Smaller sneaker brands are tired of the Goliaths ruling the industry…and it looks like someone just found a slingshot.
By Sky Gellatly

Today’s sneaker landscape is a quagmire of hits and misses. The biggest footwear brands are pumping out kicks faster than the blogosphere can chronicle their creation, and every reputable artist and specialty store imaginable has been co-opted in an effort to imbue tired old kicks with a backbone of significance. But nothing is sticking.

In fact, a once riotous subculture of limited-edition kicks has become sorely oversaturated. “There are way too many half-baked ideas, multi-technicolor messes and prints,” says Sung Choi, principal and creative director of Clae. Faced with a glut of questionable choices, many devout sneaker collectors who once saw sneakers as objects d’art have started veering toward sneakers made of—not as—canvas. Enter the independent sneaker brands.