Have you ever seen “virtual sneakers” priced at AU$200,000? As this fashion storm sweeps the world, we uncover the secrets behind sky-high price sneakers.
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Her name is Li-Anne, also known online as Monsieur Banana.
She is an internet celebrity and a fan of sneaker culture.
This group is called Sneakerhead (noun, slang) refers to a group of people who collect, resell, and customize sneakers and love sneaker culture. Sometimes it is a hobby, and some people make a living from it.。
“How many pairs of sneakers do I have? I don’t really dare to count,” she laughed.
“Every time I counted 50 pairs, I just counted one corner of the house, and I stopped. I guess… maybe less than 200 pairs? It’s not too much.”
However, these sneakers are not what we usually wear when playing basketball or going to the gym.
They can cost thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the buyers are often not involved in sports and may never even wear the shoes.
You who are reading this article may have crossed paths with sneakerheads before. Whenever new sneakers are released, they may queue up in front of retail stores, and even “set up camp” and stay up all night. There is only one purpose – to buy that pair of shoes as soon as possible.
“Mr. Banana” is one of them.
“In 2015, I really wanted a pair of[阿迪达斯的]Yeezy 350…I went to a camping equipment store and bought a camping chair and stood in line all night long that night,” she said.
“When coconut shoes were the most popular, some people might even queue up for two days and all night to buy them.
“It was crazy back then.”
But “Mr. Banana” describes only the tip of the iceberg of sneaker culture.
In order to grab a pair of dream sneakers, young people around the world are willing to beg, steal and even take out loans. At the same time, some companies and celebrities can sometimes raise the price of shoes by nearly 10,000 times, creating an industry worth tens of billions and making a lot of money.
“I don’t know how some kids can afford these shoes,” said Jayden Traynor, manager of a sneaker store in Melbourne.
“It seems like kids these days are either starting to work at a younger age, or parents are more willing to buy these products for them.”
“They want to fit in at school. They want to have things that other kids have. And parents don’t want their kids to be left behind. So it’s really beyond imagination.”
Now in 2023, physical sneakers have even embraced NFT technology. Nike, Adidas and other companies have created digital shoe companies, trading “virtual sneakers” at expensive prices – these shoes are completely unwearable because they would not exist without the Internet.
But how did it all get to this point? How does a pair of sneakers that are meant to be worn out and thrown away become a hot, sought-after item? Why do today’s young people save money and buy a pair of digital sneakers that they can’t wear at all?
To understand the mystery, we have to start with the expensive pricing of physical sneakers.
From sports equipment to self-expression
The popularity of sneakers can be traced back to the 19th century. At that time, some European companies began making rubber-soled shoes for athletes.
“People of a certain age will remember that sneakers started out as basically sporting goods,” says American sneaker and streetwear designer Jeff Staple.
“You go to a store that sells baseball bats, tennis rackets, and skates, and you buy sneakers, and you wear them to play sports.
“Then when the sneakers break because you did too much exercise in them, you throw that pair away and buy a new pair.”
But a cultural shift began to occur in the 1980s, as cable television became more popular and the influence of sports, music and movies expanded.
In 1984, Nike signed a sneaker contract with Michael Jordan, a then-little-known Chicago Bulls rookie of the National Basketball League (NBA), hoping to get a piece of the basketball shoe market that was dominated by Converse. soup.
While Converse and Adidas also approached Jordan, the two companies simply wanted him to promote existing models. However, Nike created an exclusive series of sneakers for Jordan-“Air Jordan”.
“Michael Jordan is called the ‘God of Basketball’ for a reason,” said Mr. Fan Yunshuo, one of Australia’s largest sneaker collectors.
“It was the Air Jordan 1 that started the continuation of the entire sneaker culture.”
“Jordan was very dominant on the court and he had a character that refused to admit defeat.
“Of course this character is a double-edged sword, but precisely because of his character, he never gave up under any circumstances.”
Before the advent of Air Jordan, the NBA only allowed players to wear sneakers whose main color was white. Therefore, whenever Jordan plays a game wearing the red and black Air Jordans, he will be fined $5,000 (approximately AU$7,700) by the NBA. However, Nike chose to pay for him so that this “double-edged sword” could always wear his own boots.
With the popularity of Air Jordan, the influence of sneaker culture has also spread beyond the sports field, and its connotation has also transcended the category of functionality.
“Something changed in the early ’90s,” Jeff said.
“Different groups of people who are into different cultures, like music, hip-hop, rock, punk rock and skateboarding, they start getting into sneakers, but they don’t do it for sports, they do it to express their personality.”
“Whether it’s playing guitar, dancing or performing on stage, people are starting to wear sneakers for activities that they could only do with dress shoes before – such as going to bars, going on dates, and going out.”
“[运动与日常生活间的]That barrier began to break down.
“People started wearing sneakers to work or to a first date, and it was no longer considered inappropriate behavior. People were like, ‘Wow… you’re expressing yourself,'” Jeff said.
