Sneaker culture

Over the span of 6 weeks for Design 231 I had been looking into the "future of Sneaker Culture" and what it will look like in the year 2027, which would allow me to create an article with a crystallized insight on the aspect. The journey was a long and difficult process, however, it came out good in the end.

WEEK 1:

The beginning of the long journey started in week 1. The "Discover & Research" phase.

During this phase we were given the task to look into 3 topics of interest, with my three being:

• Family

• Sneakers

• Culture

Researching into the 3 topics of my interest, there were a lot of considerations I looked into and had to consider.

• Family - When considering the topic around family, I had to think about the finer details for the idea of family. I also began to think about how I would go about the future of Families, especially on what to narrow in on, such as the way families will connect etc.

• Sneakers - Sneakers was a obvious topic of choice as ive always had a passion for sneakers. However, again I had to look into what I wanted to research into.

• Culture - Was a big one, as what culture was i referring to, how would I present a future for it etc. The topic of culture seemed to be the hardest.

The best topic of choice was Sneakers.

With deciding to do the future of sneakers, I had to look into 30+ experts within the sneaker industry, produce a number of hypothesis on what the future of sneakers will look like and have a past & present timeline.

A few hypothesis I came up with:

•New methods would have emerged in the sneaker culture. Examples being the way shoes are made, new ways shoes are worn (laces styles, soles etc)

•Sneaker culture allows the expression of personality more through the inclusion of sneaker customization, through certain shoe designs or colours. (means of inclusion)

Some of the experts within the field I listed:

· Tobie Hatfield - NIKE

· Robbie Fuller - ADIDAS

· Peter Moore – NIKE

· Tuan Lee – AND 1

· Scott Hewett – REEBOK

· Aaron Cooper – NIKE

· Justin Taylor – AIR JORDAN

One of the pages I drew up to show the timeline of sneaker culture, first real known 'Sneaker' important sneakers released during the timeline that were game changers in the industry at the time and the future.

WEEK 2:

After a lot of research and a conversation with my lecturer, I decided to focus on the topic of 'Sneaker Culture' and what the 'Future of sneaker culture' looks like. During week 2 we began to develop an interview checklist and message that we would send to individuals within the sneaker industry, after having a very helpful lecture from a guest speaker. On top of that we also looked into and developed insights regarding the context of automation.

Here is the messaged I had written up to reach the individuals within the field of sneakers. This field included:

• Footwear designers

• Individuals that resell sneakers

• Sneaker retail stores - Footlocker etc

• Individuals who make counterfeit sneakers

• Individuals that are very much into the sneaker culture/community (sneaker heads)

• Sneaker customisers

A few insights on the context of automation within sneaker culture:

•Tech meets style, where methods are explored in maximizing the sneaker performance.

•The Future of sneakers will no longer have human emotion through the use of automated methods.

WEEK 3:

In week 3 I was still in the process of sending out emails, I had sent out around 20-30 emails at this point but still had no responses, so was still trying. I also began to build a idea on what I wanted to look into for the future of sneaker culture, and that was the idea surrounding the aspect of sneaker customisation, but I did not limit it to this. I also began to look into precedence's for sneaker culture, with additional research and building insights that revolve around sustainability and climate change.

Few insights I got regarding the context of sustainability and climate change:

•The sneaker industry will have provide opportunity for users to reuse or repair their sneakers, through sneaker op-shops.

•Materials used to construct sneakers will only used recycled materials. (rubber from car tires etc.)

I also gathered a few precedence's that fall closer to the aspect of sneaker customisation, however was still open-minded to the idea of other insights. Few precedence's were:

• Dominic Ciambrone (Shoe-surgeon) - sneaker customiser/cobbler

• Nike Brand

• Stock x - Reselling platform for sneakers.

The insights I were still considering, were put in a process of elimination through the use of table to compare them.

An example of what table I used to compare the insights I was developing:

• The way sneakers are worn in around the next 10 years, will be more of an accessory to the wearer rather than the current state they are now.

• The sneaker culture in the next 5 years will begin to rely more on technology, not just connected technology, but technology in where it helps boost the users interactions.

• The majority of sneakers in 2027 will be tailored to the individuals as a means of inclusion.

WEEK 4:

Going into week 4, I had 4 replies 3 being from experts and one from a long-time friend. I had also decided on what insight I was going to follow through with.

The insight being: "The majority of sneakers in 2027 will be tailored to the individuals as a means of inclusion". This insight relying on sneaker customisation.

During this week I began to compile and structure my article for DES231 and line up my evidence and precedence's to include in the article. However, I was still needing to get at least some information and perspective from individuals within the sneaker industry, so I was very limited to provide evidence from individuals that within the industry.

WEEK 5:

I was able to schedule 2 interviews, one with Kristina Gerig (a senior footwear designer at Nike) and one with a long-time friend Ej Acac (very knowledgeable sneakerhead) . Both interviews were recorded however with the zoom call I recorded with Kristina the audio was not recorded right. The interview with Ej Acac was via Instagram, with me screen recording the session, there was no audio again.

Here is a few paragraphs of my article that I have written up, I finished the article pretty easy, as all I was waiting for was my interviews.

WEEK 6:

Being able to finish everything was a mission, however, I did struggle to find a way to elaborate and explain on my interviews within my documentary as I had no audio. Nevertheless I was able to bring everything together with the final products looking pretty good.

Below being the final layout and print of my article regarding my insight on the "Future of Sneaker culture".

Here is my Video I made too.