Soled Out

Through the Eye of Sneakerheads

SOLED OUT

About

author and designer

Yufandri Yapola is a designer and illustrator based Singapore and Indonesia. Studying as designer in urban city such as Singapore makes him interested in street culture which his arts was inspired the most by it.

Influenced by street culture makes he started to collecting sneakers as hobby and self-expression. As a student at nanyang academy of fine arts, the graduation project that has been done by him was inspired by the sneakers culture itself.

As a young designer and illustrator, Yufandri perceive street culture as important aspect that influenced every single piece of his work.

Soled out is mini publication that talks around sneakers culture, designed by yufandri yapola in 2016 as a part of his graduation project.

Soled out focuses on how sneakers culture has affected society and create a community that called themselves as sneakerheads.

People outside the sneakers culture may perceive the sneakerheads as something that have negative impact, but through this publication, the author and designer as sneakerhead want to invite the audience to look from other perspective, through the eye of sneaker head.

Table of content

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Author as sneakerhead

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Introductio to sneaker culture

12-13 Queue up for luck 14-15 Become cyber hunter 16-19 Be a sneakerhead 20-21 How people paint us 22-23 Our second home 24-25 What is retail?

26-27 Conclusion 28-29 Makes sure the kicks in perfect condition 32

Special thanks

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Me as sneakerhead

Hi my name is Yufandri yapola, im the author and the designer of this publication. besides my passion as designer I’m also a sneaker head, for people who don’t know about sneaker head is actually a tittle that was given to the people who collecting and buying sneakers intensively. Why I became sneakerhead? The answer because I found sneakers is not just a hobby for me but as a part of self-expression.

Similar with art, sneakers have its own aesthetics through the designs, colors, and the level of confortable. Through the perspective of sneakerhead, we actually can see the characteristic of the person from the sneakers they wear, for example what kind of sneakers is it, or maybe what colors he/she mostly used or collect.

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Me as sneakerhead

Sneakerheads are in many cases a confounding, astounding and misjudged bundle. People that aren’t into sneakers culture have no clued what it’s like to experience the day with one thing at the forefront of your thoughts, which is a sneaker. There are lots of rumors, misconceptions, and stereotypes about sneakerheads, some true and some not. For example the true facts are, yes we spend a lot of money for a single pair of sneaker, and it still take much amount of money since we have to buy the cleaner and the treatment items. But yet it doesn’t mean everything about snakerheads was negative, because people never experience a thing like what we as sneaker heads did, such as how hard is it to get a limited release of sneaker, we have to queuing up for whole day for it, or maybe we have to wake up in the middle of midnight waiting for that online release, and if all the attempt we didn’t make it, we have to deal with reseller which mean we should pay more to fulfill our satisfaction on sneaker.

“I just can’t stop buying sneakers, it seems like they keep pulling me back”

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“I express my style through sneakers”

Currently I have 25 collections of sneakers which I can say it’s not easy for me to get them all. There are a lot of comments I get from friends and family considering my room that starting become crowded because of sneakers, but yet maybe they don’t understand how important is sneakers for me. I wish they could experience and taste the feel when their first time unboxing their favorite sneakers.

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Sneaker culture

The rise of sneaker culture started at the beginning of 1908 where Converse Rubber Shoe Company was created by Marquis Mills Converse. In 1921 American basketball player Charles “Chuck� Taylor joined a basketball team supported by the Converse Company called The Converse All Stars. Taylor held basketball education in schools everywhere throughout the country, and while teaching, he also sold the All Star shoes to the students and audiences. Besides as a businessperson and athlete for Converse Company, Taylor additionally made upgrades to the shoe he cherished. His thoughts for the shoe were intended to give improved adaptability and support furthermore he Incorporated a patch to protect the ankle. In meanwhile time others professional basketball players started wearing All Star, and soon after being worn by the athletes in Olympic and during World War 2 American soldier used all-star as their training shoe.

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Not long after the release of Air Jordan 1, one year after Adidas Superstar became a trends and one of the iconic sneakers during that time. Followed by the rise of hip-hop culture Adidas Superstar was being worn by various hip-hop artists at the time such as Run-D.M.C. Soon the popularity of the sneakers widely spreads around the world, and people started wore that shoe as current trend and social status.

By the end of World War 2 the sneakers had lost it luxurious looks, everyone worn sneakers for confortable not because of status. In 1972 a newcomer sneaker company called Nike created an ideal shoe called Nike Cortez, available in various colorways it designed for people who wants to looks stand out in the public as well as they were in running track. Since that time Nike has changed again the perspective of sneakers, and makes it become a part of fashion style.

Throughout the time luxuries company such as Gucci started to enter the sneaker game and raises the quality of sneakers in society perspective. The biggest event in sneaker culture happened in 1985 where Nike signing Michael Jordan for 5 years endorsement and came out with his first shoe, Air Jordan 1, soon he became an icon of individuality and become a trend during that era and makes people loves the shoe. The shoe’s public release in 1985 is widely considered the catalyst for modern sneakerhead culture. Since then Nike keep releasing a series number of Air Jordan shoe up to 30 (currently).

