kobe's signature, the inside shoe details (butterfly, wings, halo), etc. The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale. I wanted it to be sold to honor my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefitting our @mambamambacitasports foundation but I did not re-sign the Nike contract and decided not to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place). Nike has NOT sent any of these pairs to me and my girls. I do not know how someone else has their hands on shoes I designed in honor of my daughter, Gigi and we don't. I hope these shoes did not get sold. @nike." Vanessa wrote
According to Vanessa, she decided not to sell these shoes that she designed and then she saw what's happening and that broke her.
