#epic2015

[nanlostinthoughts]

Yes, I am rarely bored alone! 🙈 Cos, when you see how peaceful it is to be alone, you really don't wanna deal with people! 😂 #lifeasyouknowit #beingaloneisbetter #beingsocialisnotfun #selfrealization #epic2015 (at Adyar, Chennai)

[maschioinsights]

Sneaker Culture

Nike Air Jordan I, 1985. Nike Archives (Photo: Ron Wood).

Not far from my house, at the Brooklyn Museum, is an exhibit called “The Rise of Sneaker Culture”. Ken Johnson, who reviewed the exhibit for the New York Times, notes that the problem with “it is it too much focused on the sneakers themselves (color, design elements, type and brand etc) and not enough on sneaker culture”. That is, on the social and cultural meanings consumers have attributed to and created about sneakers during different times. His point struck a chord for me. In the late 90s, at the height of the Michael Jordan sneaker craze, I spent some months doing commercial ethnographic research on sneaker culture, shuttling back and forth between inner city African American and Hispanic neighborhoods and suburban, often predominately white, subdivisions, talking to people about athletic fashion and most especially about their sneakers. I interviewed collectors, sneakerheads who had closets full of sneakers (these could often discuss the relative merits of a particular pair of sneakers the way an oenophile might discuss vintage wines), moms choosing sneaker styles for their toddlers, suburban slackers and skateboarders, pick-up basketball players, extreme and confidence sports enthusiasts, and others,  mostly young men and women. What really came out of the study was an understanding of the way these different groups and types observed, borrowed from, commented on, and in other ways dialogued with and about each other via the medium of athletic fashion and especially sneakers.

This culture dialogue was also a game and a competition; it was a performance. People, working from the same pool of mass merchandise (signature sneaker lines and brands, the uniforms and logos of pro and college sports teams, etc.) worked to tease out unique looks for themselves. My respondents were animated by a powerful desire to purchase the latest shoes and fashions, with these serving as pivotal media for competition, rivalry and display. People were developing ad-hoc fashion rules for mixing and matching brands, colors, logos, which they would then instantly modify. As they played this game they sent messages of gender identity, ethnic identity, race or ethnic relationships, athleticism, the power of celebrity in America, the cultural importance of sport.  For me, an anthropologist, sneaker culture appeared to be American culture writ large, laid out before me, in the commercial realm. This was one of my first projects carried out as a corporate, practicing anthropologist. It convinced me that consumer culture was authentic culture, that powerful culture themes, values, ideas and emotions could power and animate consumer life.  

[danijarvis]

Checked an item off my bucket list today. Hiked Kanarra Falls. Such a beautiful hike; and can you believe this is in Utah! I just love living down south! #kanarravillefalls #hiking #friends #waterfalls #beautiful #southernutah #bestsummer #epic2015 (at Kanarra Falls)

[flightkyd-blog]

I am literally trapped in MKE!! Haha. #snownado #epic2015 #sundayfunday 48 hour layover is my longest layover EVER!!! @joshcdouglas (at Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown Milwaukee)

[lgstudio]

It's official!!! L&G studio is having a show (opens 2/7th) and mobile workshop (2/22nd) at @poketo flagship store in L.A.!!! Sign up for the workshop at Poketo.com and come play!! ✨🙌 #lgstudio #epic2015 (at poketo flagship store)

[lgstudio]

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Here's to an epic happy 2015 everyone!! 🎉🎊🎈🎆 #jeanseesfaces #epic2015