What hardly anyone understood or knew about a decade ago is now a topic that has reached the mainstream: sneaker collecting. Collecting shoes is no longer a niche hobby. As Daniel Benz, the founder of Asphaltgold, once said with a laugh in an interview: "Collecting sneakers has become a national sport." And not only that, sneakers have become part of everyday life in almost every social class. We have been observing this phenomenon for about a decade, which is not that long when you consider that sneakers were invented over 150 years ago.

For a long time, sneakers were worn for functional rather than stylistic reasons. Today we are talking about a sneaker culture that has made history and inspires people all over the world. We will take you on a journey to find out where the term sneaker comes from, how the shoes with the rubber soles have inspired the streets and ultimately the fashion and financial markets. And we will try to keep it short.

The term "sneaker" is known to a large part of the population in Germany and is in the dictionary. For a long time, we didn't question the term and took it as it is: an English word. It is, but it was invented in 1917 by Henry Nelson McKinney, an employee of an advertising agency (NW Ayer & Sons) in the USA. In English, the word is derived from the verb "to sneak", which means something like "to sneak". And that was the shoe's unique selling point at the time, because the rubber soles meant that you could hardly hear the wearer stepping, unlike leather shoes. A success story that was initially creeping but has since become legendary. In Germany, only the term "turnschuh" prevailed at first. It was used to name the entire generation surrounding the rubber shoe: "Generation Turnschuh". But as with many English terms, the term sneaker was adapted and Germanized. Incidentally, in the UK and Australia the term "trainer" is still more common today.

The beginnings: tennis, croquet and world wars

A lot of time passed before sneakers were worn on the catwalks of fashion shows. As you probably know, sneakers have their origins in sport. Shoes with rubber soles were first invented in the 1860s for tennis and croquet. The light rubber sole was much more suitable than the leather-soled shoes that were common at the time. And for a long time they were worn exclusively for that purpose. When and how exactly the first sports shoe was worn on the street cannot be said and we don't want to go into the matter that deeply. What is certain is that in the USA it was children who first wore sneakers on the street and Americans in general were the first to like sneakers on the street. There was a non-glamorous movement between the two world wars. Governments wanted to train their armies as best as possible, so physical education classes were offered in schools, the gymnastics movement grew and so did the production of sneakers and thus their use on the street. Some time later, the aerobics era also contributed to sneakers being worn as a fashion statement. But the breakthrough came with the hype about basketball shoes (and football shoes in Europe).

The origins of sneaker culture lie in the battle of the giants for the best basketball shoe. If you'd like to read more about this, check out our article “The best basketball shoes and their history”. Adidas dominated the basketball market in the early 80s. Among other things, with the Adidas Superstar , which was celebrated in the streets of New York and achieved legendary status in 1986 by RUN DMC in the song “My Adidas”. Meanwhile, other brands were making plans to get a piece of the pie. First and foremost Nike, which worked with Michael Jordan to bring the Air Jordan 1 High onto the market. And when that happened in 1985, basketball fans went crazy. Everyone wanted the red and black Jordan 1. The new basketball shoes and models like the Adidas Samba (in Europe) sparked a kind of aesthetic revolution. Young people at the time wanted to rebel against the norm and so wore sports shoes on the street. All in all, a melting pot of different subcultures made sneakers big: basketball, football, running, skateboarding, hip-hop and much more. Sneakers became a status symbol and paved the way for sneaker collecting.

The boom in basketball shoes led to an ever-increasing selection of colorways. The variety that was necessary for a collector culture. Even back then, brands were relying on artificial scarcity. And thus created the incentive to have to "fight" for shoes, or to spend a long time looking for them. The hip-hop movement rapped about sneakers in its songs and gave them credibility as a status symbol. In addition to the adult fans, there were also many kids who idolized the Jordans but couldn't afford them.

