Rare Spirit

The CEO of Sneakertopia, Steve Harris, talks about sneakers, Nike and the heart of the chase.

- Cheong Poh Kiat

FOUR YEARS AGO, Emmy Award-winning producer, Steve Harris, and Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur, Steve Brown, launched Sneakertopia, a museum dedicated to sneaker culture. It covered the milestones, grails and icons of all things sneaker-related. Originally meant as a pop-up, Sneakertopia did so well that Harris and Brown extended it until the end of 2020.

Then, three weeks after inking the deal, COVID happened. But Harris didn’t pack it all up. With over 15 years of experience as a producer and network executive with media companies such as A&E, NBC and Netflix, he is adept at problem solving. “I looked at it as not being a headache but as being something that’s going to make the project better,” says Harris.

It was also during this time that Harris was having conversations with Spacelogic and Gushcloud about bringing Sneakertopia to Singapore. With the world on lockdown, they postponed any idea of setting up a museum during the pandemic and instead took the time to plan.

Two years later, the fruits of their labour can finally be seen as Sneakertopia opened at ArtScience Museum. Called Sneakertopia: Step Into Street Culture, the showcase features limited-edition footwear alongside private collections, artworks and installations that cross into the sports, entertainment, music and fashion scenes.