The impact of public relations in sneaker culture

How many of you have been a victim of waking up at before 7 a.m. and getting ready to purchase the new release of the sneakers that you have desperately been wanting, only to take a “L” on the SNKRS app? I remember my first pair of Jordans were the Jordan 4 Voltage Cherry back in 2012 and my brother easily bought them at the WSS. Back then, I remember being able to walk into Foot Locker and being able to purchase the newest releases. Now, with the rise of sneaker resell and trading, buying sneakers has become difficult. Being an active sneaker follower, I have seen the importance of public relations in sneaker culture that continues to emerge drastically on social media.

 Social media has changed the sneaker game. Before social media, collecting shoes was for fun and wearing your shoes to work or school, now the sneaker game is about flexing your shoe collection on social media for everyone to see. On social media, there are sneaker influencers who only post sneaker content, ranging from upcoming sneaker drops to sneaker outfits and shoe collections. On YouTube there are sneaker channels that post videos about sneaker reviews, ways to style sneakers and even how to lace up your sneakers. Personally, my favorite accounts are those that post sneaker release dates and provide links as to which websites.

 So how do public relations come to play within the sneaker community? Big sneaker companies like Nike and Adidas release a limited amount quantity of a sneaker that the public wants. One example being Kanye’s Yeezy brand. Many of these shoes are heavily demanded and because of that, resell value is high. One very popular style of shoe that resells for a crazy amount of money is the Air Jordan 1. Typically, the retail price is $170, but depending on how much the sneaker is demanded, the resell price can reach up to $500. You weren’t able to get your hands on sneakers? Don’t worry, there are many Instagram accounts that resell shoes and may even have an actual store you can walk into. TILT Los Angeles is a resell sneaker store located in Inglewood that daily posts sneakers that arrived on their Instagram account.

 My advice if you want to purchase sneakers that will be releasing, follow various sneaker accounts on Instagram and Twitter. One major piece of advice is to simply walk into a sneaker store because from past experience, I have seen sneakers sitting inside the stores but sold out online. The sneaker culture is a revolving game that does not seem to be ending since new sneakers get released weekly and sneaker heads have sneaker addictions.

Bio: Guadalupe Garibay is a junior at California State University, Northridge studying public relations. Being born in Los Angeles, sports has become one of her biggest passions and her goal is to work in public relations with the Los Angeles Dodgers. On her spare time, she enjoys trying out new restaurants and taking pictures.