Fashion is Afoot
by Jason Yang
What is a sneakerhead, you may ask. What does that term represent in your community? How does it describe someone? Well… I am a sneakerhead and I am here to inform you on everything you may or may not need to know about the world of shoes, stretching from slides to sports to designer. Sure, this information could be deemed as useless and you wouldn’t be wrong for saying that, but what is unknown to most is that the past, present, and future of a pair of shoes can determine the value and values of not only the shoe but sometimes the owner as well.
Some say the history of sneakers being collectable fashion began with the famed Michael Jordan. Many people see him as the greatest basketball player of all time, but sneakerheads are more familiar with what was on his feet. Jordan is known as the creator of the Nike Air Jordan line of shoes, which is one of the most popular sneaker lines up to this day. His history with his footwear began with the Air Jordan One, in the Chicago Bulls colorway, which is the specific combinations of colors selected to appeal to the eye or have sentimental meaning. Back when he was in the NBA, there were strict regulations on the basketball shoes, one main rule being what colors were allowed on the shoe. The Jordan One broke a major rule which demanded that all shoes were to be mainly white, in order to match their jerseys. The Jordan One was a combination of a white outsole, red leather, and a famous black Nike Swoosh, which led to Mr. Jordan being fined $5,000 every time he showed up to his games wearing them.
But he kept on wearing the famed shoes and eventually creating more models up until the day he retired. His persistence, along with that of many others, led to the loosening of this rule, creating more opportunities for creativity from players and fans alike. Michael Jordan’s shoe line also recreated colorways in honor of his most famous events, and example being the Jordan 12 Flu Game, in honor of the day he showed up to a game with symptoms of the flu, and the Jordan 11 Space Jams, in honor of Space Jam, the movie starring Michael Jordan himself. Both shoes not only rose in popularity but their prices skyrocketed as well, showing how much effect Mr. Jordan had on the sneakerhead industry.
While the sneakerhead industry seems to find itself intertwined with basketball, it would be wrong to say it ends there. Another major component of famous sneakers would be music artists, one being the famed Kanye West. Though he is a major rapper, Mr. West, for my generation, is arguably more popular for his shoe line, the Yeezys. In 2009, he began his adventure with Nike, creating the Nike Yeezy One and eventually the Yeezy Two. But he wanted what Nike refused to give him. He wanted the type of popularity and fame that the Air Jordan received – he wanted the same status as Michael Jordan in the sneaker industry. But Nike had their resources edged towards athletes, not music artists. Due to his frustration, he left Nike in 2014 and signed with Adidas, creating the shoes envisioned by Kanye West.
Kanye’s first Yeezy with Adidas was his Yeezy 350s, in the Turtle Dove and Pirate Black colorways. The model was sleek, but comfortable, featuring the Adidas Boost foam, which is to this day the most comfortable cushion technology used by any brand of shoes. Here’s the Turtle Dove:
His first 350s gained popularity quickly, encouraging the artist to create more models, including the 500s, 700s, 750s, and many more. All of which were popular, and sneakerheads were quick to purchase, but they longed for the classic 350s. Kanye West realized what could be gained from having more 350s available, and created the Yeezy 350 V2, a new spin on the old shoe, nicknamed “The Tail Light”:
The 350 is now regarded as the most popular Adidas Yeezy and there seems to be a new colorway coming out each month, some being more popular than others. After Kanye West’s shoes gained the fame he had wanted, his old models with Nike became collector’s items just for the attention they brought to the seller, rising to jaw-dropping prices of over $9000 for the Yeezy Red October. Was this the type of fame that Kanye West was looking for, or does King Jordan remain untouchable? Questions like that are prone to starting not only arguments but fights as well, but what can I say, sneakerheads do love their shoes! Here’s the Red October:
While those two figures are known for inventing footwear classics from scratch, sometimes it isn’t necessary to start from scratch. The ability to re-invent certain shoes and increase profit relies on the popularity of the brand or person doing so. A perfect example of editing in the sneakerhead industry would be the famous Virgil Abloh.
