State of Sneakers: What The Sneaker Game Will Look Like in Five Years

A look at the future of this sneaker thing.

July 26, 2013

Image via Complex Original

This State of Sneakers week has been eye-opening for us (and hopefully for you) as we've come to realize the good, bad and just downright sad things about sneakers. That said, we've really never been more optimistic about the future of things. With more people in the game, it means that the consumer can become a powerful player if they play smart. You know, chess, not checkers. While we all know resellers can get some of those coveted retros, we also know that we can change things with the purchasing power we have. The Nike RSVP system is a perfect example of that. Twitter releases weren't working, sites were overloading and now there's more opportunity to pick up shoes locally (at least in theory). That said, technology surrounding releases is bound to change to better the process for consumers. It may not seem that way on Saturday mornings but even Nike wants to make us happy with our buying experience. Technology within sneakers is also changing at a rapid pace. For better or worse, is up to sneakerheads to decide. There are some things that we can see coming down the road, however, regardless of whether we like it or not. Check out What The Sneaker Game Will Look Like in Five Years and let us know where you think the state of sneakers will be in five years.

Prices will continue to rise as long as people continue to buy.

This one should be simple enough: Companies are in this to make money, and they will charge as much as customers will pay. Complaining about prices is one thing, but as long as the sneaker sells, the price is justified. And with a sneaker like the Yeezy II instantly re-selling for a 90 percent markup in the secondary market, obviously companies still have room to play. Will retail prices rise so high that they eliminate the secondary market entirely? That is up to you.

The Nike Plus System will measure things you didn't even think of.

You already know what sneakerheads want the Nike Plus System to measure but what will it actually measure five years from now? Well, considering it can measure the amount of energy you expend throughout the day, the next logical step is how much you take in. Your daily goals might become more about increasing your Fuel Points if you can see just how many that stop at Dunkin Donuts cost you.

More celebrities will have their own signature sneakers.

Yeezy taugh-OK, we should really stop saying that.

ID programs will become even more customizable.

Maybe ID and customization programs won't make inline colorways entirely obsolete, but as design-to-door time shrinks (New Balance's USA-made program representing the pinnacle) and as long as the difference in price between off-the-rack and bespoke isn't completely absurd, it seems that a greater and greater number of sneaker aficionados would opt for one-of-ones. And if that happens, look for said programs to offer more and more options, which should in turn make them even more popular. And so on.

LeBron's signature sneakers will be retroed.

All signs indicate that LeBron isn't interested in seeing his shoes start to retro until he retires. Which is fair enough, after all, Jordan retros didn't start until after Mike (temporarily) hung them up in '93. We're not saying that LeBron will be retired by 2018 - hey, he'll only be 33 - but it's going to be really hard for Nike to keep the Air Zoom Generation off the shelves for much longer. (Hint. Hint.)

Some of you reading this will be working in the sneaker industry.

With people like D'Wayne Edwards creating opportunities for aspiring footwear designers with programs like Pensole, the opportunity to become the next D'Wayne, Tinker, Ronnie Fieg or Adi Dassler has never been more ripe for the picking. Literally, the entire sneaker world is at your fingertips and the truly great people in this industry will always lend a helping hand to create a better future for the sneaker industry.

The sneaker market will become even more competitive.

Never before has there been so much attention on the sneaker industry and never before has there been so much money to be made. Brands and investors see this and with the U.S. market as the driving force in sneakers, and the economy and jobless rates looking better everyday, five years from now might have us seeing ad campaigns with balls again. Remember Pump Up and Air Out? Yeah, competition is nothing but a beautiful thing for consumers. It means everyone steps up to create better product or they get left behind.

A sneaker customizer will launch his own footwear brand.

Let's face it, customizers aren't going anywhere. People like Mache Customs and JBF Customs are putting their creations on the feet of celebrities and superstar athletes like Wale, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. It's only a matter of time before one of these customizers takes the leap of faith to go from switching up colors on new releases to creating new releases themselves.

Local sneaker spots will become more appreciated.

Even as the internet has made everything accessible, super-low production numbers, widely announced release times and bot-friendly RSVP systems have driven would-be consumers mad. Convenience isn't always so convenient. One answer is for those same consumers to open their own shops in their own communities. Because who knows better what a would-be consumer would want? Once upon a time, local shops were the only choice. Sometimes theyre still the best one.

Performance will become important again.

Make no mistake, performance always matters. But it's reached a point where the performance market and retro market are almost completely disconnected. Not that people don't buy current performance sneakers for lifestyle purposes, but it doesn't seem to carry the same weight as it did back in the pre-retro '80s and '90s. But as the same retros cycle through production again and again and even the deepest, darkest crevices of back catalogs are strip-mined barren, high performance footwear will once again become coveted.