Sneakers are that fashion item which the moment you put on gives you instant street credibility and simply say, “Hey that person is cool.”
They come in all sorts of design, colours and name brands and if you have them as part of your wardrobe it speaks volumes about your personality, because let’s face it they’re not a fashion item geared for everyone. It’s a pair of shoes that’s always been associated with urban culture and the Hip Hop community, and even to this day hip hoppers and boppers alike still go nutters over their pair of sneakers.
Just as much as there’s Hip-Hop heads, a ‘term’ referred to people who embody the Hip Hop culture, there are also ‘Sneakerheads’ defined as people who collect, trade or admire sneakers as a hobby. That’s how married the Hip Hop music industry is with sneakers. I mean rappers Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa and singer Miley Cyrus do have a song that lyrically references a pair of sneakers called, ‘23’. In the songs chorus there’s a lyric that says, ’J’s on my feet’ referring to Air Jordan basketball sneakers.
The reference in the song to the basketball sneakers also indicates how sneakers are synonymous with athletes such as basketball players. The most notable player, Michael Jordan who has a signature shoe series called ‘Air Jordan’s made popular during his NBA career.
Sneakers are also made for sports such as skateboarding and in the past it seemed they were a fashion item mostly associated to be worn by men, but over the past years ladies have also gotten their footsies in a pair.
Sneakers, which are also referred to as kicks, love or hate them they are not going anywhere anytime soon especially with them constantly being rebranded.