How sneakerheads get their kicks

Tonight is the type of marquee matchup college basketball nation
has been itching for since April: UCLA and Kentucky, two of the
most storied programs in the nation, kicking off the season on
national television. It is hard to imagine any distractions. But
for a growing number of sneakerheads, it will be hard to focus on
the game and not the Bruins’ footwear.

It’s usually a single shoe that first lures one into the
cult of the sneaker. Then the myriad color schemes and limited
editions entrench these shoe aficionados in obsession, making them
“sneakerheads.” The Tracy McGrady shoe that UCLA sports
is now on its sixth issue. “T-MAC” signed a lifetime
contract with adidas in 2002, and the company has since released
hundreds of different designs bearing his name. Sneakerheads
collect these shoes or wear them for style, not for athletic
purpose. Still, sneaker collectors usually own 10 or more
pairs.

Tonight UCLA will wear this type of limited, sought-after shoe.
It is a special-edition adidas T-MAC 6, made specifically for UCLA
to sport during the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The blue and gold
shoe features a subtle laser Hawaiian print, the type of small
detail sneakerheads love. Sneaker blogs have been buzzing about the
shoe for the past month, and on Nov. 15, adidas released just 75
pairs of the shoe in an exclusive online sale.

“It’s a great feeling ““ who would have ever
thought I’d be influencing what shoes people wear?”
UCLA small forward Josh Shipp said.

Adidas signed its original sports-marketing agreement with UCLA
in 1998. The brand also sponsors three of the other seven Maui
Invitational teams: Chaminade, Memphis and DePaul. Each team
received the special-edition T-MAC 6 shoes to wear in its own
colors. The same shoes were sold in limited quantity on the
company’s Web site and at a Maui shoe store.

The UCLA edition sold out in minutes, and only those on the
adidas e-mail list had the opportunity to purchase the shoe. The
promotion and sale of the shoe is an attempt by adidas to tap into
the limited market, which is currently dominated by Nike.

Matt Halfhill is the author of nicekicks.com, which he describes
as a sneaker-blog/sneaker information site. It is the most-read
sneaker site on the Internet. The site allows sneakerheads to
discuss limited shoes and reports the very latest information about
a scene that is at times very mysterious. Halfhill first reported
on the T-MAC 6 special-edition shoe on Oct. 31.

“Before there was never really a company that made
college-edition shoes available to the public. Adidas is aligning
its product with the UCLA legacy, and it’s a great way for it
to enter the limited market,” Halfhill said. “People go
bananas for these special-edition team shoes.”

Oliver Peer is a second-year business-economics student and a
self-described sneakerhead.

“I love finding limited editions; it’s all about the
thrill of the hunt. I would definitely wear the special-edition
T-MAC 6 shoes. The fact that they’re so limited makes them so
much more attractive. If they’re limited they’re tight,
basically,” Peer said.

The sneaker obsession has exploded recently, and shoe companies
have rushed to satisfy their consumers with more and more
limited-edition shoes. Even the basketball players themselves are
immersed in the culture.

“We’re all into the sneaker culture, and it’s
really cool to be a part of it. Everybody is excited about the
shoe. I think it looks very nice,” UCLA shooting guard Arron
Afflalo said.

It makes sense for adidas to target UCLA for its championship
history, but it also has a great location. Los Angeles is a center
of the sneaker culture, with stores like Undefeated and Supreme
devoted to selling limited shoes.

Blayke Esparza has managed Undefeated in Los Angeles for the
past year. The store opened in 2002, and it now has three other
locations in Los Angeles, one in Japan, and is opening a fifth
location in Las Vegas on Jan. 1, 2007.

“People have been doing this sneaker thing for a while; it
was a real subculture. Now the mainstream has caught on, and
it’s really blowing up,” Esparza said.
“We’re catering to consumers that are willing to pay
extreme amounts for the rarest and most-limited sneakers they can
find.”

But for all the hoopla surrounding the sneaker culture, there
will always be the Lorenzo Matas, who just can’t understand
the craze.

“To me it’s still just a shoe ““ just something
we wear to play basketball,” said UCLA center Lorenzo
Mata.

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