If the sneaker fits…

The sports shoe on the street
The popularity of sneakers increased in the 1970s. Young people took to wearing trainers en masse to imitate their sporting heroes. But sneakers were also popular with musicians, movie stars and hippies. The Adidas leather sneaker played an important part, meanwhile, on the hip-hop scene, where it was adopted by rappers, break-dancers and fans. As hip-hop grew even more popular in the 1980s and 90s, even more young people wanted to add a pair of sneakers to their wardrobe.

Sneakers only became popular with the public at large around 1980. During a public transport strike in New York, many commuters found themselves having to travel to work and back on foot. It wasn’t practical for women to cover such long distances in heels, so they turned to running shoes. These were a lot more comfortable and made the long walk easier to bear. From that moment on, sports shoes began to be worn much more frequently ‘in normal life’ and as time passed they became a genuine fashion item.

Collaboration with fashion designers and scientists
Now that sports shoes have become more and more commonplace, manufacturers regularly work with fashion designers and labels. An important example of collaboration between a fashion house and a sneaker company is that of the Japanese-French label Comme des Garçons and Converse, a leading sports shoe manufacturer. Comme des Garçons printed playful red hearts on the classic canvas ‘All Star’ baseball boot that Converse has been making since 1917. Each heart contains two little eyes, the label’s trademark feature. Converse has been a subsidiary of Nike Inc. since 2003, and so the Japanese fashion house has placed its stamp on a number of other shoes in the Nike range too. It has livened up several Nike sneakers with jewellery, for instance, or luminous colours. And not just Nike: Comme des Garçons is also working on Vans sneakers. These shoes can be worn for sports, but they’re mostly marketed as fashion shoes with a sporty look.

Comme des Garçons isn’t the only fashion house to team up with a sports shoe maker: other designers and artists are keen to collaborate too. Balmain, for instance, is launching a streamlined sneaker for the Puma brand. The artist Sue Tsai (New York, 1987) designs sneakers with a camouflage print for the same company and decorates shoes with cheerful, hand-painted flowers. Adidas too is looking to increase its collaboration with fashion designers. It has joined forces with, among others, the American fashion designer Jeremy Scott (Kansas City, 1975), who is known for his humorous designs. He has given a colourful twist to the distinctive Adidas logo (the familiar leaves and three stripes).

Besides Scott, Stella McCartney (London, 1971) also works with Adidas. The eco-conscious fashion designer has launched an advanced and sustainable sneaker with a futuristic look. At first sight, her design looks a bit like a sock. But if you examine the sneaker more closely, you can see that McCartney has thought carefully about the design: the combination of different materials supports the foot well and gives it plenty of freedom to move. In this way, her design incorporates the characteristics of a typical sports shoe as well as being an imposing and fashionable eye-catcher.

It’s not only fashion designers who are partnering with sports shoe companies: scientists too team up regularly with different brands. Science and technology are very important to sports shoe makers: research into grip, fit, stability and cushioning can boost an athlete’s performance. At the same time, it is increasingly important for sports shoes to be developed sustainably. Scientists can contribute to this by researching and advising on production techniques and materials that contribute to a ‘cleaner’ or climate-neutral production process.

The expensive sneaker
But not everyone buys a pair of sneakers for sport or even to wear day-to-day: some are never worn at all and become genuine collectibles or investment items. ‘Special sneakers’ of this kind are often produced in limited editions: a particular model of shoe that the maker (Nike, say) only releases onto the market in small numbers. In the higher price segment, these shoes can cost anything from 4,500 to 13,000 euros. Since only a limited number of pairs are available, a lively trade is automatically created. The scarcity of the limited editions has spawned a billion-dollar business. But these aren’t the only shoes to be avidly traded. Sneakers by designer brands like Balenciaga, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Rick Owens and Off-White have also proved extremely popular lately. Exclusive and expensive ‘sports shoes’ sell like the proverbial hot cakes. The sporty designs created by these brands have had a huge impact on the entire shoe industry: other manufacturers too are keen to draw inspiration from the look of this designer footwear.

Looking back
The rise of the sneaker has been rapid. In 2002, the journalist Elleke van Duin expressed her surprise in the Dutch magazine Elsevier at the spread of sports shoes. In no time at all, she spotted no fewer than 13 people wearing sneakers (imagine that!).

Strike or no strike, the sports shoe has become an integral part of the street scene. Over 1.1 billion pairs of sneakers are sold worldwide every year. From the corporate executive to the politician, the person at the checkout and the old folk in the retirement home, pretty much everyone has a pair of sports shoes in their closet. Nowadays, you’d be hard put to find anyone who never wears them. So, if the sneaker fits, why would you ever take it off?