Jayden, the manager of the sneaker store, is a big fan of electronic music and he also works as a DJ. Electronic music, he says, introduced him to streetwear and sneaker culture.
“I am[美国音乐人、DJ]A big fan of Skrillex,” he said. “He wore a lot of early Nikes and that really influenced me before I really got into sneakers. “
“A lot of artists, they make sure they’re the brightest on stage so their audience knows who they are and how they present themselves.”
Today, the power of social media has given celebrities, athletes and their sneakers unprecedented attention. This not only changed the sneaker industry, but also transformed musicians like Travis Scott and Kanye West into sneaker designers, creating shoes for major brands. Styles can cost thousands of dollars.
However, sneakers are ultimately just sewn from colorful leather, fabric and rubber and can cost as little as $10. What is the reason that the market price of sneakers has soared from the factory price?
Create value
Chase Shiel has been making high-end custom sneakers in Melbourne for 14 years. His clients include Hollywood star Kevin Hart and Glenfiddich whiskey.
Today, when big companies like Nike and Adidas mass-produce thousands of pairs of shoes “at a cost of A$10 to A$20 per pair,” Chase still insists on making every pair of shoes by hand.
He introduced the basic process of making high-end sneakers, which takes 20 to 40 hours in total.
Depending on the design requirements (often Chess will take some liberties with a given theme or style), the first step in making a shoe is finding the right “last” – a plastic mold that determines the shoe’s basic shape.
The next step is to cut out a template for each part of the sneakers based on the shoe last, and then trace the edges of the template to cut out the desired shape on various materials…
…and then sew all the pieces together so that the upper (the part of the shoe above the sole that covers the top of the foot) is formed, while using shoe pliers to pull the leather taut to maintain its shape.
A special shoe adhesive is then applied to hold the leather in place and prepare the sole for gluing. The shoes are then put into a “sole press” and the uppers and soles are fixed together using vacuum pressing.
“After pressing, I usually leave the shoe last in there for 12 hours to ensure that the bonding is strong. Then I take the shoe last out and you can put on the laces.
“The process is like putting together a puzzle.”
Currently, most of the world’s sneakers are produced in Asian countries because local labor and production costs are lower than in European and American countries, and brands want to keep costs as low as possible.
“Asia Pacific has always been where shoes are made, and sneakers have always been an export business,” Jeff said.
Once they leave the factory, the price of sneakers really starts to skyrocket.
“if you[生产]You buy a pair of shoes that cost $25, sell them to Nike for $50, Nike sells them to retail stores for $100, and the stores sell them to customers for $200,” Jeff said.
“This is probably the economics of the sneaker industry.”
Jeff believes the only difference between shoes selling for $40 and a “sacred object” worth $100,000 in a museum is “branding and interpretation”.
“There’s even an argument that brands like Nike are no longer sneaker companies. They’re marketing companies,” Jeff said.
Jeff knows this firsthand. In 2003, Nike approached him to design a Nike SB Dunk Low shoe for New York City. After considering the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, Jeff decided to embroider a gray dove on the back end of the shoe because in his opinion, the dove, although hated by many, symbolizes the city of New York and its Street culture.
“Nike doesn’t understand what pigeons have to do with New York,” he said.
But the young New Yorker understood immediately what Jeff was trying to say. On February 22, 2005, the SB Dunk with pigeons was released, and then this happened…
There were riots on the day of the release, and people even came with weapons to buy it. What made them flock to it was the pair of SB Dunk Lows. The only difference was that the shoes released that day had Jeff’s pigeons and the story he interpreted on them. The local police even came to the sale site.
Only about 150 pairs of this shoe were produced. Today, its second-hand price ranges from $45,000 to $75,000. Sotheby’s auction house recently sold a pair of brand new sneakers of this style for A$150,000.
“As artists or creatives, our specialty is being able to communicate with a specific audience, and big brands sometimes struggle to communicate effectively with them,” Jeff said.
“I’m like the translator of this subculture.”
In addition to design and interpretation, celebrity endorsements and brand ambassadors have also made sneaker prices soar.
“If you want to buy a pair[NBA巨星]LeBron James’ sneakers, then the biggest reason why these shoes can sell for $200 is not the manufacturing cost or technology of the shoes, but the fees that the brand has to pay to LeBron James as an ambassador,” Jeff said.
In addition, the so-called “secondary market” has also driven the prices of some sneakers very high. With the above-mentioned cases and factors, many sneaker enthusiasts will hoard limited edition sneakers in the hope that their value will increase. As a result, we see people lining up outside stores so they can immediately wear the hot shoes or make a tidy profit on resale.
According to some sneaker enthusiasts and bloggers interviewed, what shoe sellers resell and what consumers want to buy is a kind of “instant vanity” – to immediately obtain items that wealthy people also want to own, and the unlocked experience is A once-in-a-lifetime cultural imprint.
