Sneaker Heads

Over the last few years the prominence of Street wear culture has taken root at Rockhurst. Street wear designs have found their way into major corporations like Adidas, New Balance, and Puma. These ever changing brands are consistently producing new designs and concepts.

The sneaker world is ever changing and requires constant replenishment of the new styles Patrick Wang  elaborates on the trend. “I own around 300 pairs of shoes, but I don’t wear all of them because most of them are collectibles. So I wear about 20 pairs. They are mostly running shoes or casual shoes such as Vapormax, Ultra Boost, and NMD.”   

“The culture of sneakers always follows the mainstream fashion. So there are basically two types of fashion styles, American fashion, and Asian(Japanese) fashion,” senior Patrick Wang said.

As a devote sneakerhead, Wang’s relationship transcends a few pairs of sneakers.

“Last year was the big year for running shoes, all of the brands have came out of high functional casual shoes. Before 2016, Air Jordan was always best brand for sneaker head because .of the history and culture of the Jordan brand. However, this year’s fashion style is old school, brands are all trying to emulate old school looking sneakers. So that some luxury brands such as Balenciaga, Gucci, Saint Laurent Paris, etc. all (spanning from the old school style)” Wang said.

One shoe that has busted onto the streetwear scene at Rockhurst is the Adidas NMD. The NMD was created through various collaborations with high-level artists, including Kanye West. In an interview with Tech Insider, Adidas Vice-President of Global Design Nic Galway expressed his feelings toward  Kanye.

“Kanye is a person who has a very distinct idea of what he wants to create and achieve with a design,” he said. “At times this can be challenging but as a brand we like to be challenged and to design without compromise. Working with him is a terrific honor.”

This distinct idea is what some  Rockhurst students desire. “When I look for sneakers I want a shoe that not only is comfortable but has a look that I want to exhibit,” senior John Orscheln said.