Sneakerheads → By Aimee Clark (‘17) FEATURE
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Self-professed sneakerheads Nui Sabas and Ty Minatoya show off their favorite pairs of sneakers. Popular sneakers can cost anywhere from $100 to $2,000 in the resale market.
Hundreds of old and young sneakerheads have camped out in front of a store to wait for the release of a new shoe. They’ve come prepared with hundreds, even thousands, of dollars to buy as many shoes as they can in whatever size is available to resell or trade. According to Forbes, in 2015, the athletic footwear industry in the United States generated $17.2 billion in sales, and the industry continues to grow. One group of consumers driving this industry is sneakerheads, people who collect, trade, or appreciate sneakers as a hobby. To sneakerheads, shoes are not just another accessory for their outfit; it is a statement piece and sometimes holds sentimental value. It is commonly believed that the sneakerhead culture in the United States started in the 1980s because of the popularity of hip hop music and the release of Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan line of shoes in 1985. As hip hop artists started flaunting name brand sneakers, fans tried to duplicate their style. In 1986, Run–D.M.C. released a song called “My Adidas.” This iconic song led to the first endorsement deal in hip hop with Adidas. As interest in sneaker collecting grew, the resale values of popular or rare sneakers rose above their original prices. The resale and trading of sneakers soon became a lucrative business for many collectors. Senior Nui Sabas started collecting sneakers in his freshman year because he thought it was cool. Over the next few years, he spent more than $1,500 on sneakers and collected around 30 pairs of shoes. Sabas funded his sneaker purchases by saving his holiday money. He has since given up the hobby of collecting shoes because he now sees
PHOTOGRAPH BY AIMEE CLARK (‘17)
it as “kind of a waste of money.” His most expensive shoe—the Nike SB Dunk Diamond—cost him $275. But the shoe that holds the most sentimental value is his Air Jordan 4 “Military Blue”. He said, “They kind of remind me of my family or one of my family members. I’d rock my Military 4s.” Senior Ty Minatoya joined the sneakerhead club when he was in fifth grade. His love for basketball influenced his choice of sneakers, as well as the new colors and styles emerging. Minatoya’s most expensive shoe is the Nike LeBron 9 Elite “South Beach”, which go for around $500 to $600 on the resale market. But the pair that got him into sneaker collecting was his Kobe 5. When asked why the Kobe 5 were his favorite, he said, “It was a comfortable shoe to play [basketball] in, and the style was clean and crisp.” Although many sneakerheads enjoy collecting sneakers for themselves, most of them purchase sneakers for the resale value. Because of high demand for sneakers, even 12 year olds can make hundreds of dollars by reselling their shoes. Shoes that are deadstock—ones that have never been worn and are still in their original boxes—are worth the most in the resale market. Many sneakerheads never wear the shoes they buy with hopes maintaining the value of the shoe. Minatoya disagrees with this practice. He said, ”I always make sure to wear all my shoes because that’s what they’re meant for. They’re not meant to be just kept in a box or [as] a collectable. I think shoes are meant to be worn, and I think that’s what people should do.” Sabas agreed,