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Furthermore Sneakers culture was rapidly increase until current days, two Giants Company in sneakers game, Adidas and Nike keep competing until now by releasing their new design of sneakers and new technology that they applied to their sneakers. The price of sneakers itself was rapidly increase consider the demand of consumerism that keep increasing each day. The price on a single limited sneaker in current days can reach until US$ 40.000. Throughout the history we can find out that endorsement and the influenced of public figure play important role on sneakers game, and besides that sneakers become a trend that keep its consistency until now, play important role on development in fashion industry and become a status for people who wear it.

“Your Sneaker represent who you are”

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We queue up for luck

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Normal people would never experience this, when we as sneakerhead know about the upcoming release we started to queue-up in front the sneakers hope we can get a pair of it, but it doesn’t mean guarantee us to purchase the sneakers, despite the fact that we put a lot of effort on it we still rely on luck

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Become cyber hunter We woke in the middle of midnight waiting for the online release of the sneakers, but yet it doesn’t mean its easy and no obstacle at all. Sometimes we must face the fact that the websites server down because of other people also manage to purchase the sneakers, and when its happened it means you missed you chance to buy your favorite sneakers.

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Be a sneakerhead..

“It’s not just a hobby...”

A sneakerhead is anybody who actively enjoys collecting and hunting for sneakers.

We love sneakers as much as Star Wars fans love Darth Vader. Sneakerheads has been around for decades since 80s. The born of sneakerheads can be related to two majors sources, first is the basketball that influenced by Michael Jordan and his collaboration with Nike Air Jordan, and second is the rise of hip-hop culture in the society. The blast of basketball shoes during that time gave the sheer assortment important to a collecting subculture, while the Hip-Hop development gave the sneakers as their street credibility or status symbols.

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Not stopping at that, in fact some of sneakerhead act criminal such as stealing money so he/she can buy a sneaker, even there are some occasions where the sneakerheads involved in the riots because some of them didn’t manage to get a pair, after all the efforts they made.

A sneakerhead might likewise be exceedingly experienced in recognizing authentic and replica sneakers and there’s a few characteristic of sneakerheads that makes society thinks it’s abnormal such as they willing to queuing-up for whole day or even for few days in front of sneakers shops to have a single pair of sneakers, sometimes they have to face the unfriendly weather while queuing up for it. Become a sneakerheads also means you have to travel along the country to hunt a sneakers with different model, and of course become a sneakerhead is not a cheap hobby, where you must spend hundred to thousand dollar on for the single pair of sneaker.

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But yet that just the dark side of become sneakerheads, there still a bunch of benefits that we achieve by collecting sneakers as hobby, for example through sneakers we become more appreciate with our self, we started to learn how to be a good-looking in society and that’s meet us with our confidence, we learn how to appreciate something that really matters for us, we started to take care of our sneakers and make sure it’s still look good as new, and through sneaker community we started to learn, meet and interact with society that have the same passion with us. But the most important is through sneakers is we have freedom to express our style through fashion, considering fashion become an important aspect and as a social status for someone on this modern day.

you know you are certified sneakers addict if you think there is always room for one more pair

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How people paint us...

“They are all people with no regret of money”

Through time there still misconception and rumors about sneakerheads that was paint by society. People see sneakerheads as someone who no regards for money, and always spend money for something that’s not important. People always think that shoe is just a shoe; everyone has a pair of shoe, so why become a sneakerhead.

Is often that they think collecting sneakers is a hobby that spend a lot of money that at the end we used it in our foot and step in on the ground. They may don’t understand about why we become a sneakerhead, but most important is not every sneakerheads have the characteristic of no regards of money, but yet we did it because we love our self and through sneakers it might meet us with our confidence and show the world who we really are.

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Our second home Some of the sneakerheads may experience this, we wait all night long for really important release outside the sneakers shop, make a camp tent there and still hoping we will get a pair.

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What is retail?

When you can’t cop your favorite sneaker then reseller become the only way, and that’s mean you must pay more to fulfill your satisfaction.

Nowadays you can find the sneakers reseller easily, there were everywhere in your society, in eBay, and even there area sneakers shop that sell sneakers not on their retails price.

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In conclusion..

“We still have family and friends”

Although become a sneakerhead makes us admire the sneaker itself, but it doesn’t meant we don’t have other life to look after. We still have family to take care of, jobs and study that we have to finished it.

After all that we experienced we just want society to see that become sneakerhead is not an easy hobby or just spending money for something that’s not important, but otherwise it helps us become a better person, and through collecting sneakers we can learn and experienced something new that maybe others people outside the culture didn’t experience it.

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your sneaker speak louder than words

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Makes sure the kicks in perfect condition As sneakers is the most important thing for sneakerhead, keep it in clean condition is one of the most difficult challenge for sneakerheads.

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Special thanks

Jeffrey Koh Winnie Tan DM3D Adi Chandra Felicia Tanjaya Ily Dayana Lydia Tee Nur Fatimah Panji Mardhika Vera Veronika

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