I don’t totally know the demographics of y’all out there in Instagram-land who are following my account, but I know there seems to be a good mix of ages...
a couple of dudes I feel I owe a debt of gratitude to had a great discussion on the @sneakerhistory podcast a couple of weeks ago.
If you want to hear a couple of older dudes who KNOW what is on the other side of collecting (ie: the other side of stacking so much shit you don’t know what to do with it), google or download the convo between @nickengvall and @russbengtson had me all in my feels...it’s all stuff I’ve been feeling lately and gotta say they did a great job of hashing it all out and putting it into words. And...they really help validate different perspectives.
When I was young - the one thing I hated more than anything was when older people talked down to me because the stuff I was interested in didn’t interest them. My thought was always ‘bitch, you were once young, too.’ I always vowed to do my best to not judge the younger generations that came after me. And that’s kind of been my goal with my students and with this sneaker stuff as well - there is plenty of sneaker shit that I have NO interest in, but that doesn’t mean it’s invalid. It’s just not what I came up on.
The one disclaimer I’d give - yes, the *PUBLIC* portion of the sneaker world is very hype and brand and resale driven and it is indeed VERY gross and disappointing (which gets touched on often in this episode) - but by the same token, IMO, there is WAY more room for your average non-sneakerhead to find shoes that they like (and on deep discount) nowadays then there EVER was when I was a kid. And that, IMO, is what being a fan of sneakers is all about. Self expression and finding yourself through shoes. As corny as that sounds.
Anyway - I can’t recommend this episode enough. Give it a listen!