Getting down to the sole of this growing phenomenon, Adrian George notes that sneaker culture was born on the streets along with street art and skate culture and it was artists, designers and creatives who drove it forward. “It has been appropriated and turned into a global business worth about US$72 billion last year,” adds the director of programmes, exhibitions and museum services at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum (ASM). Market revenue worldwide is forecast to reach US$100 billion ($133 billion) by 2026.
Think sneakers and you see celebrities, athletes and high-end brands making an imprint across the screen, in the sports arena and even on the catwalk — remember Chloe Zhao’s white Hermès pair when she received the 2021 Best Director Oscar for Nomadland?
Sneakers have made the leap from niche interest to global obsession, says Sotheby’s, which sold a pair of Nike Air Ships worn by Michael Jordan in 1984 for about US$1.47 million in October 2021. They are assets of choice, status symbols that tell stories about those whose feet they adorn, and the people who design and make them.
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