Sneakerheadz

Future social scientists will surely look with wonder at the bizarre phenomenon of sneaker madness, in which a few branded tie-ins between sports figures and their customized shoes in the 1980s would launch a marketing juggernaut that became, for some, an obsession. Tracing the history of sneakers back to their origins in the early 20th century, filmmakers David T. Friendly and Nick Partridge note how style elements emerged in shoe designs tied to star athletes, especially the arrival of Air Jordans (associated with basketball legend Michael Jordan). The early mainstreaming of hip hop artists, including Run DMC and Wu Tang Clan—and subsequent merging of music with sports—helped to create a pop culture product that consumers would wait in line to purchase. Interviews with multiple designers and collectors provide further insights into the glory days, when aficionados had to travel a circuit from New York to Baltimore, hitting stores that carried the most desirable and expensive shoes coveted by wild-eyed customers. The arrival of the Internet leveled the playing field for would-be collectors in flyover country, but also fed what one therapist refers to here as “obsessive consumption disorder.” Indeed, we meet some guys (and, really, it's guys) who own well over 1,000 pairs of sneakers, kept in temperature-controlled rooms (one keeps his collection in a home version of a walk-in bank safe). Why? Well, they don't know how to stop. Mostly brisk and playful, Sneakerheadz also touches on the darker side of sneaker subculture (a GQ article claimed that more than 1,000 people are killed annually over their shoes). Recommended. (T. Keogh)