Sneaker Freaker

Nowadays it’s a completely different story, the market is saturated, but back then, as described, we had no hook-ups and no information. Only a chosen few back then even gave a shit about these shoes. Having this huge multi-media mass-marketable culture we’re involved in today makes us question why these kids are into trainers in the first place. I ask again, are people actually buying shoes cos’ they want them or is it a more sinister force that drives these purchases?

‘Looking back at English high fashion mags of their time, ID and The Face, that was another place we’d see really fresh trainers, we didn’t care for the fancy schmancy clothes or the models wearing them, just the shoes on their feet’, he informs us of another endorsement of cool. During this time it was stores like Mash and Passenger that were the pioneers of sneaker trends in London at least. These store owners had the vision to pick up some of the nuttiest of designs in the quirkiest of colors, ‘It was 95, nobody was even up on the trainer thing in London, people were still buying Superstars and thinking they were old school. I popped into Passenger one day and I found Black canvas Air Force Ones with Yellow trim and swoosh, essentially these store owners had just gone to NY and filled their suitcases with anything they could’, challenges MD. Of course some trainer freaks had picked up on this, but it was in the minority compared to the overwhelming volume of trainers and more evidently, trainer boutiques that we visit today.

The coveting of vintage shoes has equally played a bit part in the metamorphosis of the sneaker world. We can’t hold on to these things forever whether we want to or not. As discussed in another issue of Sneaker Freaker, these things are perishable. On too many occasions recently for my liking, I’m hearing utterly depressing stories about shoes being left in wardrobes for years, only for an unsuspecting owner to brush ‘em off long after their born date to discover, much to their chagrin, that they fall apart after the first wear. Gutted!! Therefore the lesson is to wear the damn things, don’t put them on ice for too long, get ‘em out and wear them puppies.