For example, the Nike Air Yeezy Sample shoes worn by Kanye West at the 2008 Grammy Awards were sold at Sotheby’s in 2021 for more than AU$2.7 million.
When all these factors come together, what was once a “sporting product”, or a product that took a few days to make, becomes a hot-selling commodity, contributing to the explosive growth of this industry worth tens of billions of dollars. industry.
Artificial intelligence, virtual sneakers and the rise of Chinese brands
In the past, whenever a blockbuster new shoe model came out, violence and stabbing incidents often occurred at sales events. Teenagers even spend all their savings on shoes with a price tag that is tens of thousands of times higher than the cost. People can’t help but ask, sneaker culture has become so crazy, what will happen in the future?
“It’s all overwhelming, after all we’re not going barefoot are we?” Jeff said.
“We’re never going back to the days of wearing clog loafers and dress shoes every day.”
As for what the future will look like…
Some companies have begun exploring the use of 3D printing technology in the production of sneakers, giving us a glimpse of the future of sneakers.
“Imagine that in the future, when you walk into a sneaker store, you can measure your foot shape first, and in a few minutes they will print out a pair of shoes directly for you. This store does not need to keep inventory at all, and that pair of shoes Perfect for you too,” Jeff said.
…There are also merchants who have created “virtual sneakers” to enter the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) field. These virtual sneakers cannot be worn at all, but can be used as digital assets to be purchased and traded in the virtual space through blockchain technology…
In 2021, Nike acquired RTFKT, a company that produces NFT collections related to games and culture. Last year, the price of a virtual sneaker exceeded 200,000 Australian dollars. According to reports, Nike’s recent NFT sales and royalties revenue alone reached nearly 300 million Australian dollars.
In addition, Mr. Fan Yunshuo believes that artificial intelligence technology will also affect the sneaker industry. In the future, it can inspire designers through huge databases.
“For example, we can enter ‘sneakers that conform to public aesthetics’, and it will give you a creative feeling because it is supported by big data,” Fan Yunshuo said.
The development of these technologies may be a sign that sneaker culture is gaining momentum and moving forward. At the same time, new technologies also solve the sustainability and cost issues of sneaker production.
At the same time, Asian and Chinese sportswear brands such as Anta are on the rise. These brands are gradually realizing that they not only have the ability to produce, but also have a huge market that does not necessarily require Western brands and spokespersons.
In 2022, Anta’s turnover in China will exceed 11.2 billion Australian dollars, surpassing Nike’s 10.75 billion Australian dollars, becoming China’s largest sports brand.
Many sneakerheads and pundits believe the sneaker industry may be on its way to a repeat of the history of electronics and automobiles, where companies such as Samsung, Sony, Hyundai and Toyota successfully outperformed their Western rivals throughout the 20th century.
So while Western brands currently mainly produce and export in Asia, many believe the status quo will change in the coming years.
“Thirty years ago, people living in China, Vietnam and South Korea were not consumers, but producers of shoes sold to Europe, Japan and the United States.
“As people in these Asian countries have more disposable income and a growing middle class, they are starting to buy shoes.”
Economic growth and an expanding customer base have led some Chinese companies to realize they don’t need the United States or Germany to build their own sports brands. And this phenomenon is also shaping the future of the sneaker industry.
“Many years ago, when we mentioned Chinese domestic sports brands, people’s first reaction would be to think that they were either plagiarized, or that they did not have quality products and technology,” Fan Yunshuo said.
“But this situation has definitely changed dramatically in recent years.
“For many NBA stars (such as Kelly Irving and Jimmy Butler), I believe that when they connect with Chinese brands, they not only see the remuneration paid to them by the Chinese brands, but more importantly, the products they receive are genuine. You can wear it to play games.”
Cooperation with Chinese brands brings a lot of attention to these stars in the Chinese market. In addition, it will also bring business opportunities including “China Tour”.
“These will also greatly improve their own market influence and popularity,” Fan Yunshuo said, but he also believes that there is still some way to go before Chinese brands can finally enter the Western market.
But no matter what the future of sneakers will look like, some sneaker enthusiasts like Fan Yunshuo are resistant to “virtual sneakers”. He still believes that the cultural value of sneakers exists in those limited number of physical products. And most people agree that the sneaker market will continue to thrive and continue to change and evolve.
“With all the CEOs, accountants, lawyers, and athletes in the world wearing sneakers 365 days a year, you can’t pay them enough money to wear uncomfortable loafers,” Jeff said. “We Dress shoes may be worn occasionally for weddings or special occasions.”
“But overall, sneakers are our choice.”
Read the story in English: Read the story in English
production staff
Reporting and writing: Kai FengPhotography and Fine Arts:Jarrod FankhauserAdditional coverage:Declan BaileyVideo content and additional photography:Olivia Ralph, Getty Images or Supplied.Production and editing:Steven Viney
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2023-09-14 19:24:25
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