The Significance of Sneaker Culture in Contemporary Society
Before I make eye contact, I make sneaker contact. Everyone has a hobby that their interested in whether it's clothes, cars, bikes, or even food. But one of the most popular hobbies that are sweeping the world that is starting to trend is the sneaker culture. The sneaker culture that this generation is taking by storm is called Sneakerheads. Sneakerheads are people who are obsessed with sneakers and collect the most popular ones. There are many factors why people buy sneakers, but the main influential and considerable reasons why are because of basketball, rappers, designers, kids, and movies/TV shows. From the beginning, the basketball era had an impact on people from around the world. Now when most young people think about basketball they think about what sneakers are going to collaborate with it. Basketball started the sneaker culture slowly from the most iconic basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. "Michael not only wanted his shoes to be famous on the court but off it as well. The first Air Jordan was the Air Jordan III, this Air Jordan is famous for implementing elephant print on a basketball shoe, as well the first Air Jordan to have the famous Jumpman logo and a visible air unit. This style of design made it so that the Air Jordan would be seen as a shoe that you could wear while playing ball, but also as casual dress wear for the urban kid or teen. This design process would evolve with every new Air Jordan released every season. This always ensured that Air Jordan's would always remain in style, as they still do to this day" (CJ).
After, Penny Hardaway came out with the Foamposite sneakers and this also changed the sneaker culture for the better. With the sneaker having an army like shield foam-fitting. The soles are icy and clear with real carbon fiber inside, so you can see thru to the carbon fiber. Later, came Shaq with his brand from Reebok. These didn't sell as much when they came out at first, but once he changed up the design these sneakers started to sell more and more because they were cheap and looked somewhat like Air Jordan's. Now you got players like Stephen Curry coming up with sneakers to sell, which just started to get popular because he is now classified as an all-star player by the young fans. Also, there are Air Jordan's for basketball teams like the Air Jordan Raptors 6's has the Raptor's jersey colors on the sneakers. Also, the Air Jordan Knicks 1's has the Knicks' jersey colors on the sneakers as well. In addition, one factor that influences the sneakers culture is rappers. Depending on whom the sneakers are by, and which rapper collaborated with the design of it. For instance, Kanye West is one of the rappers who changed sneakers for the better with his collaboration with Nike. His brand with Nike Yeezy's swept the world of Sneakerheads. And now with his collaboration with Adidas Yeezy's more and more sneakerheads spend thousands and thousands of dollars for the model Yeezys. Also, the rapper DJ Khaled made the sneaker culture wake up with his bright colors and crazy colors he chooses. But one of the most famous and most iconic rappers of all time makes sneakers worth the buy with his sneaker chooses. It's never the less Eminem; with collaboration with the Nike and Air Jordan Brand his sneakers are known worldwide. All the money he makes off the sneakers go the charities, so he gives back to the community, which makes the sneakers rarer and the holy grail of sneakers. Furthermore, "Drake is listed for his representation of the Jordan Brand, including his song "Jumpman" with Future. The Toronto rapper has multiple show collaborations with his OVO brand. He's stylish but absolutely not as caught up in the fashion world as other rappers, and happens to be the best in the game, " the site says. "In other words, he's the kind of dude most guys in sneaker culture can universally mess with. He's equal parts accessible and aspirational, and even if you don't connect with his musicyou can't help but admit his sneakers is catchy"(Hernandez).
Lastly, you got Travis Scott with his upcoming sneaker collaboration with Nike and Air Jordan's. His sneakers are now becoming popular in the sneaker culture. His style is more mellow but don't get that mistaken the resell prices are in the high hundreds. Moreover, the sneaker culture is a rising trend with the collaborations of famous designers. To start, the most well known collaboration is the Supreme collaborations with basically every brand sneakers. "Nike and Supreme have shaped our understanding of what it means to be a Sneaker Head, and how far someone will go to get a pair of sneakers". Supremes collaboration is one sneaker that a lot of people fight over and even died for, that's how high demand and popular they are. For the past three years, Louis Vuitton started to get into the sneaker culture with their collaboration with Nike and Air Jordan's. They are another well-spotted sneaker in the culture. You can't miss them with their logo and print all over the sneakers. Most people buy Louis Vuitton clothes and bags but since their sneaker collaboration, people are buying the sneakers more than the other products. Also, you have the Diamond Supply Co. just like Supreme they collaborate with any sneakers brands as well. Even though they're not as popular, but with their diamond logo on the sneaker makes the sneaker price jump higher.
