User:Tlsgustn/sandbox

Background

During the 1960s and 1970s, street basketball was widely played in the streets of the Bronx. One of the important rituals among the players was “stepsies,” which was a game for everyone to step on a player’s new sneakers. A clean pair of sneakers indicated that the player was weak. However, with the rise of hip music, “clean and fresh” hip hop look gained popularity and the game of “stepsies” disappeared.

Streetwear, often referred as hip hop fashion, influenced the sneaker culture with its expansion with hip hop music. Since the 1970s, there has been a strict rule against combining rival brands, such as Nike and Adidas. For example, a person wearing Nike sneakers with Adidas track pants would be considered as someone going against the culture. This type of violation lowers person's reputation and shows the person's lack of awareness of the culture, similar as forgetting to removing the tag from a designer suit. This practice led sneakerheads to favor one brand over another resulting in strong brand loyalty. Although the concept of exclusively being a Nike or Adidas enthusiast as diminished, the art of mixing brands properly has evolved as streetwear, luxury fashion brands, and sportswear brands became significant aspects of sneaker culture.

Sneakerhead

Values

Sneakerheads hold a set of shared values and form different communities. These communities encompass a diverse range of individuals, including collectors, enthusiasts, photographers, custom designers, and resellers. To sneakerheads, sneakers represent more than just an athletic gear for functionality. To them, understanding historical context behind the sneakers, brands, and sports is important. Knowledge acquisition on sneakers is more important than having large collections of sneakers: "Knowledge comes first. You need to know what you're wearing, if you're pretending to be someone (inside the culture and community)". With this, the term “sneakerhead” was often used to describe this unique group that holds a distinctive relationship with the sneakers they own. They are individuals who have great passion for sneaker history, actively pursue rare and exclusive collections, and collect sneakers.

Practices

Sneakerheads often participate in both online and offline activities to show their enthusiasm in sneakers. Typical example of offline activity is participating in sneaker exhibitions. Some of the notable exhibitions include Sneakercon in North America, Sneakerness in Europe, and Faces&Laces in Russia. Through these exhibitions, sneakerheads show their collections, sell or exchange sneakers, and attend public talks with designers and collectors. Typical example of online activity is making unboxing videos or video reviews of new sneakers where sneakerheads share their ideas and thoughts on the sneakers.

Sneakerheads are also involved in variety of sneaker art, such as sneaker photography and customization often when sneaker consumption is not enough for them. Examples of sneaker art include making paintings and drawings of different models of sneakers and creating comics or cartoons of important sneaker collectors or enthusiasts. Another type of sneaker art is customizing by “updating a pair of sneakers by painting or embroidering them, replacing parts with different materials, or combining parts of different models to create a completely new pair of sneakers”. Many sneakerheads highlight the importance of practicing non-commercial, community based activities like customization, to express their creativity and show their values and enthusiasm in sneakers.