Here's Why Every Sneakerhead Should Love GRs

The general release sneaker is a rarely-seen species these days, as it’s been pushed near to extinction by the dominating force of limited-edition collaborations. Drops that were once the highlights of a sneakerheads month are now simply flickers of light in the dark abyss of high-heat releases.

There’s no denying that the footwear market is absolutely flooded right now. There’s more releases each week than ever before and this is catering to the ever-growing audience of the sneaker world. Rappers such as Kanye West and Travis Scott have bought sneakers into the mainstream world, let alone recent collaborations with brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and Virgil Abloh’s hype-centric work with the Swoosh brand.

Here at The Sole Supplier we’re huge advocates of general release sneakers and watching the market for these pairs slowly decline worries us greatly. We’re all genuine sneakerheads with a lot of love for the industry and of course for our favourite silhouettes.

While copping the latest high-heat will often make us happy, there’s also no greater feeling than grabbing that GR you’ve been after for a steal in the sale! Join us now as we dive right into why every sneakerhead should absolutely love GRs...

If you genuinely love sneakers and you’ve done your research, you’ll know that GRs are in fact where it all started! Back in the day when Tinker Hatfield was pumping out the Air Max 1 and Peter Moore designed the Air Jordan 1, there were no special edition collaborations. The OG colorways were in fact GRs, despite how much they may resell for today!

By copping a GR sneaker, you’re showing love to roots of the industry and proving that you’re not just here for a fleeting moment, you actually care about sneakers! Are you really interested in footwear or are you just obsessed with limited edition drops?

Ok, we get it, you love collaborations! We all do, it’s no lie that they’re an extremely important part of sneaker culture in general, but it’s time to face the facts. Without general release sneakers, these high-heat collabs would cease to exist! Without the original Dunk from 1985, Virgil Abloh’s hyped take on the classic would never see the light of day!

By deconstructing these hyped releases and analysing what makes them so cool, it’s clear that the original design can be held pretty accountable! We all loved the Denham x Nike Air Max 95 when it dropped earlier this year, so perhaps that shoe is so damn good because Sergio Lozano’s 1995 original is a timeless classic (so head out and buy a GR pair of 95s, you won’t regret it)!

Fed up of taking L’s in raffles? Hate getting cart-jacked at the last minute? SNKRS app got you down again? No worries, just get into GR sneakers instead! There’s nothing more satisfying than walking into your local sneaker store, picking up a great GR off the shelves and purchasing it with ease.

The best thing about general release sneakers is how easy they are to cop most of the time. If you’ve got your eyes on a decent GR, the likelihood is that it’ll be widely available and numbers will be high, so you’re not going to be disappointed like you were when you didn’t get your hands on the Union 4s! Yep, us too...

There’s also nothing quite like picking up a pair you’ve had your eyes on for a minute for 50% off in the sale and it happens way more than you might think. With demand for GR sneakers lower than ever, it’s increasingly likely that they’ll hit the sales, which means one thing - bargains.

I recently had my eye on a pair of sneakers that retailed at £220 and watched them subsequently drop all the way down to £50 over the period of a few months. The feeling when I finally got my hands on them for less than 25% of the original RRP was incomparable! Here at The Sole Supplier we’ve also seen increasing demand for sale sneakers and have even set up our very own Twitter account The Sole Sales to highlight all the best bargains!

If you’re serious about sneakers and want to start forming a decent collection, it’s essential you realise that general releases are the foundations of a strong collection. You could have all the heat in the world, yet without strong GRs your rotation is going to look a little too extra.

Those pairs that garner regular wear each year and never go out of style, it’s likely that they’re GRs. Hype comes and goes but great sneakers will always be on-trend, so stock up on those versatile and readily-available sneakers now and watch your style elevate to the next level!

We wrote this article at risk of sounding totally elitist, so let us assure you that’s not the case at all. To put it simply the footwear industry is becoming increasingly oversaturated, all we’re trying to encourage you to do is to take a step back and remember why you got into sneakers in the first place - because they look so damn good!

The hype that surrounds us can sometimes become overwhelming, overpowering and even at times depressing. So to take away from this, remember to chill for a moment and have a breather from all the hype by going out to cop a great general release sneaker, we’re almost certain that you’ll thank us for it!