Sneakers are now all the rave. The most sought after fashion accessories in the streets of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, and everywhere around the world. Top athletes, designers, rappers, millionares, graffiti artists, brand marketers, and collectors of all kinds all play their part in making the sneaker saga one of the richest tales pop culture has ever told. So how did gym shoes, morph from sporty function, to high fashion, to culture icons, and go on to reshape one of the most competitive industries on the planet? To understand that you would have to jump back to the mid 70's in Bronx, New York, and witness the first steps of a movement thats about to change the way the world rotates, from head, to kicks.
Basketball definitely was responsible for the whole sneaker culture, hands down without a doubt. Hip-Hop however was responsible for making it such a staple style. Sneakers started to get a certain style added to them. "B-boys" added the element of style. They started wearing sneakers for the way they looked and matched their clothes, and to these "B-boys" sneakers came into play as standard gear, and a way for one to express themselves and look cool doing it. It was all about keeping your shoes clean and fresh, and adding your own personality into the shoe, like wearing them loose with different colored fat laces. This look took over and made sneakers the main attraction to everything else you had on.
In these times, people also had to stretch out their sneakers for economic reasons. This caused a whole mind set for always needing to wash them, being careful for scuffs and keeping them fresh at all times. Sneaker heads at this time even started to carry toothbrushes and other cleaning supplies on them. And because people couldnt afford to by multiple shoes, sneaker heads got into adding different looks to the ones they already had, like the different colored fat laces and even coloring in the stripes on the shoes with marker to give the shoe a whole different life. Putting all this effort into your shoes and the feel good attention you would receive because of it made shoes even more special to a sneaker head.
The sneaker culture continues to grow and change. Star basketball players like Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Sean Kemp, Scotty Pippen, Penny, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Durant have made their signature shoes so famous and sought after by sneaker heads all over the world because of how iconic their shoes have become. Sneaker heads are still very passionate and loving for their sneakers. Being a sneaker head has even became some what of a trend because of how popular it is getting.
Basketball definitely was responsible for the whole sneaker culture, hands down without a doubt. Hip-Hop however was responsible for making it such a staple style. Sneakers started to get a certain style added to them. "B-boys" added the element of style. They started wearing sneakers for the way they looked and matched their clothes, and to these "B-boys" sneakers came into play as standard gear, and a way for one to express themselves and look cool doing it. It was all about keeping your shoes clean and fresh, and adding your own personality into the shoe, like wearing them loose with different colored fat laces. This look took over and made sneakers the main attraction to everything else you had on.
In these times, people also had to stretch out their sneakers for economic reasons. This caused a whole mind set for always needing to wash them, being careful for scuffs and keeping them fresh at all times. Sneaker heads at this time even started to carry toothbrushes and other cleaning supplies on them. And because people couldnt afford to by multiple shoes, sneaker heads got into adding different looks to the ones they already had, like the different colored fat laces and even coloring in the stripes on the shoes with marker to give the shoe a whole different life. Putting all this effort into your shoes and the feel good attention you would receive because of it made shoes even more special to a sneaker head.
The sneaker culture continues to grow and change. Star basketball players like Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Sean Kemp, Scotty Pippen, Penny, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Durant have made their signature shoes so famous and sought after by sneaker heads all over the world because of how iconic their shoes have become. Sneaker heads are still very passionate and loving for their sneakers. Being a sneaker head has even became some what of a trend because of how popular it is getting.