10 Misconceptions of Sneakerheads From Mainstream Media

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Many portrayals of "sneakerheads" (better defined as "people buying and/or selling sneakers who are willing to talk to the press") seem to focus on the moneymaking side of things to the expense of everything else. Whether it's how much their collections are worth or how much they can make flipping a recent release, sneakerheads are often portrayed as little more than drug dealers with legitimacy. There's a lot more to it, of course, but the profit angle makes a better soundbite on the evening news or a better slug on a magazine cover.

This also comes from interviewing teens. Everyone is happy to think that they're the first to experience whatever it is they're experiencing, and nothing but age and - well, experience - clues someone into the fact that others walked the same path. There haven't been sneakerheads quite as long as there have been sneakers, but the teen collectors and flippers of today still have entire generations that preceded them.

Why is it that sneakers only make it into (or onto) the news when something bad happens? For every robbery or riot, there are literally hundreds of releases that go off without a hitch (not to mention hundreds of thousands of sneakers sold). There are also efforts made to help out every day, whether it's on the level of a shop sending excess stock to a disaster area, or a collector giving someone less fortunate a single pair of sneakers. If the MSM focused on the positive as often as they did the negative, opinions could change for the better.

New technology always makes headlines, in part because the companies who create it are looking to share it in any way possible. That doesn't mean your average sneakerhead (whoever that is) is rushing out to buy whatever it is, seduced by corporate techspeak. Now, that isn't to say some new tech doesn't generate excitement, but when the most popular shoes in the world were designed in 1982 and the '20s respectively (Chuck Taylor, holla), it's not like it's a major concern.

Young fans are great to focus on when it comes to almost anything. Their stories are fresh, their passion is (usually) genuine, the images are great. But it also infantilizes the culture and presents as the whole many aspects that are just a small pieces of the bigger story. That wide-eyed wonder that makes teens so appealing as subjects still exists within older collectors and enthusiasts, it's just tempered by a lot of real-world wisdom and experience. Who wants to hear that?

Just because a release has a huge line - or a violent one - doesn't mean the entire sneaker world is part of it. Sneakerheads are a diverse group like any other, and to paint them with a broad brush is to miss much of the nuance. Even the most popular retro/limited releases are by their very nature a very small part of the bigger picture, and a shoe like the Air Monarch - sold at every department store - represents a much larger piece of the pie. But an everyday release doesn't make headlines.

The single-minded people make for the best interviews and thus get the most press. So the average person thinks of a sneakerhead as someone with thousands of pairs of sneakers - perhaps organized in a spreadsheet, and kept in airtight boxes - and little more to their life than organizing (and adding to) their collection. Which is kind of like portraying Kobe Bryant as the average basketball player. Those single-minded people exist, but are as rare in our culture as Kobe is in his.

Go to 72nd Street on any given Saturday, and you'll find an orderly line assembled outside of West-one of NYC's finest contemporary sneaker stores. The weekly ritual of the "line up" has become part of the sneaker landscape. Consider these moments early morning collectors club meetings. There might be boasting, and maybe a little ribbing, but violence? Nah. Releases, by and large, are really just an excuse to get together with like minded people (just don't call all assembled sneakerheads).

Yes, the most expensive sneakers are more expensive now than they've ever been. Is this a problem? Not really. Because for every $260 LeBron, there are literally hundreds of less-expensive alternatives. For all the outrage over the latest high-dollar pairs, you'd think parents were required to buy their kids the most expensive shoes on the shelf. Just because your kid got a driver's license doesn't mean you have to buy him or her a Bugatti. This is the same thing. Chill out.

If you ask my man Clark Kent, the first problem is calling something "sneaker culture" in the first place. It's more of a side effect and underpinning of many cultures - from music to sports to art and design. Of course there are those who put sneakers ahead of all of those things - and those are the people who get themselves interviewed - but "sneaker culture" is way deeper and more insidious than that. Of course, for MSM consumption, you need to focus on the extremes. Doesn't make it accurate, though.