It’s 2 pm on a lazy Sunday. But hundreds of youngsters – mostly in their twenties and thirties – are waiting in a long serpentine queue to get to the seventh floor of Eros Multi Level Parking in Delhi’s Nehru Place.
There’s no one high-street trend that they are blindly mimicking. But no matter how different they look, there’s one unifying thing about them: they are all wearing eye-catching sneakers.
Welcome to Soledition, the first-of-its-kind festival for the rising sneakerhead subculture in the country. But don’t let the term put you off with its seemingly consumeristic nomenclature. Economics may be a central part of it now, but it’s ultimately a subculture of people who value individuality and a sense of community, and hope to find both through the medium of shoes.
What you stand on is what you stand for. That’s the identity of a sneakerhead.Siddharth Pal, Founder, Soledition
Pal is an ex-Adidas employee who has seen the sneaker culture evolve closely through the years. He is now the Founder of Soledition and has co-curated the sneaker festival along with famous MTV video jockey Rannvijay Singh Singha.
The History
The sneakerhead subculture has its origins in the b-boy and hip-hop movement of New York City of the 1970s.
It grew mainly due to two influences: basketball, and with it the rise of collaborations between star-athletes and sneaker companies, and the rapper culture, where rappers had a signature look that often came with individualistic sneakers that stood out either in terms of story, hype or design.
The subculture has been slowly making inroads into the Indian space for the past two decades, notes Rannvijay.
The VJ, a self-confessed sneakerhead who reportedly has 400 pairs of shoes, became one gradually through his love for basketball.
At the age of seven or eight, I started playing basketball. And I would look up to basketball players who wore these sneakers... It’s been about 26 years that I have been a sneakerhead.Rannvijay Singh Singha
It’s people like Rannvijay, who are passionate about collecting sneakers, inspired by the b-boying and sporting culture, that Siddharth Pal thought of creating this event for.
I went to Berlin, Tokyo, and the US and I saw a lot of sneakerheads. I thought, ‘Why don’t we do this in India?’Siddharth Pal
Gagan Deep Singh is one of many who identify with this subculture. Singh has been doing freestyling for the past few years, and is among the many sneakerheads, skateboarders, ballers, hip-hoppers, gamers, musicians, and graffiti artists who have come to the show.
“It’s a revolution,” he says when asked what he thinks of the festival. Revolution may be too strong a word for a commercial event. But for those on the inside, the meaning is clearly deeper.
Singh’s freestyling tricks at the event have won him handsome praise. Ask him what he likes about freestyling, and he says, “There are no boundaries and you can do whatever you want with the ball. Plus, it is a solo game so you can do it all on your own”.
The Industry
The sneaker culture fuels a billion-dollar secondary industry as per Forbes, and everyone from indie brands to industry biggies are hoping to capitalise on this culture. Air Jordans, inspired by Michael Jordan remain one of the most ubiquitously popular shoe styles.
Some of the shoes also have a story to tell. For instance, the Patrick Ewing Michael Jordan ‘Gold Medal’ shoe in honour of the Dream Team '92 , and the Nike Kyrie 4 "BHM", a collection of limited edition kicks released in honor of Black History Month by Nike in 2018.
The reason I buy a sneaker is because it resonates with me. Since 2002-2003, I have been collecting sneakers. There are some of the shoes in my collection right now that weren’t the most sought-after at that time. I have a Shaquille O’Neal shoe, I have a Patrick Ewing shoe. These shoes might not be the fad right now or the most sought-after, fashionable things, but for me, they mean so much because I relate to them.Rannvijay Singh
The burgeoning sneaker culture in India has, to an extent, been driven by celebrities, explains Pal. Male celebrities like Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Anand Ahuja (Sonam’s rumored beau), and Rannvijay are a few names that have helped in increasing the demand for high-fashion sneakers in India. Easy access to niche communities through social media and the Internet too has played a role. Of course, the rise in disposable incomes has also played a part.
But it’s not just high-fashion brands. Indie shoe boutiques like Delhi-based Veg Non Veg, and artists like Sugandha Tyagi, who runs Shoes Your Daddy that sells hand-painted customised sneakers, are also part of the culture.
It’s not about inviting the global culture here. It’s about growing this culture and making this culture grow big. Which is why we have new Indian street indie brands showing their sneakers to get a sense that the sneaker culture exists in India and that it is not just a global culture.Siddharth Pal
To be balanced, some of the hype around sneakers may be driven by athleisure, a wildly popular style fad, as some fashion junkies candidly confess to. But the sneaker culture, at its core, is still driven by the stories told by the sneakers.
It is not about how expensive or fashionable a sneaker is. The reason I buy a sneaker is because it resonates with me. I resonate with the people, I resonate with the culture and that’s why I am a sneakerhead.Rannvijay Singh
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