Next, there is designer Don Crawley with his stylish designs on the Air Jordan's. Don Crawley makes the Air Jordan collaborations the most elegant and one to have in your collection for a sneakerhead. The sneaker culture really didn't like his designs at first but after a while, he came out with more rare shoes that made the sneaker culture break their necks. Finally, in 2017 you got Levi's coming out with collaborations with Air Jordan's and Foamposite's. With their sneakers you get that real demi feel on the sneaker making it look just like Levi's demi jeans they make. These sneakers are the most recent game changer for the sneaker culture and people are willing to buy these even if the prices are in the thousands. On the other hand, the Nike and Air Jordan brand have been doing something different with their sneaker collaborations that are very interesting. They are collaborating with the children at Doernbecher Children Hospital Foundation. "An extraordinary collaboration between OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital and Nike, Inc. , Doernbecher Freestyle gives young patients the opportunity to make their mark designing Nike footwear and apparel collections inspired by their lives, medical journeys and hopes for the future.
Since 2004, 91 young patients have created Doernbecher Freestyle designs that have been auctioned and sold to raise almost $20 million for OHSU Doernbecher, the hospital that changed their lives". Take Tim Haarmann for example, after being hit by a pitch in a baseball tournament, Tim Haarmann had massive bruises. Tim would walk 24 laps around his unit. The sneaker features 24 laps written on the heels, for Tim's journey, and a checkered pattern that is inspired by the flags a finish line. Next, Elijah Diggins battled Burkett's Leukemia and his Foamposite sneaker with the fiery red and black is a tribute to LeBron James his favorite athlete. Other details include Japanese letters for his courage, a personalized smiley face logo, and a chain link fence graphic on the insole for hope. His Foamposite sneaker goes for at least a thousand dollars in the sneaker culture. Also, Isaiah Scott who had cancer took his ‘Superman' persona onto the design of the Air Jordan 4's. He added up and down arrows for the ups and downs in life, a picture of him on the heel, green outlines for kryptonite, a Superman logo on the tongue, and a comic book theme on the bottom of the sole. His sneakers go for around a thousand dollars as well. Lastly, Issac Arzate suffered from a heart defect, after the second cardiac arrest he died. So Nike and Issac parents took his sketches and used it to make a sneaker in honor of him. The sneaker had Issac's jersey number from baseball, it had a poem Issac wrote the day before he died, it glows in the dark and comes with a keychain UV light to show the poem in the dark. You wouldn't think sneakers designed by children would make money. But the sneaker culture hopped on these collaborations like no tomorrow, because of the meaning of the sneakers and how rare they would become.
Subsequently, as crazy as it might seem movies and TV shows had an effect on the sneaker culture as well. In fact, when the movie Space Jam came out Air Jordan started to make sneakers with color for characters in the movie; such as the Air Jordan Bugs Bunny's 8's, Air Jordan Space Jam 11's and a few more. These sneakers made the sneaker culture go wild because everyone wanted to a pair to symbolize their love of bugs bunny and the movie. Equally, the movie Back To The Future 2 made a huge impact on the sneaker culture when Nike came out with the Nike Air Mags. Just like sneakers the main character Marty McFly wore, Nike made a sneaker replica in 2011. They also re-released the Air Mags in 2016 with a self-lacing system and a glowing Nike logo just like in the movie. The sneaker culture went insane when this dropped every one wanted a pair but they were an exclusive auction only sale. "The final Nike Mag auction came to a close in NYC, with the final bid garnering a whopping $200, 000 at the Michael J. Fox Gala". Furthermore, one of the most popular Foamposite sneakers came from a children Halloween movie called Paranorman. This sneaker makes sneakerheads want to come out on Halloween. They are all black with spooky green smoke and they ironically they glow in the dark. So for a couple thousand dollars, you can look scary and cool on Halloween night. Even more, one popular TV show that made the sneaker culture what is it is The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Will Smith one of the main character wore tons of Air Jordan sneakers in the shows. A lot of sneakerheads saw and hyped up the show for the sneakers, and now Air Jordan pays tribute to the TV show by making themed sneakers of the show like the Air Jordan Bel-Air 5's and also they are bringing back some of the sneakers Will Smith wore. Finally, you got the world famous funniest and craziest TV show ever made, The Simpsons. These yellow cartoon characters made a funny impact on the sneaker culture. They are featured in many brands of sneakers and the designs are goofy, and showing off the characters doing some of their famous actions in the shows. T
he sneakers are not as hype in the sneaker culture, but a lot of sneakerheads wear them with costumes, and some actually only collect these sneakers for the future so they can resell them for more money. As previously stated, the sneaker culture is always changing, but there are five essential reasons why the sneaker culture spends hundreds and thousands of dollars on sneakers. These effective reasons are basketball players and teams, famous rappers, top designers, sickly children, and movies and TV shows. All these are what truly and surely impacted the sneaker culture heavy, and they will continue to have an effect as long as sneakerheads are into these reasons in years to come. With all that said sneakers might seem like they were just simple to most people, but to others it's a whole another lifestyle and world for them.
Hopefully, I have enlightened you with some information about why the sneaker culture is the way it is, and you also learned some new things as well. Next time you see someone wearing a pair of sneakers you'll probably wonder the story behind them. I encourage you to look into the sneaker culture more and do more research because this trend is going to just get bigger and better in the future.
