fashion

by

€3,000 ‘Haute Couture’ Sneakers?

Image

When sneakers and tattoos appeared on the spring 2014 haute couture runways of Paris, it was as if the grande dame of fashion had doffed her stuffy embroidered gown for an entirely more current wardrobe…

It was a message echoed at Giambattista Valli, Vionnet and Chanel, where the models had a spring in their step. They skipped, sauntered and bounded down the double staircase that was part of Karl Lagerfeld’s jazz club set within the Grand Palais.

The collection’s recurring silhouette consisted of a corset topped by a cropped shirt or bolero. Coco Chanel herself rejected garments that constricted the body, but today, emphasizing the midriff – even by wrapping it in the finest Chanel tweed – fits our fixation with fitness.

To underscore the athletic message, many of the looks were accessorized with knee pads, fanny packs and sneakers in lace and python that are expected to cost upwards of €3,000.

 

Excerpts from Articles:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/fashion/3000-sneakers-haute-couture-strips-down-in- http://

topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/cathy_horyn/index.htmlparis/article16570668/

Photo Source:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/chanel-dior-send-couture-sneakers-runway-article-1.1590800

Advertisement
by

Sneaker Fashion: Street Scenes in NYC

Image

In print too small to read, Bill Cunningham of the New York Times writes:

“ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Elaborately decorated sneakers are playing a starring role. A trend not unlike the highly embellished women’s handbags at the turn of this century, it is definitely a men’s thing, although women are showing variations. This winter, Saks Fifth Avenue devoted five prime windows just to sneakers. Some with wings echo Mercury, and others are decorated with chains or bones, and then there are sneakers with contrasting laces.”

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/fashion/bill-cunningham-on-mens-sneakers.html?_r=0

by

‘Sneakerheads’

Image

Picture this:

Young boys with sneakers slung around their shoulders and pockets full of cash, huddle in hotel ballrooms and high school gyms, shouting and bartering as if they were on a trading room floor. This latest sports footwear craze, this teenage marketplace for high-end sneakers, has spread across the US. These teenage traders know their stuff; they recite resale values and spout debut dates for new lines.

Imagine this:

One of the 14-year-olds already has 81 pairs in his sneaker collection, costing $11,000 but worth probably $20,000 if he sold them all. But that’s a small corner of the market: basketball sneaker sales made up $4.5 billion of the total $21 billion athletic shoe business, according to Princeton Retail Analysis.

Top this:

At a Manhattan event, one young vendor turned away $98,000 in cash for his Nike Air Yeezy 2 “Red October” sneakers, designed by Kanye West and signed by the artist himself onstage at the Nassau Coliseum in February.

Excerpts from Article and Photo Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/business/a-thriving-market-where-air-jordans-are-blue-chips.html?_r=0