INSIDE MY...

BY DAY TEBOGO IS A CREATIVE DIRECTOR at a television network, but in his spare time he playfully labels himself as “an urban culture student that loves sneakers”. With an incredible collection of more than 400 pairs, he is well on his way to becoming a master.

Born in Mamelodi in the north-east of Pretoria, Tebogo saw himself as the black sheep. He wasn’t interested in soccer like everyone around him and spent most of his time immersed in books and movies. “I was desperate to figure out what actually powers up a lightsabre,” he explains.

“Growing up on the vibrant yet dusty streets made it hard to keep my sneakers clean,” Tebogo jokes as he talks about his earliest sneaker memory. “They were Converse Chuck Taylors. I wore them until there was a hole in the bottom that I had to fill with cardboard. My mom refused to buy a shoe that was associated with criminals, so I remember hustling my sister to buy me the shoes – which were on lay-by for a few months.”

His interest in sneakers soon began to grow. As he recalls, “What matters most in your teens is the ability to look cool, and sneakers were the thing. It was also about navigating having versus not, in a place synonymous with style and dope dress.”

Now a real aficionado, Tebogo buys shoes because he loves them and as an investment. But he doesn’t believe in keeping them locked away. He regularly visits his sneaker storeroom to put the next set in rotation. He tries to wear different pairs each month.