One of the reasons why sneaker collecting became so big a few years later: the kids had grown up and could finally afford their grails and wanted to have them all. Back then, there were no raffles or global releases, so you had to network to get your hands on your beloved sneakers. This is how a community was created that operates worldwide, sticks together and shares a passion: collecting, wearing and admiring sneakers and doing everything to get them. Looking back, collectors say that they met true friends through their passion for sneakers. They arranged to go camping together or stuck together on release day. But sneaker culture is not just about the shoes themselves, it is also about the brands, the history of the shoe, the creativity, the art, the exclusivity and the story of buying the shoe. At this point, we think it is important to mention that a sneakerhead is not defined by how big their collection is, but rather by how committed they are to getting a shoe.

In the 80s, there were no sneaker shops as we know and love them in 2024. All of this has only developed over the decades. The community grew enormously through the first special shops and networking through the Internet and with it the hype within the community to walk around with the coolest sneakers and be seen by others in the community. In addition, there were the first collaborations with artists, brands and shops that strengthened the history of the sneaker and made it even more interesting. With the first camp-outs and sold-out sneakers, the resale prices within the community naturally also rose. Back then, still within the bubble, meant uninteresting for the mainstream. Then as now, there are different types of people in the community. Some buy sneakers to wear them. Some display them at home like works of art, while others keep them for the future and admire them. And then there are those who resell them to make a profit. And the group has grown especially in the last few years since sneakers really hit the mainstream.

Nowadays, sneakers are more than just everyday shoes for many people. Collectors see them as an investment, comparable to gold and precious stones. In April 2023, an Air Jordan 13S "1998 NBA Finals Game" was auctioned at Sotheby's in London for $2.2 million. In 2021, the prototype of the Nike Air Yeezy 1 "Grammy Awards" fetched $1.8 million at auction. Absolutely insane. Brands like Adidas and Nike continue to produce deliberately small editions for which the community is still waiting in line even at top prices. But how exactly did this come about?

 As sneakers became more and more popular, brands tried to create an even bigger hype by collaborating with artists and luxury brands. Rihanna, Travis Scott, Kanye West and especially Virgil Abloh (and these are just a few examples) have shaped the shoe industry for almost a decade with their iconic collaborations and helped the sneaker industry grow. The hype surrounding their sneakers not only played into the coffers of the brands, but also into those of collectors and resellers. The collabs were sold in such limited quantities that they could sometimes be resold for ten times the price or more. In addition to the superstars who designed the shoes, stars like the Kardashians also helped to open up a whole new target group for sneaker culture. Suddenly they were wearing a mix of high and low fashion that the sneaker community had never seen before. Wearing rare and cool sneakers became more and more of an expression of social status. That's why high fashion labels like Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton became more and more open to sneakers and launched their own. This in turn created new target groups for sneakers.

As you can see, the topic has many corners, edges and bends and we can only cover a fraction of them. But the core essence is clear: sneakers bring in money and so it is worthwhile for someone who has nothing to do with the community per se to collect the shoes. Above all, entry into the sneaker resale and collectors market has become easier thanks to international platforms such as StockX and eBay. To sell sneakers, you no longer have to deal with a small, self-created community, but can resell the shoes anonymously and make money in no time. Sneaker culture has changed and grown over the decades. But, like any other culture, it changes. Classic sneaker collecting will always remain a topic in the niche and, above all, the old hands in the game will always play an important role. And we will always be amazed by what some people have accumulated over the decades. But we are also open to change and are currently experiencing a quieter time in the sneaker community.

Sneakers are and will remain the best shoes for everyday life, especially for us. We will always have a heart for sneaker collecting and community. Because it is precisely this community that we have to thank for where we are today. With Kanye West leaving Adidas, Virgil Abloh's tragic death after illness and the takeover of sneaker production by high-fashion houses, the hype about reselling and collecting is flattening out somewhat. In 2024, we will experience a trend of price comparison and simple general releases that excite the community. Basketball silhouettes, which were usually at the forefront of collecting, are not all that interesting this year. Now is the time to wear and collect old models from Adidas and Co. and we are sure that some of them will be you are happy. Sneakers will certainly always be an attractive collector's item and for some in the community also a valuable investment. Trends will come and go and we will have a heart for all topics and there will be interested collectors for all of them. If you want to expand your own sneaker collection, we are always there to help you.

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