Why Do We Collect Sneakers?

We’ve all had that conversation; talking to a non-sneakerhead, seeing the confused look on their face as you talk about sneakers with great abandon. People collect baseball cards, stamps, Happy Meal Toys, but why can’t people get their head around sneaker collecting? What’s so odd about a passion for something you wear on your feet every single day? There are so many facets to enjoy; comfort, style, history, colourways, collaborations, sentimentality, nostalgia… the list goes on. Ok, maybe the odd bit is the fact we own ones that sit on top of the wardrobe at home, collecting dust for years on end before we finally pluck up the courage to put them on feet, that is, if we end up wearing them at all.

When it comes to collectors, there are two ends of the spectrum; some collectors have just 5 to 10 pairs, and carefully curate their sneaker rotation, but there are also collectors who just have to have everything. Miami Heat’s P. J. Tucker, generally accepted as the NBA’s biggest sneakerhead, has accumulated over 5,000 pairs of sneakers. Bear in mind, he is now in his 15th NBA season, so he can afford it.

We recently took to Twitter to ask our followers "Why do you collect sneakers?", and the answer was clear with almost 80% responding with "I just love sneakers". We all have our reasons for loving sneakers, but collecting them is a different kettle of fish.

I’ve been into sneakers since a very young age, and being the youngest in a family of nine (all of whom played basketball) there were plenty of hand-me-downs. I grew up seeing my sisters play in LA Gear, Cons Aero Jets, and the Air Jordan 7 "Olympics" in the '80s and '90s, and then my brothers in their Reebok Pump Omni 2’s and Air Jordan 5 in the early '90s. Needless to say I was surrounded by friends and teammates showing off their latest pick-ups on court too. To show how deep the passion runs, I can still vividly see the kid at high school who had the Air Jordan 12 "Taxis". I remember exactly where we were in school, and that I stared straight at his feet from the end of one period, until he walked off to his next class. I thought they were incredible. I still remember that, and that was 1996.

So, although I’ve always had a love for sneakers, I feel it has gotten stronger over the years as retro models are released and they bring with them fond memories and flashbacks to the glory days. These glory days for me aren’t just feelings of sentimentality, seeing sneakers released year after year that my older siblings rocked decades ago; for me it also goes back to '90s NBA, heralded as one of the best eras in basketball - not just the game itself, but the sneakers worn on-court.

From the Shaqnosis to the Air Uptempos, there was serious heat in every game. And, seeing new releases of pairs like the Reebok Pump Omni Lite 2 takes me right back to 1991, Dee Brown pausing to pump his tongues just before his alley-oop double-pump reverse in the Dunk Contest. And the re-release of the Kamikazes; I can close my eyes and see Shawn Kemp flying high in the 1996 NBA All-Star Game. And of course, any Air Jordan from 1 to 14, I can picture countless games with MJ reaching new heights, breaking records, and taking apart opponents in whichever incredible model was released that year.

For some of us, we like to be able to own what we couldn’t when we were younger, whether that be financial reasons, or in the case of my 2018 Air Jordan 3 "Black Cement" purchase, pairs that were released when we were too young to buy them at the time (original release was 1988… when I was seven years old).

Some collect simply for the street cred, or to flex with the ultimate fit on Instagram. And that means having the latest and greatest, most hyped, most elusive pairs of Jordans or Yeezys. Although you can be in to Jordans and Yeezys without doing it because they’re hyped, there are also a lot of sneakerheads who simply want the most expensive, most limited pairs to simply to show them off. And some just like the feeling they get lacing rare sneakers up, knowing there’s something extra special about their pair.

This then brings us to the "One to rock, one to stock" dynamic of the sneaker game. When a sneaker is released, some sneakerheads try to pick up multiple pairs, so they have one to wear, and one to keep "on ice" or "DS" (deadstock). There can be many reasons for this too; some plan to wear the second pair once the first are worn out, but for some, the second pair may genuinely never leave the box - usually for sentimental reasons. Others plan on reselling the second pair to make up for, if not completely cover, the cost of the first pair. With the price of sneakers ever on the rise, it’s hard to blame them.

Another reason for collecting is the satisfaction of collecting a full set. Of course there has to be the initial love of sneakers to begin with, but for some sneakerheads, it can begin with one pair, and then snowball into a search for every colourway or model of a certain sneaker line.

An Australian collector did just that as he began his Jordan collection with the 1 and 2, only for that to grow into a collection of 27 pairs. He now has 1 to 23 (with some double packs). He said that as soon as he had the 1 and 2, he just looked down a long road of searching, researching and collecting, and liked what he saw. He has kept a meticulous spreadsheet of his collection, along with photos for each pair, and with all pairs unworn in their original boxes. He also said the only time he thought about reselling would only be to trade a size 7.5 for an 8. Once he's done that, he'll feel complete, and then think about whether he'll keep the sneakers forever, or sell them as a full set.

Some simply collect to resell and reselling is a major driver for sneaker collecting these days whether we like it or not, even coming in as the second highest response in our sneaker poll. The sneaker resale market was worth an incredible £4.2 billion as of 2019, and it’s growing. It’s a lucrative market that many people are making a more than decent living from. Even some sneakerheads who purchase with the best of intention sometimes decide they’ve changed their mind, and need to off-load multiple pairs of their collection, and reselling is the way out.

Even Jordan Geller, an American sneaker collector who created his ShoeZeum to showcase his incredible collection, where he had amassed over 2,500 pairs of Nikes and Jordans, eventually started selling them off. He said it became an unhealthy obsession and he decided to part ways with some of his most beloved items; most famously with a pair of signed, game-worn Jordan 1s which were estimated by Sotheby’s to sell for $150,000, but eventually sold for $560,000 through the world-famous auction house.

Whatever the reason for collecting, it always starts with a passion for sneakers. What initial form that takes, and how that evolves over the years, is down to the individual. The great thing is, it keeps the sneakers around. Although a lot of people look down on the reselling market, it does mean you may suddenly be able to cop that pair you missed out on years ago. And, what it certainly does is keep you on the hunt, sometimes for a specific sneaker, sometimes for something you never knew you needed, but rest assured, there will always be a next pair.