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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Sneakers are more than shoes.

by Deron Hogans
Marcus McCoy, a sophomore student at Coppin State University, doesn’t brush his teeth or wash his face after he wakes up in the morning. Eventually he does, but the first thing on his agenda is checking the popular auctioning website, Ebay.com, for an update on new vintage sneakers for sale.
His day starts at around 9 o’clock, when he leaves for his first class. But, even McCoy would tell you that being on time for anything isn’t easy as a sneaker dealer.
“For me, the sale and resale of kicks is a business that brings in legitimate income,” McCoy said. “I have it so that my cell phone gets alerts when new shoes go up for sale or are released in stores. So if I’m in the middle of something and I get one of those alerts, whatever I’m doing at the moment is dropped so that I can see what the deal is with these kicks.”
Sneaker dealers like McCoy have developed intricate networks of communication to make information about a new or one of a kind sneaker available in an instance. News of kicks only released in Hong Kong can reach the States within hours. Rich Parker, CEO of Raw Talent Enterprises and sneaker enthusiast, explained the intricacy of the sneaker culture’s web of information.
“Most of the praise can be given to the internet for allowing people to access the stock of different sneaker boutiques when and where they please,” he said. “But I think the biggest component is the use of instant messaging, because with instant messaging language is not a barrier.” Parker said that language is the one obstacle that could greatly affect the flow of information because the people involved represent a wide array of cultures and backgrounds.
Sneaker enthusiasts or “sneakerheads” can be found on every continent from many different creeds. Josh “Dizzy” Smith, a sneaker collector and dealer of Nigerian origin, says that on a daily basis, he is in contact with at least two people from outside the U.S. borders on business terms.
This large community of shoe lovers is also very competitive. With major companies releasing as little as 100 pairs of some sneaker styles, demand for specific styles of shoes is very high. The “Skate or Die” edition of the Nike SB Dunk sold out within an hour of its release at the Norfolk site of the popular specialty sneaker store, Sole Brothers. On Niketalk.com, a popular message board for sneaker enthusiasts, reports of the “Skate or Die” selling out in record time were posted from all over the world. Messengers in places like Tokyo, London, and even Berlin, complained about the scarce availability of the shoe.
The competition in sneaker culture is not limited to the sale and resale of shoes. Clothing and accessories attributed with sneaker culture has also become a hot commodity. Lines like Stussy, Bathing Ape, and Billionaire Boys Club have become synonymous with sneaker culture. J.D., the manager of an Up Against the Wall store in Washington, D.C., says, “Sneaker culture reaches into everything, man. If it wasn’t for sneaker culture, we wouldn’t have a lot of the clothes that we have in here now.”
One of his concerns about the trends that popular culture is pulling from sneaker culture was that the classic styles developed would become faddish. Aside from its current state, sneaker culture has always been with us in ways, from the skinny rolled-up jeans with Chuck Taylors in the 1950’s to the shell top Adidas of the late 1980’s. This is an entity that will out live fads as long as new innovative sneakers are realeased.

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My top 5 sneakers released all time.