SNEAKERHEADS SHOW SHOW SOLE DEVOTION TO FOOTWEAR
By Michael Kahn,REUTERS
September 28, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO – Alex Wang's lifelong love affair with sneakers has moved beyond a relatively simple shoe fetish to full-blown obsession.

The 27-year-old former computer programmer is part of a growing subculture of devotees known as sneakerheads, who spend all night in line eagerly awaiting the release of a new shoe and devote staggering amounts of time and money to collecting footwear.

But it is an investment that can prove lucrative to collectors fortunate enough to get their hands on shoes like a limited edition version of the Nike Dunk that retailed for $120 and, a week later, sold on the Internet for about $1,500.

"I wear shoes out that most people don't have," Wang said. "You have what other people want. That is part of what drives sneakerheads."

The sneaker subculture has also attracted the attention of big companies like Nike Inc., which see the shoe-collecting community as a way to gauge the latest fashions and boost their brands among young trend-setters.

Known among sneakerheads as "Retrokid," Wang caught the shoe bug in high school. Since then he has accumulated more than 600 pairs of sneakers he keeps in storage lockers, closets and at the houses of his parents and friends.

Wang has also appeared on television, works for a sneaker magazine and operates the sneaker-centered Web site retrokid.com at his own expense.

His life is all about shoes, all the time.

"Sneakerheads are a different breed," said Wang, who insures his collection for an amount he declined to disclose. "Any sane person only needs two pairs of shoes at a time, but we have 10 or more or even hundreds."

Collectibles easily run into the hundreds of dollars with vintage models, and limited-edition sneakers or anything related to basketball legend Michael Jordan are typically worth more.

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