Getting their kicks

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/04/2012 (5196 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jason Au likes designer clothes, but the 30-year-old Winnipegger capital-L loves sneakers.

How does he love them? Let us count the ways: Air Jordan I, II, III…

“I lost track a few years ago,” says Au, who estimates he owns close to 300 pairs of running shoes.

Today the federal civil servant is wearing Nike Air Jordan XI Retro Cool Greys. They have grey patent-leather uppers with a contrasting white midsole and, as Au casually points out, were “one of the first shoes there was a riot for.”

Au is a “sneakerhead” — someone who accumulates rare or limited-edition sneakers (which they call “kicks”) as a collectible, a commodity or a fashion statement. Or, more recently perhaps, because of the social-media-fuelled marketing hype.

According to the blogosphere, by the time the Nike Air Yeezy II is finally released, it’ll likely be the most highly anticipated “sneaker drop” in history. The rumoured drop date for the shoe, designed by rapper Kanye West, has already changed several times and is now apparently set for June.

“There are people in line right now,” says Au, referring to American cities like Orlando, Fla., where the limited release of Nike’s Galaxy Foamposite in February triggered a melee at a mall that then raised a furor on Twitter.

Last December, Seattle police had to use pepper spray to break up a fight that broke when a crowd of 1,000 people gathered in a mall where Air Jordans went on sale. In Los Angeles, one sneakerhead pepper-sprayed others in a lineup at Walmart to boost his chances of scoring a pair.

“In the States it’s way more crazy,” says Au, who drove to Minneapolis a few years ago with some pals and snuck into the Mall of America with a display crew at 3 a.m. to wait in line for the Air Jordan Defining Moments two-pair package.

He is also the proud owner of a pair of 2011 Nike “Mag” sneakers, the kind the character Marty McFly wore in the movie Back to the Future. Only 1,500 pairs of the shoes were produced for an online auction to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

The auction was restricted to Americans, but Au has tech-savvy friends. And while he won’t disclose his winning bid, one can assume the Mags are in the “over $1,000” category he mentioned when asked how much all his footwear is worth. (The Yeezy 2 will retail for around US$250, Au says, for those lucky enough to snag one of the rumoured 144 pairs being released in Canada.)

Sneakerhead culture, according to Internet sources, started as an urban trend among young men in New York in the 1970s. In the 1980s, the rise in popularity of basketball — namely the emergence of Michael Jordan and his eponymous Air Jordan line of basketball shoes — and hip-hop music laid the groundwork for a collecting subculture.

While sneakers have long been considered an icon of hip-hop culture, sneakerhead subculture seems to have evolved its own esthetic. And retailers are catering to an increasingly mainstream market.

Sneakermania is probably more subdued in Canada, as Au says, because retailers here usually take pre-orders for new releases to prevent the shoe frenzies being reported across the U.S. And when stores sell on a first-come, first-served basis?

“We’ve had people stay in our parking lot all night for the Jordan XI release,” says Tarik Daoudi, manager of Kings Skate, Snow & Surf, on Pembina Highway. The store got in 12 pairs, or one size run, of the model, which sold for $209.

“By the time I got here at 9 a.m., there were 35 people,” Dauodi says. “We sold out right away.”

The shoes that typically sell out the quickest are the ones that are “reissued” — new versions of old standards, including Air Jordans, which make up the bulk of Au’s collection. He typically buys two pairs of each model, maybe three of the ones he really likes.

“Jordans are a retro shoe. People have been going crazy for them for years,” says Wol Wol, assistant manager at Champs Sports in Polo Park Shopping Centre. The lineup stretched into the mall for the Air Jordan Retro XIV, released earlier this month, but Wol says the Jordan 2012 Supreme ($279) is this year’s It shoe. Three interchangeable soles and two sock liners mean the sneakers can be high tops or low tops.

The Winnipeg Sneakerhead Facebook group has 347 members. It’s open to “anyone who loves shoes,” but with a caveat: “We’re not telling you not to wear fakes, we’re just saying if you do, you don’t belong in here.”

Dinh Truong, 20, a four-year sneaker collector who also works part-time at Foot Locker, says all the marketing and hype aimed at his celebrity-obsessed, image-conscious demographic is definitely working.

“You want to be able to say you have the same things as celebrities,” says the third-year commerce student. “You can’t afford to buy the same cars and houses, but you can absolutely have the same clothes.”

Truong owns around 30 pairs of shoes, half of which he’s never worn. In fact, he’s bought shoes and never even opened the box but just added it to the stack against his wall. As for the ones he does wear, “I take care of my shoes like I would a car,” he says. “Some people clean theirs with a toothbrush, but I don’t go to that extent.”

While he admits his sneaker collecting borders on addiction, Truong, who lives at home and has to pay rent, tuition and car costs, says he won’t go into debt to get his kicks. “I’m pretty controlled,” he laughs. “If I’m not going to spend my money on drugs, I might as well spend it on shoes.”

Au, meanwhile, is in the process of building a display case so he can show off the faves among his ever-growing sneaker collection.

“I try to stop, but I usually end up buying eight to 10 (pairs) a month,” says Au, whose grey Jordan XIs complete his overall sneaker-collector look: fitted hat, hoodie, jeans, belt (all designer labels).

Unlike many sneakerheads, he has no interest in re-selling any of his shoes for profit. (A pair of original Air Jordans in mint condition can sell today for thousands of dollars.)

Au, who bought his first pair of Air Jordans with money he got for his 12th birthday, says that for him, there’s a sentimental aspect to his basketball shoe fetish. He likens it to vintage cars, where a particular year and model can evoke certain fond memories.

The former high school basketball player can still remember trading his rollerblades for a pal’s Air Jordan VIs, just for a day.

“Up to that point, I’d never dunked before,” Au recalls. “But on the court that day, wearing those shoes, I dunked.”

carolin.vesely@freepress.mb.ca