Most Footballers Have Jordan 4 Black Catfor Breakfast

An intense level of detail makes certain sneaker designs seem like intricate delicacies; Chris Hill, Reebok's senior manager of pop culture and streetwear collaborations, describes the "Classic Leather" series of Ghostbusters sneakers on the brand's blog (October 2020):

 

"People dress up in the [Ghostbusters] suits all the time, jordan 4 black cat so this is sort of the shoe version of that… On the outsole, one of them has a glow-in-the-dark green spot like you stepped in slime. Then there's a little hit of the yellow and black hazard stripe around the heel to spice it up a bit."

Meanwhile, contemporary art immortalises sneakers as objects of desire – from German photographer Andreas Gursky's vast-scale landscapes of Nike collections, to British artist Reuben Dangoor's Holy Trainerty paintings.

Sneakerheads span the cradle to the grave:brands miniaturise their iconic designs as "baby cot booties"; while Accra-based coffin artist Paa Joe has crafted bright bespoke Air Jordan-shaped funeral caskets.

 

Specialist apps track the giddying rate of new releases, while the impact of consumption raises questions in the modern world (Sneakers Unboxed also looks at ethical and sustainable production). Sneakers somehow remain all-encompassing, yet exclusionary.

 

There is a term increasingly used in sneaker culture that describes this perfectly: sneaker privilege," says Salazar. "This privilege isn't only to do with how rich you are, but also your own status within the industry. Online raffles should have made it more democratic, but there's a big debate around people designing bots to hack the raffles and some sneakers not being fully distributed, so it is often still about who you know.

 

However, if you are able to see through the 'hype' and aren't in it to make money off reselling limited editions, there are a lot of interesting sneakers out there for every taste and identity. But it is definitely a very 'coded' world, where people judge you from your feet up."

Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street is at London's Design Museum until 24 October 2021.

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