The 25 Most Influential People in Sneakers Right Now

There are many reasons someone can be influential in sneakers, athletes & rappers will always have a certain level of cultural cool. Here are The Most influential

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Influence is the bug that no one can escape. No matter how hard someone tries to fight it, there's always another person who, even slightly, dictates their decisions. Especially when it comes to sneakers. It's funny to joke around and say that people are #influencers, but there are people who actually make trends happen within sneakers.

There are many reasons someone can be influential in sneakers. Athletes and rappers will always have a certain level of cultural cool, but there are also people behind stores, who run social media accounts, and design the actual sneakers.

When making this list, we didn't take "power" into account. That's a different list. So CEOs of retail stores and brand employees who simply hold important-sounding titles weren't included. With that said, here are The Most Influential People in Sneakers Right Now.

RELATED: The 25 Most Powerful People in Sneakers

RELATED: The 50 Most Influential People in Sneaker History

25. Paul Ruffles

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24. Peter Poopat and Flavio Girolami

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23. JBF Customs and Mache

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22. Tyler, the Creator

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21. Macklemore

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20. Mike Packer

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19. DJ Clark Kent

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18. Heidi Burgett

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17. Yu-Ming Wu

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Role: Founding editor, Sneakernews, Freshness Mag, founder of Sneakercon 

He's the man behind some of your favorite sneaker sources. As the publisher of Sneaker News, Freshness Mag, Celeb Kicks, and Jordans Daily, Yu-Ming has had a hand in informing the sneaker community about what's important since the beginning (of the internet sneaker boom, anyway). He's also one of the men behind the @sneakernews handle on Instagram, which boasts well over a million followers and was ranked by Mashable as one of the most followed brands on the social media app.

Not only that, but he's also given sneakerheads a place to gather. Yu-Ming founded Sneaker Con in 2009 and the kicks expo has expanded outside of New York and into cities like Chicago, Washington, D.C., and soon New Orleans.

16. Jeremy Scott

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15. A$AP Rocky

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14. Swizz Beatz

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13. Victor Cruz

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12. Kobe Bryant

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11. Kevin Durant

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10. Gentry Humphrey

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9. Ronnie Fieg

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8. Marc Dolce

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9. Phil Knight

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6. Drake

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5. Tinker Hatfield

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4. Michael Jordan

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3. LeBron James

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2. Mark Parker

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1. Kanye West

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