10 Celebrities And The Sneakers They Made Popular

You have to admit celebrities have more than a little bit of influence over our style choices — why else are you stalking our Spotted section trying to see Cudi's latest leather jacket and Jordan combo? Athletes have traditionally had the most clout in terms of showcasing footwear and making us feel like we need that in our lives, but a few celebrities have had similar ties to shoes that made us want to grab a pair to be like our idols. We decided to break down 10 Celebrities And The Sneakers They Made Popular — be sure to let us know who influenced you in the comments.

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Shoe: Nike Air Force 1

OK, it's not like no one was wearing Air Force 1s before "Air Force Ones" dropped in 2002. After all, they'd been around for 20 years already. But when Nelly dropped Nellyville, it was his ode to needing two purrs that had them flying off every Foot Locker shelf across the nation. Ten years later, the white-on-whites are still a must.

Shoe: Converse One Star

One of the most duplicated looks in the early '90s — Cobain made emo and flannel cool almost single handedly. The Converse One Stars (along with Chucks and Jack Purcells) were a must for the Seattle grunge movement popularized by Nirvana's frontman. Now you can get them at Target.

Shoe: Nike Air Safari

Biz is one of the OG hip-hop sneakerheads (if not THE OG hip-hop sneakerhead). Most of you may be to young to remember anything he did other than "Just a Friend," but Biz had mad influence and has been holding it down since the '80s in classics like 1987's Nike Safari (which he put on the map). The Safari, along with the Air Jordan II, represented Nike's entry into the sports-luxury market, and the game ain't been the same since.

Shoe: Nike Foamposites

The Foamposite king. Wale is a beast when it comes to sneakers and simply spits it how he lives it. If you stay connected to our "spotted" section you know he stunts in Foams months before we even know when they will release. And while the intrigue was there from the moment Mike Bibby wore the molded blue marvels in the 1997 Big Dance, Wale (and the rest of his DMZ brethren) took Penny Hardaway's futuristic kicks to a whole new level.

Shoe: BAPE

Always a style king and possibly one of the most influential people over the past decade, once Skateboard P took a liking to Japanese fashion it was a wrap (for people's wallets). He helped introduce us to Nigo's army of BAPE hoodies and kicks that had heads on Google Translate trying to cop limited pairs by any means necessary. Like you would have worn Spongebob Squarepants shoes on your own.

Shoe: Nike Dunk Retros

We had to pay respect to one of the biggest sneaker connoisseurs to ever do it. Adam Goldstein AKA DJ AM, part of the legendary Air Mack$ crew along with Ben Baller and DJ Homicide, was stacking some of the dopest sneakers — especially Dunks — to ever release and some that never even saw the light of day. And even after his untimely death in 2009, he stayed influencing as his family put up his collection on eBay for fans and collectors. Nike even paid homage to him with his own pair of Dunks — now that's a legacy.

Shoe: Supra

Weezy's recent deal with Supra caught a few people off guard, mainly because he's been so all over the place. It's been a minute though since Young Money's CEO has stayed laced in Supra kicks, from his custom joints for the BET Awards to belting out the National Anthem in Camo S1Ws at the World Series. Skytops were mostly just curiosities until Wayne started wearing 'em. Now, can we finally get a good look at his signature kicks?

Shoes: adidas Superstars

Whoever thought hip-hop could take it this far? Imagine having the Garden packed with thousands of people rapping your song "My adidas" word-for-word while holding up their own pairs. adidas recognized the star power and eventually gave the crew their own deal, one of the first non-athlete moves by a shoe company. We're thinking it paid off for both sides.

Shoe: adidas x Jeremy Scott

Other celebs sported Jeremy Scott's wild kicks here and there, but A$AP has been steadily killing them well before he graced our cover and has yet to slow down. No one's style in the rap game quite replicates Rocky's, and not many can pull off the over-the-top looks that Scott is so well-known for designing. When are these two going to finally link up for a collab?

Shoe: Nike Air Yeezy

Duh.