Legit Feet

“Sneakers”, just another name given to a pair of shoes, aren’t they? What’s the “WOW-FACTOR” about them? Why are people going bonkers about just a pair of sneakers and why do they want “to cop” them? Let me assure you, that sneakers in the sneaker culture are not just a pair of average shoes. The history behind it, from where it originated, and the thought, execution, manufacture are worth appreciation.

The birth of sneaker collecting, eventually creating the “sneakerhead” culture in the USA came in the late 1970s and went global by the 1990s. The two major sources for the sneaker culture were the basketball sport and hip-hop rap music. The boom of signature basketball shoes during that period provided the jaw-dropping amount of variety that was required for a subculture of collecting sneakers, while the hip-hop movement gave sneakers their reputation of being status symbols. Shoes that have the most value are usually limited and have specific colour schemes, which may be rarer compared to others, inflating desirability and value-based demands. But the graph sheet went higher because of the emergence of Michael Jordan’s collaboration with Nike and his legendary “Air Jordan” line of shoes released in 1985. Air Jordan 1’s was the first Jordan shoe manufactured and is still in production. Air Jordan 1 has collaborated with so many clothing brands like Dior, Off-white moving on to football clubs like Paris Saint-German, to Spiderman.

The rap culture has added its element to sneaker manufacturing too. Several rappers have composed raps about sneakers and also have started their own line of sneakers promoting the product. Rappers like Jay-Z and 50cent signed endorsement contracts with Reebok and increased the brand value so much that everyone believed that —given the right design and the right person, a rapper could carry a successful signature shoe. Similarly, Kanye West is carrying his own line of shoes namely the “Yeezy”. Currently idolized rapper Travis Scott, too, has his own collaborations with Nike Jordan’s and Air Force One.

Sneakers are clearly here to stay because of a simple truth: people are willing to drop a good amount of money on quality, fashionable sneakers, their saga being “So many shoes but only two feet”. Men and women alike are increasingly throwing out their fancy loafers and heels for a more leisure-inspired look because they now believe “LIFE ISN'T PERFECT, BUT YOUR SHOES CAN BE”.