THE EVOLUTION OF THE SNEAKER
A SOPHISTICATED JOURNEY THROUGH THE HISTORY OF SNEAKERS: FROM RUBBER SOLED CANVAS TO THE LUXURY HANDMADE SNEAKER
THE SNEAKER HAS TRAVELLED FURTHER THAN ANY OTHER OBJECT IN THE HISTORY OF FOOTWEAR. FROM FUNCTIONAL ATHLETIC EQUIPMENT TO CULTURAL ARTEFACT TO LUXURY OBJECT. THE JOURNEY SPANS LESS THAN 150 YEARS AND SAYS MORE ABOUT HOW CULTURE SHAPES OBJECTS, AND HOW OBJECTS SHAPE CULTURE, THAN ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE IN THE MODERN WARDROBE.
THE BEGINNING
THE PLIMSOLL, A CANVAS UPPER ON A VULCANISED RUBBER SOLE, APPEARED IN THE MID NINETEENTH CENTURY AS BEACHWEAR AND LIGHT SPORTING FOOTWEAR. THE NAME CAME FROM THE RESEMBLANCE OF THE SOLE LINE TO THE PLIMSOLL MARK ON A SHIP'S HULL. IT WAS FUNCTIONAL, CHEAP AND ENTIRELY WITHOUT PRETENSION. THE RUBBER SOLE MADE IT QUIET ON SMOOTH SURFACES, WHICH GAVE RISE IN AMERICA TO THE NAME SNEAKER, FROM THE ABILITY TO SNEAK UP ON SOMEONE WITHOUT BEING HEARD.
AS ORGANISED SPORT EXPANDED IN THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES, BRANDS REFINED THE RUBBER SOLED SHOE FOR SPECIFIC ATHLETIC APPLICATIONS. BASKETBALL, TENNIS, RUNNING. EACH SPORT DEMANDED DIFFERENT PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS. THE SNEAKER DIVERSIFIED ACCORDINGLY.
THE CULTURAL SHIFT
BY THE 1970S THE SNEAKER HAD BEGUN TO SEPARATE FROM SPORT. HIP HOP CULTURE IN NEW YORK ADOPTED SPECIFIC MODELS WITH CONVICTION, ESTABLISHING A LINK BETWEEN MUSIC, IDENTITY AND FOOTWEAR THAT WOULD RESHAPE THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY. THE ADIDAS SUPERSTAR. THE NIKE AIR FORCE 1. THESE WERE NOT WORN FOR SPORT. THEY WERE WORN AS STATEMENTS.
COLLABORATIONS AND LIMITED RELEASES IN THE 1980S AND 1990S BLURRED THE LINE BETWEEN SPORTSWEAR AND ART OBJECT. BY THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, A GLOBAL RESALE MARKET HAD FORMED AROUND RARE MODELS. THE SNEAKER HAD BECOME A COLLECTIBLE. A CULTURAL CURRENCY.
THE LUXURY TURN
THE ENTRY OF LUXURY FASHION HOUSES INTO SNEAKER DESIGN IN THE 2000S AND 2010S BROUGHT THE SILHOUETTE INTO FORMAL RETAIL CONTEXTS FOR THE FIRST TIME. PRICES PREVIOUSLY ASSOCIATED WITH DRESS SHOES WERE APPLIED TO SNEAKERS. THE MARKET ACCEPTED THEM. THE SNEAKER HAD ARRIVED IN LUXURY.
BUT ARRIVAL IN LUXURY IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING MADE TO LUXURY STANDARDS. MOST OF WHAT IS SOLD AT LUXURY SNEAKER PRICES IS STILL PRODUCED WITH MASS MARKET METHODS: ADHESIVE CONSTRUCTION, SYNTHETIC OR CORRECTED MATERIALS, PURCHASED LASTS, OFFSHORE MANUFACTURE. THE PRICE REFLECTS THE BRAND. NOT THE MAKING.
WHERE 1812 SITS
THE LUXURY HANDMADE SNEAKER, BUILT IN ENGLAND, FROM FULL GRAIN LEATHER, ON A PROPRIETARY LAST, CONSTRUCTED TO BE RESOLED, IS A DIFFERENT OBJECT FROM EVERYTHING THAT CAME BEFORE IT IN THE SNEAKER'S HISTORY. IT DOES NOT CARRY THE LEGACY OF SPORT. IT CARRIES THE LEGACY OF ENGLISH CORDWAINING, APPLIED TO A CONTEMPORARY SILHOUETTE.
THE SNEAKER BEGAN IN UTILITY. AT 1812, IT ARRIVES AT SOMETHING DIFFERENT: AN OBJECT MADE TO LAST, MADE TO IMPROVE, MADE BY HANDS THAT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE MAKING.
