Collecting Sneakers

Transcript

Voice 1  

Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Colin Lowther.

Voice 2  

And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier
for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1  

What are on your feet right now? Are you wearing shoes? What kind are you wearing?
People have many opinions about shoes. Many people think that shoes should protect
our feet. Shoes should feel good to wear. Shoes should be made to last a long time.
Other people think that shoes do much more than this. They believe that shoes tell the
world who we are.

Voice 2  

One of these people is Ardy Ghosh. He collects sneakers. These are shoes designed for
sports like basketball, running, or other exercises. Ghosh has collected over 200 pairs of
sneakers. He spoke to the Times of India about his collection.

Voice 3  

“My love for sneakers started as a child. I loved basketball and all the players wore cool
shoes. But I was from a middle-class family. I did not have money for sneakers at that
time. I thought I would buy them when I grew up and here I am.”

Voice 1  

Ghosh is part of a culture of people called “sneakerheads”. Sneakerheads have their own
language, customs, and gatherings. This culture includes both men and women. And it
exists all around the world. Today’s Spotlight is on sneaker collecting.

Voice 2  

Sneaker collecting began with basketball star Michael Jordan. In 1985 the shoe
company Nike made the first pair of Air Jordan basketball shoes. Young men wanted to
be like Michael Jordan. They wanted shoes like him. People would fight for the chance
to buy the shoes. And stores even sold out of the shoe. Even today, Air Jordans are still
some of the most popular sneakers. Jozen Cummings wrote about the influence of Air
Jordans on sneaker collecting for GQ magazine.
Voice 4  

“Growing up there were three things that represented wealth to me: a nice house, a nice
car, and Air Jordans.”

Voice 1  

But people buying Air Jordans  wanted to feel special. They did not want to wear the
same shoes as everyone else - not even the same Air Jordan shoes. They wanted to be
different. So these people began to search for sneakers that no one else had. Then they
would buy many pairs of them. When one pair of shoes got old they would have another
of the same kind ready.

Voice 2  

Shoe companies like Nike, Puma, and Adidas saw how people loved to collect sneakers.
They saw that people were willing to pay a lot of money for shoes that no one else had.
This was the beginning of limited releases. Companies began to make shoes in special
colours and designs. They would only make between 100 and 500 pairs of the sneakers.
This meant that only some people would get them. People started paying hundreds or
thousands of dollars to get a pair of these limited release sneakers. Then they would not
wear them. They would keep them safe and clean.

Voice 1  

Shoe companies looked for more and more ways to make special sneakers. They
changed colours and materials. They made shoes with different star basketball players.
But soon they even turned outside the world of sport. They began to partner with other
famous people.

Voice 2  

One of the most popular sneakers is the Yeezy Boost 350. Adidas made this shoe with
the rapper Kanye West. Whenever a new version is released it always sells out within a
few minutes. Then people sell them again for almost ten times the first price. Other
examples of partnerships include Nike and Kendrick Lamar and Reebok and Cardi B.

Voice 1  

This last partnership is very important. More and more women are collecting sneakers.
Shoes companies have noticed that sneaker collecting is not just for men. Indigo Bailey
is a sneaker collector. At a sneaker festival, she told a reporter for Elle magazine what it
is like being a woman interested in sneakers.

Voice 5  

“It is different. Most of the time people look at my boyfriend and expect him to know
everything about sneakers. When I also know everything, they are shocked. I am normal
and I just like shoes just like you. It is good that men can collect sneakers but women
can do it too. Better actually. My boyfriend’s sneaker collection is a little bigger than
mine. But mine is big too.”

Voice 2  

It is not only more women collecting sneakers. More people all around the world are
collecting sneakers. There may not be sneaker stores in every country. But people can
buy sneakers on the Internet no matter where in the world they live. Bram Nein is a
sneaker collector from Indonesia. He spoke to the website Highsnobiety.

Voice 6  

“The sneaker community in Indonesia has experienced big growth in the last few years.
It has seen growth in the number of members and the number of events held in every
city. In Asia, Indonesia is probably the only country able to host sneaker events almost
every week.”

Voice 1  

But collecting sneakers can cause problems for some people. When someone only has a
small chance to buy a special shoe it is easy to spend money they do not have. People
can become too excited about a limited edition sneaker. They can spend thousands of
dollars on sneakers. Some people can spend that much money. But most people cannot.
This does not mean that you should not collect sneakers. But you should know how
much money you want to spend.

Voice 2  

But for sneaker collectors, collecting is about more than just getting more sneakers. It is
about creating a personal identity. Sneaker collectors love sneakers. But they also want
to show that they care about how they look. Albert Mejia is a sneaker collector in
Canada. He told the Calgary Journal what sneaker collecting means to him.

Voice 7  

“For sneaker collectors, it is about the love of the sneakers and the love of the art. When
you see someone wearing a dope pair of sneakers and they know how to dress well, it is
like you are seeing a moving art piece. It is poetry in motion.”

Voice 1  

Do you collect something? Why do you collect it? Tell us what you collect! You can
leave a comment on our website. Or email us at radio@radioenglish.net. You can also
comment on Facebook at Facebook.com/spotlightradio.

Voice 2  

The writer of this program was Adam Navis. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The
voices you heard were from the United Kingdom, United States, and New Zealand. All
quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this
program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is
called, ‘Collecting Sneakers’.

Voice 1  

Visit our website to download our free official app for Android or Apple devices. We
hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:
How many pairs of shoes do you own? Do you wear all of them?