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Ever wonder how sneakers got so popular?

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PHOTO: Getty Images
PHOTO: Getty Images

It’s impossible to deny that what was once underground street culture has turned into a mass consumer movement. The sneaker industry is in hyper acceleration mode – an unstoppable force combining history, technology, celebrity, retail, design, and business into one subject and culture.

The first sneaker made its debut in the 1860s in the form of a specialised running shoe made of leather and spikes. By 1892, US Rubber Company had modified the design to include a rubber sole and a high top. The new design, called Keds, was mass-produced and nicknamed “sneakers” – to describe how quietly you could walk thanks to the rubber sole. Pioneering the celebrity endorsement in 1932, Converse set a marketing standard in the world of athletic footwear by adding basketball player Chuck Taylor’s name to the ankle patch of the All Star. The move changed the game and kicked off what would later become the colossal hype around high-profile collaborations.

Say it with your shoes

What started as a subculture is now omnipresent, and the sneaker industry’s growth can be directly plotted alongside the commercialisation of hip-hop. Watershed moments such as the release of

Run-DMC’s track My Adidas signified the beginning of sneaker endorsement deals for nonathletes.

What rappers wore also started going mainstream and, in the years that followed, musicians, movie stars and entertainers merged into influential entities, and sneaker brands began vying for the ultimate collaborative deal.

Thabo and Thabiso Modiselle, the founders of culture and sneaker site YoMzansi, explain: “From a young age, it’s always been about having the coolest sneaker, but now it’s also about the culture. We were influenced by streetwear, music and hip-hop movies and, because of all that, we started studying the culture and educating ourselves on the major sneaker brands.”

Sneakers have the inimitable power to transcend boundaries of gender, age and socioeconomic standing – positioning them as the footwear of choice for millions.

As a streetwear devotee, Naledi Radebi says: “At the most basic level, sneakers are a form of transport. At the highest, they are a symbol of character and status. All these shoes say something about the people who own them.”

Enter ... The Index

The business model has changed over the past decade and sneaker brands now rely on the internet to push products.

Record producer Gemini Major says: “I always find out about fresh kicks on Instagram, or I use specific apps and websites to order directly.”

Technology has made it much easier to quickly share sneaker information and to distribute it across the globe.

Speaking about why the retailer Spree decided to focus on the streetwear space, head of brand marketing Kim Hawkins says: “Sneakers are for everyone, and the rise in popularity was impossible for us to ignore.”

The goal for The Index is to create a one-stop destination that showcases styles from the most impactful streetwear brands in the world.

  • Visit spree.co.za for more
  • #Trending and Spree are giving away a hamper worth more than R2 000. It includes a premium branded Sneaker LAB cleaning kit and a R1 500 shopping voucher. To win,

SMS the keywords THE INDEX, your full name, email address and province to 34217. SMSes cost R1.50. Free SMSes do not apply

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