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Luxury sneakers: High style and a booming market

Limited-edition luxury trainers becoming big-ticket items

Luxury sneakers - often limited-edition collaborations between the big names in sportswear and fashion labels, rappers or famous athletes - have become coveted accessories for men - from tweens to the middle-aged.

Some pairs fetch tens of thousands of dollars - the super-rare Derek Jeter Air Jordan 11, named after the New York Yankees superstar, in collaboration with basketball legend Michael Jordan, was going for about US$50,000 (S$68,200) in recent weeks.

Only five pairs were released.

Such shoes are bought second- or third-hand, mainly on the Internet but also in chic boutiques or pop-up stores, packaged in plastic wrap to protect them.

New York is one of the capitals of this flourishing high-end sneaker culture, though the trade in trainers is hardly new.

It began in the 1990s, when Nike made it big with the first Air Jordans - after NBA superstar Jordan - and those shoes quickly became must-have collector's items.

Then in the 2000s, the market grew as the Internet boomed, especially on auction sites like eBay.

Today, boosted by celebrities, social media influencers and the mainstream influence of rap culture, the sneaker biz has gone global.

It is particularly big in the US, Europe and Asia.

Since 2016, it even has its own "stock exchange" - the StockX website.

Mr Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst for the NPD Group, says the actual size of the luxury sneaker market is hard to estimate, but one thing is clear - "that market has had nice growth".

Even if it's centred on a few key industry players, the market is fed by a mass of small-time vendors - many of them sneaker addicts themselves looking for a quick way to make extra cash.

Mr Powell estimated the resale market at US$1 billion, explaining that it's still a "pretty small sliver" of the overall athletic shoe market, which hit US$38 billion in the US in 2017, and US$100 billion worldwide.

But for Mr John McPheters, the president and co-founder of Stadium Goods - mainly a web business, but which opened what has become one of New York's most popular sneaker stores in Soho in late 2015 - these estimates are way too low.

Stadium Goods sold more than US$100 million in shoes last year, Mr McPheters says. And sales have at least doubled this year, in what he says is a healthier market now that certificates of authenticity have become the norm.

"What we are doing today is really just scratching the surface of what is going to be an even bigger business in the years to come," the 38-year-old said.

The future plans of Stadium Goods are a good indication of the luxury sneaker market's potential and worldwide appeal.

While Internet sales account for 90 per cent of the firm's total for now, it plans to open several more physical stores in the US and abroad.

China is its largest market outside the US, followed by Britain and Canada.

Thanks to a partnership with British-based online fashion platform FarFetch, Stadium Goods is hoping to break into the Russian market soon.

Mr Matt Troisi, 29, is a regular customer at Stadium Goods - he owns about 300 pairs of sneakers - and an experienced buyer and seller online.

He said he earns US$25,000 to US$35,000 a year in the sneaker trade - about half of what he makes as a manager for the Tao restaurant group, where he rubs shoulders with celebrities who help him get access to limited-edition treasures.

"Men - sometimes we don't have the best fashion. We don't really know what the cool stuff is," Mr Troisi said.

"We can wear all black and have no style whatsoever in clothing and just throw on a cool pair of sneakers and that's your outfit!" he added with a laugh.

On his feet? A pair of Nikes marking the 1969 moon landing worth about US$1,000.- AFP

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