OHHH SHOT: Sneakers

Showing posts with label Sneakers. Show all posts

November 24, 2015

Japanese Sneaker Culture

Not much into sneakers these days, but I do remember stopping by Skit in Osaka back in 2010 and having my mind blown.

July 22, 2015

A Brief History Of High Fashion Sneakers

Has any garment enjoyed a more impressive rise than the once-humble sneaker? From fitness shoe to high-fashion staple, the sneaker's ascent reflects some of the most significant pop-culture developments of the last few decades -- from the impact of advertising and mass production, to the influence of hip-hop and the NBA.

From July 10, visitors will be able to trace this history at The Rise of Sneaker Culture, a traveling exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum exploring its history and cultural significance.

But Elizabeth Semmelhack, senior curator of the originating exhibition at Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum and author of the accompanying book from Rizzoli, says that its history is more complex than we might think. "When the first sneakers debuted [in the 1800's], they were themselves luxury items," she says, citing the high price of rubber and the working class's lack of leisure time. "We're kind of coming full circle in a weird way."

So, how exactly have we ended up in an age of die-hard Nike addicts and Parisian designer kicks?

SHOT, THERE'S MORE...

April 22, 2015

30 For 30 Sole Man

Sonny Vaccaro is one of the sports world's most charismatic, polarizing and influential figures. Now 75, he is still a fast-talking maverick whose zeal for basketball, advocacy for underprivileged kids, and instinct for sales forged an era of unprecedented growth for two pillars of pop culture: basketball and sneakers.

It was Vaccaro who advised agents during the ABA-NBA wars of the 1970s, who launched Nike's "Air Jordan" empire in the 1980s, and who ushered in the professionalization of youth basketball in the 1990s, when players such as Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady, both of whom signed shoe deals brokered by Vaccaro, turned high school games into auditions for the NBA.

"Sole Man" is a definitive, first-hand and unflinching account of how Vaccaro rose from humble Pennsylvania steel town roots to become the most valuable marketing asset in the $13 billion athletic shoe industry. Vaccaro's personal arc mirrors the narrative of basketball's ascent over the last 40 years. It is an era in which James Naismith's creation morphed from a regional game tainted by segregation and gambling into a global enterprise that stretches from Brooklyn to Beijing. And to a staggering degree, the basketball community is really just Six Degrees of Sonny.