mr.aponte


Fashion used to be defined by the centerpiece of your outfit-- your pants or your shirt. But it’s now evolving into a different centerpiece, sneakers. Sneakers are the new “in-thing.” The aucourant, hip fad. The newest wrinkle. The cutting-edge infatuation! The other day, I was walking down the street and I came across my friend. As I was walking towards him, I hadn’t noticed him look down atmy new shoes, but when I came up to him, he gestured towards my shoes, saying, “Nice kicks.” I’m not saying that it’s ethical or right to judge people by what they are wearing, but it’s reality. While what people are noticing about you is evolving, sneakers are also evolving. Over time what used to be referred to as a sneaker is probably a different shoe than what is now referred to as thesneaker. Sneaker manufacturing first started in the late 1800s when they started to make shoes out of rubber. By the 1970s, there were clearly four major sneaker companies, Nike, Puma, Adidas, andConverse (which was recently bought by Nike.) Nike was always the biggest manufacturer and Adidas and Puma were the second and third biggest manufacturers. Throughout the 1980s, the sneaker was designed forrunning or playing tennis. In the 1990s Nike came out with the Air Jordans based off the basketball star Michael Jordan. These shoes were designed for basketball players and were the new style at thattime. In the twenty-first century, sneakers have become less athletic and more like skateboarding shoes rather than basketball shoes. Up until this time sneakers were very functional, now, shoes aremostly designed for fashion. 
When people collect things they are usually collecting something that looks good and is not so much useful. The classic sneakerhead is one who collects the new style ofsneakers. Sneakerheads can also be collectors who trade and sell shoes. In other words, it’s not just a business of shoe stores and companies. My cousin is in this business where he’ll buy a pair of...