The year’s almost in the books, and it’s been a wild 12 months for me, resulting in my focus being more on my personal health and happiness rather than irrational anger at inanimate objects. The “Triggered Meter” has been at an all-time low. With that said, there are still things that irk me, especially when it comes to sneakers, and there’s only so much time for me to rant about those things on Full Size Run or the Complex Sneakers Podcast (which you should be watching and listening to, respectively), so here’s the extended version of it.
I might be alone with this, and it might even be seen as hypocritical coming from the man who’s accused of wearing a different variation of the same sneaker every day, but I’m tired of there only being a handful of sneakers that people like these days. Blame it on Instagram, but here are the only shoes that seem OK to wear: Air Jordan 1s (in a million different colorways), anything Virgil Abloh x Nike, Sacai x Nike, Travis Scott x Air Jordan—and that’s about it. It’s not that you can’t wear other sneakers, but those are the only ones the internet is pushing in your face everyday, whether it be through on-foot shots on Instagram, or rumors of new colorways, or bullshit photoshops that suck, or even awful custom jobs. That’s it.
The worst part about it is that it cheapens great shoes. You get sick of them. You see the same shoes get marched down the NBA tunnel every night, picked up by celebrities who are trying to appeal to the sneaker audience, and fawned over by just about everyone. Then the resale price skyrockets. No one can afford them, unless you save up a month’s salary or shift five pairs of shoes just to make it happen. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I respect the hustle, but this truly isn’t the way it should be. I’m not saying don’t like these shoes. If you want them, go for them. I hope you can get a pair and wear them. But as Mayor put it, if your whole collection is grails, you’re not a sneakerhead. You don’t have to buy random sneakers or ones that no one likes. But take some time, find out what you really like, and don’t be afraid to wear a sneaker if it’s not on a top-10-of-the-year list. Or resells for $1,000. Who knows, you might find a sneaker you didn’t know existed, really like them, and even be able to purchase them with relative ease. That’s what sneakers should be about.
Here’s the part of the story where I say, “Fuck StockX.” And I’m totally justified for it. As many people know, it was revealed back in August that reselling marketplace StockX had its user database hacked, with personal information being sold off on the Dark Web for $300—and then lied about it. The company told its users that they needed to change their passwords due to system updates, but it was really because of the hack. That forced the company to finally admit it. Who knows, maybe they were more focused on becoming a “billion-dollar company” than making sure that its users info was safe. But the situation was never fixed, and people’s info still isn’t properly protected. Orders are being made from accounts by people who don’t own the account. It’s a whole lot of bullshit. My account got hit for damn-near $450 around Thanksgiving by someone from Canarsie in Brooklyn purchasing a pair of Yeezy Waverunners. Fun times. You hear the stories on the daily. And the company says “it’s working on things." Who knows if that will ever really happen? I think they need to shut everything down until it can assure its users aren’t being robbed blind. But what do I know? Fuck StockX. Use someone else to sell your shoes.
With that said, let’s talk more about reselling sneakers. The secondary sneaker market has really changed the way we buy, wear, and think about sneakers. If a sneaker doesn’t sell out right way, presumably to people trying to make money off of it, it’s not a good shoe. Says who? We’re so worried about what other people think, that we forget to make up our own minds. I think it’s cool that people can make a living off sneakers, and reselling shoes is a necessary evil. But when all the focus becomes reselling—hell, I even make a portion of my living off asking people if they’ve resold the damn things—you know something is out of wack. Here’s another one of my old man moments, but when I see people getting praised for posting images of themselves with a 100 pairs of a shoe that just came out, it’s hard to figure out why it’s so cool. We get it, you’re the plug. You’ve got the backdoor open. You purchased every Yeezy within a 10-mile radius of your parent’s house. Congratulations, and I mean it. But when we get to a point where reselling sneakers is cooler than wearing them, I don’t know what to make of it. We need to take a step back and reevaluate a few things.
Buzzwords suck. People take a word that becomes popular, use it to no end (and usually in the wrong context), and make it lose its original meaning. One of those words at the moment is “gatekeeping.” There are folks out there with the Principal Skinner “it’s the kids who are out of touch” mentality, that can’t see why a younger generation is into something different than them. That’s dumb. What’s even dumber, though, is when The Youth think anyone who has an opinion that’s factually based is “gatekeeping.” Sit your prepubescent ass down and try and grow some facial hair. Here’s something you need to know: Sneaker culture and the industry, for the most part, is built off nostalgia. Being part of the sneaker world means you need to get a quick history lesson. You need to learn that Michael Jordan jumped from the free-thow line in Air Jordan IIIs in 1988. Certain Nike SB Dunks are worth revisiting because they were considered “good” back in the day and others were crap. The list could go on and on. Each one teach one, or whatever corny mantras people say. “Back in my day” you had to read up on shoes and understand why they were important. Sneaker companies are bringing back old shoes not just because they look great, but to stoke memories. If we can’t expect people to pay attention to these stories, then why bother?
There’s also high-fashion brands getting into the sneaker game and driving up prices. That sucks, but don’t need to get into that again. Adidas struggling to make mainstream sneakers outside of the Yeezy line. And the list continues. Let’s hope all of this gets left in 2019. Onward and upwards, my friends. There are still plenty of great things in sneakers right now. Great retros. Great content to watch. Plenty of options at retail. And I’m not mad about any of those, but let me get this off my chest and clear my head before the new year starts. See you at the gym.
