The New Normal: Comfort Over Formal (Article)

The New Normal: Comfort over Formal

BY SEDEF KALKAVAN

I wear classic black Converse. Sometimes I wear boots if the weather is cold or if I’m feeling confident. Sometimes I wear high heels if I’m going to a chic or formal event, but most of the time even in those situations, I manage to get by with sneakers because now, that’s the new normal. Different types of sneakers can be worn anywhere by anyone, even Vice President Kamala Harris wears Converse.

However, this wasn’t always the case. The transformation of day to day fashion occurred alongside the changing preferences of society. People started prioritising comfort and efficiency over formality, leading the fashion industry to respond. Even the most luxurious brands are producing sneakers to stay on top of the game. Are sneakers another demonstration of status and social acceptance or have they maintained their authenticity?

When you go to school, meet up with friends, or go on a date... what pair of shoes do you wear the most?

When they first came out, sneakers were only worn by tennis players. The first shoes to be considered sneakers were plimsolls, made in the 19th century. After plimsolls came the “Keds” made by the U.S Rubber company. However, because of their quiet nature stemming from their soft soles, sneakers quickly became infamous for being the shoes of burglars and sneaks, hence the name “sneakers”. This initial negative connotation makes their prominence today much more fascinating.

Basketball was what slowly made sneakers attractive to the world. The first sneakers for basketball were Converse All-Star Chuck Taylors designed by Charles Chuck Taylor, a semi-professional basketball player and a salesman at Converse. The design enhanced comfort and were the first celebrity-endorsed shoes exclusively marketed to sports players, soon to dominate the basketball industry. The sports industry was, by nature, the first to go through the transformation towards comfort and mobility. In order to win, sports players needed to move efficiently. It is worth noting that this was mostly thought to be valid for men. The first sneaker to ever be designed for women was released in 1925, although a heel was added to the bottom in order for it to not lose its aesthetic beauty and its femininity. Innovative comfort was primarily granted to males, whereas aesthetic norms were harder to break for women. In fact, up until 1982 sneakers were designed for men. Women who wanted to wear sneakers had to find their size in men’s designs like the Nike Cortez, the shoes that appeared in Back to the Future and were worn by Farah Fawcett.

Stealth and mobility were important for local sports but also carried a political context universally in the Olympics. The 1936 Berlin Olympics was one of the most relevant occasions demonstrating the political context of sneakers. In the 1920s, the sneaker industry had also grown in Germany. Adi and Rudi Dassler formed the

first athletic shoe company, the Dassler Brothers, which would later become two separate companies: Adidas and Puma. As a result of Adi Dassler’s efforts, in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, an African-American Olympic runner, Jesse Owens, raced in German-made shoes in front of Hitler. This was a very brave move not only for the athlete but also for Adi Dasler, who chose to promote his shoes, regardless of the possible political consequences. However, in a couple of years, winning wasn’t only for sports, winning was for war. Mobility, efficiency, stealth, were required for war and so, sneakers also started being used in training camps.

Hence, the athletic element of sneakers began to develop, but the most prominent entry of sneakers into the fashion and entertainment industries began in the 1950s with James Dean, the rebel without a cause. Other celebrities such as Farrah Fawcett and Mick Jagger also wore sneakers pushing the shoes to become fashion statements. Sometimes, even in entertainment, their political aspect came to the surface. For example, the African-American group, Run DMC started to bring out their cultural aspect. The word “sneaks” is associated with poor African-American communities and therefore, Run DMC wore Adidas shoes without laces as a reference to how laces of the shoes of inmates were taken out in order to prevent them from killing themselves. They even say in their song My Adidas: “I wore my sneakers but I ain’t no sneak.” However, the political context was concealed as people started wearing sneakers more for social status. Modern sneaker culture further developed through the production of Air Jordans by Nike in collaboration with the basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Air Jordans became an indication of high social status, like the Gatorade commercial said, “Be like Mike”. Air Jordans, although less of a social status demonstration, are still viewed as one of the most popular shoes, not because of their political context, nor their athletic element, but for their popularity in terms of social acceptance. In 2019, the Jordan

brand made $3.1 billion dollars in revenue for the financial year ending in May, largely due to the brand’s ability to transform a basketball shoe into daily wear.

Over time, sneakers were also normalized for women. The 1982 Reebok Freestyle model became the first sneaker to ever be designed for and marketed to women. In fact, the shoe that started its sale with 32.000 pairs, formed more than half of the sales of Reebok two years later, showing the increased demand for comfort in female footwear. Also, according to the data found by the NPD group, in 2017, in the United States, women’s sneaker sales went up by 37%, while high heel sales went down 10% in the month after the start of the Me Too Movement. Big companies started making sneakers for women because of the increasing demand. In 2018, Nike released a collection made by 14 female designers: for the first time Air Force 1 and Air Jordan 1 were redesigned for women. Sneakers, now more normalized, are worn by everyone from celebrities on the red carpet, in the office and even in the White House. Their widespread popularity has a long history in

sports, politics, the entertainment sector, and finally the fashion industry as they carved a place for themselves in non-luxurious and luxurious brands alike. Sneakers have shattered social norms as they were made readily available and attractive as a way of expressing identity and even displaying social status. A Gucci sneaker is very different from Adidas sneakers, but they both provide increased comfort than previously popular shoes and they are not very far from the vanity of the past as one might think. However, the comfort and laid back style of sneakers often conceal deeper meanings such as people’s need to showcase where they stand in society. Even Kamala’s converses shout: “I’m not a regular politician, I am one of the people.” Although sneakers are distant from the formalities of the past, we should continue to question their authenticity and sincerity which might have been lost throughout their transition.