Forrest Gump encapsulated the voice of Vernon Hills High School sneakerheads when he said, “Mama says they was my magic shoes. They could take me anywhere.” The once basic necessity has now become a big part of the culture and inclusive community of VHHS.
General information about sneakers and hypewear:
Hunter Blumenfield (10), believes that shoes create a sense of community that brings thousands of people together.
“[Sneakers] are one thing that a lot of people can come together and either appreciate [a shoe], love a shoe, or hate a shoe,” Blumenfield said.
Kristina Todorvich (12) has an admiration for her Nike AirMax170’s and keeps pricing in mind when shopping for her shoes.
“Do your research first because sometimes [the shoes] are more expensive on other websites,” Todorovich said.
Blumenfield shared his experience with shoe pricing and advised how to get the best deal.
“If you’re looking for a hype pair of shoes, I guess online is one of your best bets if you’re not trying to travel a lot. It also might be a little cheaper,” Blumenfield said.
Aside from online shoe shopping, Blumenfield also likes to travel around a bit to acquire new shoes and hypewear.
“I personally like to go to the city; there’s a bunch of good sneaker shops. There’s this one called Endless Supply…It’s a beautiful shop, I mean, you’ve got sneakers, hypewear, anything you’d really need [the store owner] has got it…Stadium Goods, as well, is really popular. It’s got a huge wall just full of sneakers. They’ve got their own clothing there, some crazy shoes, accessories like backpacks, hats, purses, anything like that, as well as action figures,” Blumenfield said.
VHHS English teacher Courtney Randle is also a big fan of Nike because of their level of creativity. In terms of shopping for shoes, she likes to buy from StockX, an online stock market for sneakers and hypewear.
Randall continues on to explain why people should stick with what they want when buying a shoe.
“Don’t buy what everyone else is getting; don’t buy the hype shoes…if you really like a shoe, when you get compliments, it’s going to mean more because it was something that you wanted to wear,” Randle said.
Opinions on Air Jordans:
According to Nike, Air Jordans have been around since 1984. Michael Jordan, considered by many to be one of the best NBA players of all time has brought his legacy to a multitude of different social groups by one accessory: shoes.
Randle shared why she believes Jordans are timeless.
“I think that Jordans are popular, are still popular, and will remain popular after Jordan is long gone because of the creator of the shoes, the artist behind the shoes, Tinker Hatfield,” Randle said.
She added that Hatfield was able to make the shoe not only athletic, but a lifestyle shoe as well.
“His ability to study Jordan, how he moves, how he played, and then his lifestyle and then combining those and then making it not only into a basketball shoe, but a lifestyle shoe, allows people to feel comfortable wearing an athletic sneaker wear even if they themselves are not an athlete…and you get to have a piece of him when you wear his shoes,” Randall said.
Blumenfield describes Michael Jordan’s legacy and the history he made.
“Of course, you have the [NBA] player, Michael Jordan, his legacy is one of the best in basketball history, and when he came out with his own shoe line it was just a craze. Everybody wanted them. And even now it’s still such a hype shoe. Everybody wants them,” Blumenfield said.
How to resell shoes:
Reselling shoes can be a challenging but also rewarding experience.
“I do see sneakers to be an investment. The process can be arduous,” Randle said.
Randle listed her process of reselling shoes.
“I will sell on StockX and I’ve sold on Goat maybe once or twice but I’ve had a better experience on StockX. I also sell on Ebay…but you [have to] know what your shoe is worth,” Randle said.
Randle gave some tips on how to make a better profit from reselling shoes.
“I think that if you take care of your shoes, you can get more money out of them, that’s why I’m a huge proponent of that. I’m also a huge proponent of wearing your shoes…If you take care of your shoes and you keep the boxes, that can add value to your sneaker. Sneakerheads want the box. It’s an experience. When you open up a shoe, you want to feel as if it’s yours when you walk around in it; it’s going to give you happy memories,” Randle said.
Blumenfield commented on his experience in the reselling business.
“So, the first thing is acquiring the shoe…I’ll clean them up, then put them on a website, like Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, StockX, Goat or some of the big names. Then, you pick the price you want to sell at, and if someone does buy your shoe, you’ll send it to either StockX or Goat for verification, and then they will send it to the person, and you’ll get a percentage of the profits,” Blumenfield said.
Online is not the only way to resell shoes. Blumenfield explained another way that happens to be his favorite.
“I think [my favorite way to sell] is at one of those sneaker events. I went to this one called Got Sole during the summer. I can buy a pair of shoes there and sell it there as well. I’ll bring some pairs from home, and I’ll bring some back from the sneaker event,” Blumenfield said.