A formerly trained architect, a designer brand entrepreneur, and a major name in the sneakerhead industry, Abloh is known as the creator of the objectively overpriced designer brand Off-White, notorious for inflating prices with a colorful little zip-tag on the shoe that declares the states of the shoe but is wrongfully removed by parents, being misunderstood as a price tag. Virgil Abloh has been known to raise prices of simple Nike classics by thousands of dollars in resale value just by changing the colors a little bit, adding some print on them, and slapping that famous Off-White tag on the shoelaces. Abloh took the Jordan 1 with a starting value of just a bit over $100, worked his magic, and created a $4000 shoe, 40 times the original price for resale. However, Virgil Abloh’s Off-White is not the only designer brand to reinvent classics. Other designers such as BAPE (Bathing-Ape) and Supreme have used the same type of trick for higher profit.
Bathing Ape:
Does this make sense? Sure, but does it make sense to buy? Arguably not. Yet some are still driven to add these sneakers to their collection. Driven by what you ask? I have no clue, but I don’t suggest asking either. Some may see such a question as an insult and we sure do not want that happening.
Though Kanye has enjoyed the attention from his fans sporting the Yeezys, he is not the only music artist to have shoes selling out in his name. It seems that another rising rapper has joined the sneaker industry. Travis Scott, a rapper with growing numbers of fans signed with Nike very recently. But instead of taking after Kanye and expressing his creativity, Travis took Abloh’s approach in reinventing already popular shoes. One could say that his most popular collaboration with Nike would be his Travis Scott Jordan One, the combination between basketball star and blown-up music artist:
It would be a tragedy and surprise if such a project were to fail. Now, sneakerheads all over the world look forward to Travis’s creations, and they always seem to sell out, no matter the way they look, because for many, it’s not the shoe that matters, it’s the clout that comes with it. After all, we’d be lying if we said we don’t do things to impress or please each other, and on top of that, the entire sneaker industry is based on looking nice!
When you think of the NBA’s top basketball players, who comes to mind? Sure, Michael Jordan is a prime example, but how about someone still playing? Does the name Stephen Curry ring a bell? Curry is one of the most high paid basketball players of 2020, but his shoe line has been a roller coaster of events. It all began in 2009 when Stephen Curry had been drafted to the Golden State Warriors. Four years later Curry was offered a 2.5 million dollar shoe deal with Nike in 2013, which is most definitely a lot of money but on the smaller side of the scale in comparison to other shoe deals with basketball players. It was at a meeting with Mr. Curry that Nike had failed to impress the aspiring star. On the day of the event, Curry had found himself disrespected by the company in a range of perceived violations, starting with pronouncing his name incorrectly to slide presentation errors. To Steph, this was Nike viewing him as “just another basketball player”. Stephen Curry had turned down this deal due to the disrespect. After this meeting, Under Armour offered him a four million dollar shoe deal, basically hoping to make him the face of Under Armour Basketball. Curry attended the meeting with UA and found himself being shown the respect that Nike overlooked. He was much more pleased with this offer and two years after signing, the Curry One was released. Each shoe designed to Curry’s specifications and playing style, and Steph was quite pleased with what he had. The company went on to create over seven more pairs for the star. Today, Curry represents the basketball gear of Under Armour.
Though it seems that Nike has been losing what could have been huge assets, they still remain at the top of the basketball equipment industry. Though they lost Stephen Curry, they still have several other athletes that do more than replace Steph. Nike has signed Lebron James on a 32 million dollar contract per year, and they are on the 17th model this year. Nike also signed a contract with Kyrie Irving for 11 million dollars a year and are on their 6th shoe this year. More recent deals include Paul George and Giannis Antetokoumpo for 5.5 million and 9 million. Each year Nike releases a new model for each athlete, designed to their own specifications and playing style. The young and aspiring athletes look up to these players, learning from each athlete, and choosing the shoe that fits them the best. Not only do the young athletes get a feel of what it is like to play in shoes that match the stars’, they also get some sort of a connection to their favorite players by sporting their idols’ shoes: the adrenaline they feel when they step onto the court and let their imagination flow freely, the feeling of dribbling past their opponents like Kyrie Irving, or the feeling of flying with Lebron’s jump. Here’s Kyrie Irving’s Flytrap:
