Random Blog Post 2- The Death of Sneaker Culture
My love for sneakers started when I was in middle school, when the pinnacle of my fashion was an Abercrombie and Fitch shirt that was two sizes too small, Tommy Bahama cargo shorts, and worst of all Skecher shape-ups. The shoes that every suburban mother of two had to work out their glutes while wrangling their kids in the grocery store- and I was relentlessly bullied for them, so I started looking at shoes. I fell in love with Air Jordans, I could recite every model up to the twentieth, who designed them, and their backstories. For example, the Air Jordan 5 draws inspiration from World War 2 fighter planes and their jagged shark teeth livery, and the 15's tongue paid homage to Jordan's iconic tongue out dunk, and how the 12's flu-game color way commemorates MJ's 38-point performance in game 5 while having the flu. I could talk about these sneakers for hours and hours!
So I saved, I skipped school lunches, I did chores, I scrounged up birthday and Christmas money until I had $200. I waited until the release of the Air Jordan 11 Gamma Blue, I convinced my dad to drop me off at a mall at 3AM in the morning, and I stood in line. It felt better than Christmas morning to me, and in the line with me were people who were just as excited. The doors opened and we all shuffled in biting our lips, hoping that our size would be left by the time we got to the register. Finally, I went up and asked for a size 10.5 men- I held my breath and winced as if I was about to get slapped across the face- and when I opened my eyes they placed the shoebox in front of me. I quickly handed them the $200 in ones and fives and ran out with them. The day I got those sneakers is still one of my fondest memories to this day.
Now, more than a decade later, that same energy is gone. Scalpers flooded the market and bought up all the shoes. The lines that used to be waiting in front of Champs and Foot Locker are now all replaced with online raffles in apps. The "sneakerhead" community feels like it evaporated overnight- and Air Jordans sit on walls neglected. No one cares anymore, and that kills me. I hope one day the culture will revive, but for now I'll keep on quietly collecting.
Hi Brandon! I found your post very interesting and entertaining. I enjoyed reading about how into the sneaker culture you were. It was a huge movement that fell off -- sometimes I think about trends I've seen cycle and it makes me feel grown up (lol). I had a minor sneaker phase in high school, and I still have my shoes though I rarely reach for them now.
ReplyDeleteHi Brandon, thanks for sharing your perspective on shoe culture and your stance within the sneakerhead community. I agree that resale items have surged in recent years. I remember entering lotteries on the Nike app just for a chance to buy the shoes I wanted at retail. Otherwise, I’d have to turn to StockX and pay an unreasonable premium.
ReplyDeleteHey Brandon, Love this. This is a nostalgic for me as well, I remember buying my first pair of shoes by myself and they were white Ultra Boosts. Its a shame that the hype in the shoe market is so dry right now because that was fun in middle and high school, competing against everyone else on the SNKRs app to get a pair of shoes I really wanted.
ReplyDeleteHey Brandon! A lot of my friends are really into shoes and have had a lot of the same experiences you talked about above. It's super unfortunate how all these brands have moved to online systems, making it pretty much impossible to ever get the shoe when they first drop. I hope one day they go back to how things used to be!
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