Sneakers

Sneakers, one of the items that is a necessity for the average walking-running human (I mean...who wouldn’t have a pair of sneakers?). Sneakers were primarily designed to be used during sports, but it has evolved into everday use. From being used in casual streetwear to designer catwalk ramps, it obviously is responsible for one of the largest industries globally. 

The term ‘sneaker’ first began in the US during 1870 to describe the shoe as quiet -- sneak-y. The first sneaker appeared in England during the 1830s. It was designed by John Boyd Dunlop in Liverpool Rubber by sticking a bonded canvas outer to a rubber sole. These were known as sandshoes and were worn by Victorians during beach excursions. During the latter decades of the 19th century, sports became more popular and exclusivity for the sport wear requirements particularly tennis, started to emerge. People started complaining and were in search of comfortable footwear when they stumbled upon Dunlop’s footwear (no pun intended). From then on, the trend caught fire and soon, more and more companies began releasing their own versions of this footwear. In the 1950’s, it was accepted in schools and kids in the US already began wearing sneakers with their new denim jeans. It was a style favoured by celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando. However, it took a complete decade for sneakers to truly become used commonly worldwide.  

During the 1970s, sneakers were mainly connected to hip-hop culture and skateboarding. The explosion of hip hop from the mid-1980’s and its global dominance meant that sneakers quickly became a symbol of hip-hop and was seperated from the mainstream.

According to theconversation.com, the global sneaker market is said to be valued at $79B USD in 2020, and to reach $120B by 2026. During the last decade, drastic changes have been made in the footwear industry. Sneakers are no longer frowned upon during formal occassions, but are accepted and admired. The dominance of athletic wear grew over the years and had a significant impact on the growth of sneakers. One of the largest sneaker brands are Nike. Named after the winged greek goddess of victory, it was an immediate hit. These shoes were aimed to revolutionize athletic performance -- and it did. With a net worth of approximately $32.4B USD, Nike has managed to successfully dominate the shoe industry and is listed as the ‘Most Valuable Apparel Brand’. Ranging from as basic as an Air Force 1 to sophisticated Jordan 1’s.

I personally love sneakers and don’t think I will ever get tired of this genius creation. Sneakers would be my go-to footwear and I wear them 99.9% of the time. When I spot someone out of the blue, the first thing I notice would be their footwear (yes, I know it’s quite strange). It gives me a sense of what type of person they are and their style. One of my favourite sneakers would have to be the Jordan 1’s but there is a danger of it being overrated and oversubscribed. As our new generation progresses, we mostly depend on shoes that are ‘in trend’ but we need to realise that there will be a stage when the hype will die down. The history of sneakers is long and unpredictable and I doubt it will stop growing anytime soon.