Sole Sisters

Ever since the American sneakerhead subculture was co-opted by the mainstream and luxury fashion industries, global Instagram feeds have been filled with images of Nikes, Yeezys, Balenciagas, or whichever brand has dropped the season’s It shoe. But to sneakerheads, they are more than the latest fad. A number of women are in the vanguard of the burgeoning movement here in India, and Rushmika Banerjee speaks with five of them to get some diverse viewpoints on what makes this footwear staple an aspirational commodity.

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If there is one product that has invariably tied the worlds of sports, fashion and entertainment together over the years, it would be the sneaker. The famous Nike Air Jordan basketball shoes were designed for NBA player Michael Jordan in 1984, the same year that Gucci entered the luxury sneaker market with the classic Tennis 84 model. Cut to 1986: thousands of fans left their feet in unison to the call of hip-hop group Run-DMC’s My Adidas at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This is also when sneakers become one of the symbols of this anti-establishment music genre. These three milestones opened the floodgates of sneaker culture in America, the arbiter of global pop culture, and those riding the wave of this phenomenon came to be known as sneakerheads. This community doesn’t collect sneakers just for kicks; it’s not about owning all the new models or focusing only on functionality. Each pair they ‘cop’ goes on to become a part of a unique personal mythology, with an emotional value and backstory attached to it. And there are also those who buy two pairs of everything — one to stock and one to rock.

When sneaker culture first came on the scene, there was no internet or social media to update enthusiasts about the latest drops (releases); brands relied on paid partnerships with sport and music personalities to create ‘hype’. In the 2015 Netflix documentary Sneakerheadz, OG (Original; referring to the first version of a model) collectors recall a time when the brewing subculture was only for people who were in the know. Purchasing a new pair meant travelling to the nearest sports store and spending hours analysing the shoe shelves. Things took a turn with the advent of eBay in 1995, which established an underground resale market for buying and trading sneakers online.