the death of sneakerheads
Death isn't always this terrible and final thing. Let me explain. From watching sneaker closets on Youtube with Complex’s Joe La Puma, to trying to beat the bots on the SNKRS app, or even camping outside my local Footlocker from 6am for a pair of Jordan 1 Obsidians. Things which were once the norm, now seem foreign to the vast public.
The hype which sneakers once commanded, it simply doesn’t have that pull no more. And the question which I'm really tryna work out, is why. What went wrong?
For starters, it’s no secret these companies just aren’t dropping the heat at the rate we once had it. Looking back on it, we were kinda spoilt when I think about it. And I think it’s become evident that the public are missing these days, especially when we’re just being force-fed rereleases from our childhood. Nostalgia sells, and whilst it’s nice at first, I think as a sneaker community, we’re seeing past the novelty of it all. And that’s why brands with more casual silhouettes such as New Balance and Asics have been so dominant in the last 12 months.
Secondly, I think the playing field has changed. More footwear options have now entered chat; hiking boots, loafers, mules. If you caught someone in any of these even just a few years ago, you’d be questioning a lot things about them. But in the words of your favourite football pundit; “the game’s gone”. We are no longer in 2021 where dunks were reselling for more than double their retail price (kinda happy those days are gone actually because wtf) or in a time where if it wasn’t Nike or Jordans on feet, your fits didn’t even make sense. You see back then, sneakers weren’t just footwear - they were extensions of your identity.
However, now with more shoe categories on the market in general, the “OG sneakerhead personality” seems like a thing of the past. Loafers have become a staple piece in any wardrobe. What started as a trend with the great Timberland Crisis of 24’ has blossomed into a new category in boots being worn by your average Joe. Even mules are beginning to see the light of day (there’s a pair of custom Birks I have saved on my finsta which I have to own). You see these in itself are examples of types of people and fashion senses we weren't seeing before.
It’s clear that Sneaker culture which we’re used to is well and truly gone, but it’s nowhere near the end of it all. The landscape has just changed, evolved. What was hot 5 years ago isn’t still the same today, and things which we never thought would gather any heat around them, people are cooking up some of the hardest fits we’ve seen wearing these shoes. So maybe death isn’t always a bad thing (on the topic of fashion specifically btw), because when one craze dies, another is instantly born.
