Even less attentive observers will have noticed that this summer, on the beach, the flip flops have decreased and the sneakers, the shoes, have increased.During confinement, sports fashion brands have fired their sales.In fact, consumers reoriented their purchases towards more informal items, such as squids, sweatshirts and shoes.However, this phenomenon is not born now.

The planetary success of the Streetwear culture, and of the Sneakers in particular, began with the first Nike Air Jordan, in the mid -1980s, when all the young men of basketball and hip hop began to use them on any occasion.The term sneaker derives from the English verb sneak up, which means to approach furtively, a characteristic that differentiated the footwear with rubber sole from the loudest leather.Today, the sports shoes have hundreds of thousands of passionate around the world, both to form a category: the so -called sneakerhead.

In mid -May, a couple of Air Jordan for 560.000 dollars.The shoes carry the classic colors of the Chicago Bulls, and have been used and signed by the legendary American player.Operators estimated a 150 sale price.000 dollars, pero fueron literalmente arrollados por las pujas.The figure reached by this model is an extreme case, but it is part of a phenomenon that has been expanding for years.Sneakers have ceased to be simple sports shoes and become cult objects or even a true investment.

According to the statista portal, the shoes business will pass from 62.500 million dollars registered in 2017, almost 98.000 million in 2024.Created to use during physical exercise, the shoes have changed skin thanks to the development of street culture, passing from sport to catwalks.All large luxury brands have launched exclusive sneakers models.From Louis Vuitton, to the alliances between Moncler and Converse, or between Prada and Adidas, to models signed by Gucci and Balenciaga, with prices that exceed one thousand euros.

Off White is one of the fastest growing luxury clothing brands.The designer is virgil pop, currently creative director of Louis Vuitton.OBableh has made the fusion between luxury and sport his signature, and collaborations with other brands are his distinctive feature to launch limited collections that play with the so -called marketing of desire.Each new product becomes an event in which customers queue in front of stores and sign up for draws.

Online revolution

Ten years ago, the Sneakers universe was still a market restricted to a marginal subculture, but it is already a mass phenomenon gracias a internet

However, it is not just fashion and fanaticism, but also a true market, formed by collectors, investors and speculators.In July 2019, the founder of the Perange Capital Investment Fund, Miles S.Nadal, spent more than 1.2 million dollars on shoes.The intention of the millionaire is to exhibit the beautiful treasure along with its collection of cars in its private museum in Toronto, Canada.The shoes are already an active refuge, as are old cars or works of art.

Ten years ago, the Sneakers universe was still a market restricted to a marginal subculture, but it is already a mass phenomenon.There has been an explosion of online transitions, which has attracted many people interested in buying, and therefore in possessing, even more than using, these shoes.Following this growing interest, the rise of resale has been attended.In fact, some rare models can provide really significant profits.

More profitable than gold

According to MyvoucherCodes investigation, some shoes have a resale value 60 times higher than the original price.All quoted sneakers have increased more than gold from their departure to the market.And not only implies the big brands...Adidas Yeezy 2 Red Octobers, sold for $ 250 in 2014, now have a value of 5.$ 655;Nike Air Max 1/97 x Sean Wotherspoon, launched in 2018, have gone from a value of $ 160 to $ 852, with an increase of 432% in just over a year.Lidl Sneakers, 13 euros sneakers of the LIDL supermarket chain have reached a price of more than 800 euros.An increase of 6.000%.After causing an international stir, these shoes should also be released in Spain in the coming months.

Today the most common system to carry out this type of business is that of online auctions.There are several dedicated platforms, each with its own particularity: FightClub retains a percentage for each sale, Stadium Goods is the online marketplace of a physical store in New York, Grared depends completely on PayPal, with relative commissions.However, the platform that best represents the market of the sneakers is stockx, which treats sneakers as true actions in the stock exchange.

Frantic market

Those who awarded the shoes in an auction can decide to resell them without ever having physically in their hands, as in the financial trading

Product contributions are shown in real time and the user can buy or sell at the time it deems most convenient.The founder of Stockx, Josh Luber, told his story to the New York Times and explained that the company has grown "from zero to 700 million dollars in sales in just two years.Those who awarded the shoes in an auction can decide to resell them without ever having physically in their hands, as in financial trading ”.On the days the series The Last Dance was launched, Stockx experienced a 63% increase in Jordan brand products traffic.

Fashion, as always, adds to the waves of social change, as happened with the Texans.And the street culture is probably the subculture that has most marked the last decades.In recent days, in the United States, many have taken advantage of the riots to loot stores, and get the most coveted shoes.This has alarmed the main resale platforms, including stockx itself.All retailers say that they are already looking for illegally marketed products and are said to search for suspicious offers on platforms.

The truth is that, in addition to the value of stolen objects and the possibility of obtaining huge profits from their resale, these episodes also respond to a revolt against economic speculation that for many, especially African Americans, is also a cultural appropriation.The original Streetwear style, animated by dissension and rebellion, clashes straight with auctions, luxury brands, and 2 sneakers from 2.000 dollars.After being a simple and cheap garment, having become an investment good, today sneakers are even a symbol of social and cultural struggle.Who was going to say it?