Sneakerheads

The birth of the Sneakerhead subculture took place in the USA in the 1980s. It can be connected with two main sources: basketball, in particular the appearance of Michael Jordan in the new line of Nike Air Jordan sneakers and the growing popularity of hip-hop music. The hip-hop movement has given new products street popularity. The variety of colors and shapes of Air Jordan attracted more and more people because of this, many began to collect them. Some colors of Air Jordan were limited. The lucky ones who managed to buy such rare sneakers resold them to collectors for a lot of money. Sneakers have become an indicator of status, because of this they increasingly began to appear on celebrities. Sneakerhead culture began to be very popular with young people in the United States, and soon it moved to other countries.

Nike Air Mag Sneakers from Back to the Future

Branding played a huge role in the evolution of sneakers: the iconic designs that made Adidas and Nike the leading brands of sports shoes were born from three white stripes and a simple checkmark. Obviously, their enthusiasm for innovations played a role, which helped them achieve such serious heights and gain a foothold on them. To attract a large audience, the companies began to collaborate with celebrities and designers, creating collections under their name and thereby ensuring demand among numerous fans and collectors. Adidas has collaborations with rappers Kanye West (brand Yeezy) and Farrell Williams (the Human Race line based on the NMD model). At the same time, adidas actively collaborates with designers - Yohji Yamamomto , Raf Simons , Alexander Wang, Rick Owens and others. Some models of these collaborations are also resold many times more expensive. Nike is actively collaborating with Off-White brand founder Virgil Abloh . Many have already become tired that nothing but new colors comes out of this partnership, but the hype is still there. People are ready to stand in long lines to take possession of a treasured pair. The most successful collections, such as Yeezy Boost, Nike Air Yeezy are now very popular. Prices for some pairs reach five hundred thousand rubles and above. ^[one]

According to The Financial Times , in 2016 the volume of the secondary market for US sneakers reached $ 1 billion, where, according to conservative estimates, more than 9 million pairs of sneakers are resold. ^[2] In February, the StockX sports shoe exchange was created in the United States. One of its founders was Daniel Gilber, businessman and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball club. The founders of the exchange estimated the global secondary sneaker market at $ 6 billion. On the StockX website you can find rare models of brands such as Nike , Adidas and Jordan. The most expensive pair of sneakers on the site is Nike Air MAG Back To The Future (2016). It was in these that Marty McFly flew in the second part of the legendary film Back to the Future . This pair costs 22.2 thousand dollars. Nike's resale value, including the Jordan brand, accounts for 96% of all aftermarket sales. Absolute dominance. The sneaker market is simple - supply and demand, but Nike has very successfully used the offer: limited release of sneakers and the distribution of these sneakers with direct and indirect benefit for themselves. That is the whole trick in the sentence. Sneakerheads say that if the release is limited and this is Nike , then they buy without hesitation. Sneakers sell for $ 8,000 just because they are very rare and this market is like any collectible. In the process, it pulled into itself and sparked the passion of tens of thousands of people. If Nike decides to close this market, then they can do it tomorrow. All in all, they need to increase the volume of serial production of sneakers, but they do not need it.

• The growth of online stores and auction sites has provided collectors with new methods for finding the rarest pairs of sneakers. Stores such as Suplex in Philadelphia, the HG Kicks online site, and Flight Club in New York offer rare and exclusive couples.
• Jordan Geller opened the Sneaker Museum in San Diego with an area of ​​9,000 square feet (840 m ² ). ^[3]
• Sneakercon is a popular event in the Sneakerhead society where you can sell, trade or purchase sneakers ^[4] . It takes place in many cities throughout the United States, Europe and Russia.
• Foot Locker has launched Sneakerpedia.com, an online community for shoe collectors.
• As part of its Student College program, Carnegie Mellon University has offered an official sneaker collection history course called Sneakerology 101. ^[5]
• The GQ website posted an article on how to resell sneakers properly. ^[6]
• Several documentaries about sneakerheads and the resale of sneakers were shot: Just for Kicks and Sneakerheadz.
• At Items: Is Fashion Modern? The New York Museum of Modern Art exhibited some Nike and Adidas models that influenced the industry. ^[7]

There are two main ways to buy sneakers at a retail price and get money for resale:

• To defend a live queue. What is called a "camp". Sometimes people stood in queues for 2-3 days for one pair of shoes.
• Take part in online raffle. That is, leave a request on the store’s website, get a number and at the indicated time see if he won the right to buy a pair.

Resell sneakers either on eBay (less and less), or on specialized sites: GOAT, StockX, Grailed. In Russia, TheMarket is a similar platform.

One Million Dollars on Sneakers

18 year old Benjamin Kicks in 2016 made his 1 million resale sneakers. ^[8] His journey began with a pair of Air Jordan Galaxy Foam that his parents gave him. At school, he received an offer from a classmate whom he could not refuse. He was offered $ 1,000, and soon the pair was sold. At age 14, Benjamin met with music producer DJ Khaled , who invited him to collect a collection of rare pairs of sneakers for money. Since that day, Benjamin’s popularity has grown: he began to attend parties of famous rappers with Khalid and simultaneously sold them couples. In 2015, due to the huge demand for his services, he opened the SneakerDon website, where everyone could buy rare sneakers with a mark-up. In 2018, Benjamin's fortune is estimated at more than 2 million dollars. ^[9] He began recording music with renowned Western artists and launched his Boomin brand, which specializes in clothing and jewelry.

Interest in the shoe industry in Russia has grown significantly since the beginning of the '10s of our century. Young people became interested in fashion and style. More and more people in Russian cities walk in recognizable things from well-known brands. Young people began to collect and resell rare and beautiful pairs of sneakers. The resale process is almost no different from the western one: bought - placed an ad on the trading floor - sold. The number of sneaker shops in Russia is increasing every month.

Famous Sneaker Collectors in Russia

L'One is a hip hop artist. Collects Nike and Jordan sneakers . Has a contract with Nike . The collection has about 500 pairs. ^{[10] [11]}

Andrey Butt - actor, hip-hop artist. It collects mainly Jordan and Nike sneakers. The collection has over 150 pairs. ^{[12] [13] [14]}

Sergey Vetrov is a collector. Collects Saucony sneakers. The collection has over 400 pairs. ^{[15] [16]}

Sneakers Market in Russia

In general, the growth of the sports shoe market is associated with an active lifestyle of Russians, the popularity of various sports (football, basketball, running) and a wide offer of sports shoes of different price categories, according to a report by Sportswear in Russia, conducted by Euromonitor International. Sales of sports shoes in Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia, increased by 10% to $ 462 million, it was said there.

The Russian market of sports shoes, including casual sports shoes, doubled from 2010 to 2015 to 135.4 billion rubles, according to Euromonitor International, by 2020, it can grow to 153.4 billion rubles. ^[17]

Due to the growth in sales of sports and ordinary casual shoes, sales of classic shoes will continue to fall. If classic shoes accounted for 20-25% of the shoe market in 2015, then in 2016 its share fell to 10-15%. At the same time, in the assortment of the segment of classic shoes, there is a noticeable increase in the share of models using sports structural elements: classic shoes are being replaced by hybrids more and more.

• Sneakers Hunters: Who are Sneakerheads
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