Runway

SNEAKER HEADS
By Jennifer Bullock

According to Nike’s Web site, the company mission statement is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” But the founders of Nike believe that “If you have a body, you are an athlete. And as long as there are athletes, there will be Nike.” Nike forgot to add Temple students to that list, because as long as there are Temple students, there will be Nike.

There have been an enormous number of Nikes cascading down Liacouras Walk in recent months. These sneakers belong to a diverse crowd. Temple students from all over the states with all different nationalities are throwing on their Nikes as they head to their 8:40 a.m. classes.

In the midst of this sea of Nikes, there exists a group who wears these sneakers with a different style, a different swagger. This group is known as Sneaker Collectors.

A sneaker collector is anyone who accumulates sneakers. They may have as many as 50 pairs of sneakers and tend to collect sneakers of the same kind or brand.

They usually are the first to know about a new release of sneakers. They are the people who you see lined up all night outside of your hometown sneaker store. They will travel anywhere, and do anything to get the sneakers that they need in their collection.

Sneaker Collectors have sprouted up all around Temple’s campus.

Alvin Brown, a sophomore at Temple majoring in Business Finance and Film and Media Arts, has been collecting sneakers since he was 13 years old. He owns 87 pairs of sneakers, including 57 Nikes. Out of those 57 Nikes, he owns 21 pairs of Jordans, a special brand of Nikes designed by Michael Jordan.

Alvin, who considers himself a sneaker collector, says that he collects sneakers “because I need shoes to match my clothes and since I have a lot of clothes I need a lot of shoes.”

Brown, who keeps his favorite shoes at home in D.C., had noticed the epidemic among Temple students regarding sneakers. He says that “everybody walking around with fly sneakers.”

Then there is Nosakhere “Sock” Khalid, a sophomore at Temple majoring in Computer and Information Science, who’s been into sneakers since he got his first pair of Jordans in the 3^rd grade. He now owns almost 70 pairs of sneakers. In his collection are at least 50 pairs of Nikes. He not only considers himself a sneaker collector but he calls himself a “sneaker head.”

“A lot of people I hang out with is sneaker heads. Everybody got their different style and brand,” says Khalid.

Khalid infatuation with sneakers started when he was young. His father used to own a store in D.C and Sock used to walk down Green Avenue and go to the sneaker store everyday and look at all the sneakers.

Since he has been at school he has bought at least 6 or more sneakers. While in Philadelphia, he shops for sneakers at Nocturnal, Sneaker Villa, and on the Internet.

“You’ve got to look around for low key stuff nobody knows about,” says Khalid.

The rise of sneaker collectors have affected women on Temple’s campus also. One female sneaker collector is Jenny Sewell. Sewell is a sophomore majoring in International Business and Pre-Law. She owns 80 pairs of sneakers with at least 50 Nikes. She considers herself a sneaker collector who “wear shoes based on how I’m feeling that day and that’s how I express myself.”

Sewell has been collecting sneakers since she was in the 6^th grade. Since she has been at Temple, she has bought 18 pairs of sneakers. She shops for her sneakers at City Sports, Ubiq, South Street, EBay, and Sneaker Villa.

As far as the Nikes on campus, Sewell says, “it’s a trend among Temple students.”

One of the biggest sneaker collectors on campus goes by the name William “VJ” White. A senior majoring in Marketing, White, as of now, says “ I usually have around 40 pairs but if I see something a lot of people have, I’ll get tired of it and sell it and for every 10 I sell I’ll probably buy 6 more rare or exclusive sneaks.”

But don’t call White a sneaker head. “I like sneaker collector, I don’t like sneaker head. Sneaker head seems a lot more mainstream or new. It seems like a new phrase that people who just got on made up,” says White.

White has been into sneakers since he was 12. He started collecting sneakers because “ it’s a lot to it than just shoes. It’s a whole culture.”

White understands that culture and says “the biggest thing is to buy shoes from other people.” White sneaker collection is worth at least 5,500 dollars and in the past 2 years he has spent about 4,000 dollars on sneakers. But White makes most of that money back when selling sneakers. Last spring, White sold about 15 pairs of sneakers and made about 3,000 dollars off them.

While living in a dorm one year, White received a box of sneakers every week from EBay. But now “I don’t like EBay a lot because it’s fakes sneaks going around,” says White.

One of White’s favorite response to get when he wears his sneakers is “Where did you get those?”

“I had a total of 300 sneakers,” says White. White knows where all the exclusive sneakers are.

“You got to know people,” says White, as long as Temple students know people, Nike will always be around. Whether there are old sneaker collectors or new sneaker heads, the infatuation with sneakers has taken Temple’s campus by storm.