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aspect to sneakers since

how sneakers became an obsession

Of course, "sneaker heads" can relate to this approach. Sneaking into Fashion, a trainer exhibition which opens today at Covent Garden's Piazza, tracks the trainer's cultural importance all the way back to 1920, and nicely demonstrates the sartorial obsession of those who are head over heels with their high tops.

Among the hundreds of trainers on display are those in which Roger Bannister ran the first four minute mile in 1954 as well as Mo Farah's Nike Volts, worn on "Super Saturday". Trainers from Liam Gallagher's personal collection can be spotted, as can a pair of Beyonc's Isabel Marant heeled high tops.

But what is their appeal? Today, just about everyone owns a pair, but for those of us who grew up in the Eighties and Nineties trainers played a pivotal role in bridging music and fashion with everyday life.

"For me, trainers are the flag bearers of youth culture. Quick to catch on to their cool appeal, music and fashion borrowed heavily from what was happening on the street and fed it back into the pop culture cycle. "Fashion will always take and appropriate from the street because it's Danny Granger kids Jersey what real people wear," explains Dam.

Since then, trainer culture has grown by epic proportions: sneaker brands, sportswear giants and high end fashion designers are in constant competition to release the most desirable trainers on the planet. Consumers, in turn, go wild for expensive and exclusive kicks, queuing for hours and, in some instances, days.

"Certain shoes can sell out in minutes, even seconds," says Hannes Hogeman, co founder of fashion and trainer online retailer Trs Bien. "The most intense one for us so far was Nike's Air Yeezy II. Our webshop was down for eight hours because of the amount of traffic."

While customers do still queue up outside physical shops for their trainer fix, more and more collectors have taken to scouring the internet for rare editions.

"I remember reading about the riots in New York when the Pigeon Dunk was released in Danny Granger Mens Jersey 2005 it put me off the idea of queuing for a while. But I have stayed up all night to buy a pair online that's how I got my Adidas Adicolor Hi W2s," says Katie Corris, a 27 year old graphic designer living in Canary Wharf.

But whose sneakers are the most desirable? Adidas is up there but Nike is true trainer royalty, officialbasketballstore.com/kobe-bryant-jersey it seems. The Portland, Oregon based company has long understood the importance of mixing trainer technology and superior design with smart marketing.

"The most idolised trainer has got to be Nike Air Jordan. It looked fit for outer space and because it was endorsed by the biggest sports star in the world, it broke Kobe Bryant Navy Jersey all barriers in its lusting after," says Dam.

The psychology behind this fixation with footwear is fairly simple: we live in a consumer crazed society with a constant hunger for new products but unlike many other collectible items, trainers are a true lifestyle choice. "I tend to spend three to four weeks narrowing down a new pair before I make the decision," says 23 year old Dan Ross, a freelance photographic assistant from Archway. "Trainers need to complete and complement wide ranges of outfits but, to be honest, I tend to dress around my trainers, not the other way."

Ronojoy Dam traces this passion back to our formative years: "The obsession usually develops in our childhoods as they are naturally integrated into music, film and sport, more so than any other clothing garment."

Hannes Hogeman highlights their rarity and potential value: "There's a true collecting aspect to sneakers since they come in different editions and models. Collecting rather than wearing them, keeping them in the box, selling or exchanging trainers are ideal."

But for Corris, trainers belong on the streets, not in boxes.

"For me, there's nothing like going to town to buy a pair of trainers, taking out a box fresh pair and wearing them for the first time, it's a real rush," she says. "I'd wear a new pair every day and have even been known to sleep with them on."