What's up with sneakers?

Traversing the distance from utilitarian, inexpensive footwear to performance-oriented and high-tech necessities, sneakers have catapulted into yet another realm of being: collectible and cultish objects of fetishism.

Walk into any shoe store and you are faced with a dizzying assortment of brands, styles, and colors—but true sneakerheads know that the treasures they crave are not to be found so easily. What's at stake? Bragging rights to be the first or only person in your circle to have the latest exclusive shoe. Prices can go sky-high for the rarest releases. The most sought-after sneakers are limited editions like the Nike Pigeon Dunk (Nike's suggested retail price was $69; some sold for $300 retail but later went for up to $1,000 on eBay). Collaborations between street artists and the big companies, often in limited releases, inflame the desire of sneaker collectors.

In order to score the latest in urban sneaker chic, sneaker addicts must stalk the specialty sneaker temples. These ultra-exclusive boutiques are often in unmarked storefronts, with word-of-mouth as their only means of attracting customers. In New York City, stores such as Dave's Quality Meats, Alife, Nort235, and Nom de Guerre are clustered on the Lower East Side. But you have to know where these stores are and how to get in: Alife is completely unmarked and clients must be buzzed in through a security door. Hard-to-obtain styles are preciously displayed on mahogany shelves, and the more exclusive and expensive models are locked in glass cases like museum pieces. Nom de Guerre is a subterranean cavern accessible only by a cellar staircase. The most expensive sneakers on sale are $800—a pair of Slim Shady Nikes.

The sneaker culture scene is huge in Japan; and, because this trend tends to be very urban, there are also active scenes in London, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, and even Mexico City. Besides these, New York City, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles also sport a sizeable sneakerhead subculture.

Competition for the latest releases can be fierce: This March, sneaker fanatics in New York City tried to jump the line that snaked around the block for the new Nike Pigeon Dunk at The Reed Space, sparking fistfights (no arrests were made). The Reed Space was also the site of a recent break-in, clearly the work of unscrupulous and desperate sneaker aficionados.

Sneaker expert Bradley Carbone, associate editor at Complex magazine, asserts that while some sneakerheads are teenagers and early 20-somethings, most are "grown-up kids who now can purchase the sneakers that they couldn't afford when they were younger." Carbone says that while the younger collectors may have tens of pairs, some of the more mature collectors have hundreds. "Companies are rereleasing the classic popular silhouettes redone in new 'colorways' and functions, like the Dunk, which was originally a basketball shoe, now is a lifestyle shoe, and which was recently remade as a skateboard shoe." The Jordan collection is a prime example. "It was big in the '80s and '90s, and now they have retroed almost all of them."

Carbone confirms that there is a thriving trade in highly collectible sneakers on eBay. "As soon as the limited edition sells out, you will see them offered on eBay." Designer Narciso Rodriguez trolls eBay for rare finds, and likes to buy three pairs of the same shoe at a time: one for the gym, one for walking around, and one for posterity.

Twin trends are turbocharging the industry: limited editions to fuel collectibility and customization to satisfy the wearer's need for individuality in a sea of mass. The sneaker fetish scene is well documented on new websites such as hypebeast.com, crookedtongues. com, as well as freshnessmag.com, sneakerfreaker. com, and solecollector.com; there are also innumerable sneaker-specific blogs with exuberant reviews of recent sneaker releases ("The aqua/chrome colorway and the crocodile skin chosen for this shoe are wild! Definitely one of my favorite Nike releases this year, and will most definitely be rocked as much as possible!").

SneakerPimps, "the worlds largest global touring sneaker exhibition," visited 40 cities in 2005, including Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, and The Philippines. The SneakerPimps website describes the exhibition as "over 600 of the rarest footwear on the planet" featuring historical models and newly customized sneakers from over 300 artists, including limitededition sneakers from BAPE, Nike, JB Classics, RBK, Puma, Converse, Adidas, Ice Cream, Madfoot, Pro Keds, Pony, Asics, New Balance, Tasmania, KKOK, DC, Sole Technology, DVS, Royal Elastics, K-Swiss, and more.

Sneakers are very big business. In early August, sneaker giant Adidas bought competitor Reebok for $3.8 billion. This acquisition creates a company with combined annual sales of $11.1 billion. Nike's sales in its 2004-2005 business year through April were $13.7 billion. Puma, the world's fourth-biggest sporting goods company, also unveiled aggressive expansion plans through acquisitions and entry into new sportswear markets.

More than 1,400 people attended the August launch party in London for Nike's Diamond Dunk, designed by Nick at Diamond Supply Company and inspired by Tiffany's aqua packaging and platinum jewelry.

The limited edition has many variations: To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Adidas will be releasing 35 different versions of the Adidas Superstar shell-toe throughout the year. The first was the Jam Master Jay sneaker, released in memory of the late deejay.

Carbone says that all of the major companies have their own take on customization. Most offer customization on their websites, but the widest array of choices is only in their biggest urban stores. Puma recently launched a "Mongolian barbecue" customized shoe in New York, Santa Monica, and London; it has now rotated to several other cities. Shoppers can choose each of the 13 components needed to make a sneaker; the completed pair arrives five weeks later ($130). At Adidas' new lower Manhattan superstore, the customer's foot and performance level are measured by sophisticated equipment before choosing the elements of the shoe.

On Nike's website, a wide variety of sneaker customization options are available, starting with an "inspiration shoe." Nike declares that "the days of picking things directly off the shelves, or ordering off the menu as it appears, are over." Nike has extended Nike iD to its exclusionary store Nike iD lab, a private design studio "by invitation only," handpicking A-listers and in-fluencers to create their own one-of-a-kind shoes from an array of styles, materials, and colors.

So the simple sneaker has moved light years beyond mere sports attire, becoming an object of fetish and desire that defines who you are in today's urban tribes. How did a utilitarian pair of shoes become so fetishized? No longer dominated by the hardcore sneaker freak, anyone can participate in the cult of the sneaker and can, by extension, feel younger, hipper, street-credible, cooler-than-thou. How many other collectibles can make that claim?

This article was originally published in the November/December 2005 issue of STEP inside design magazine.

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