Besides Money, What Can Sneakers Bring To People Today?

What is the value of the global shoe market now?

John McPheters, founder of Stadium Goods, gave an answer in an interview: "if we sell the market, it will probably reach US $750 billion."

Whether it is true or not, we can not conclude that after all, this figure seems too far away from us, but what we can feel is that it is expanding at a very fast speed, and at the same time it will inevitably face some problems.

The culture of sneakers comes from the street, and has belonged to the sub culture. But now its audience and commercialization are no longer the same. It reflects that this category is rapidly increasing for people's status and needs in life. Whether it is from hobbies or interests, there are so many people in the world who are happy and sad, even the family business is linked to their shoes. This is why we have come to the increasingly rich products and projects, and the hot market that we can never say.

In this regard, I believe everyone in front of the screen should feel the same way. In the current environment, consumers, brands, and two stage resale markets will work together and interact with each other. Behind the prosperity of the market is also full of defects that are closely related to each Sneakerhead. Therefore, NOWRE has brought this documentary project to a better understanding of today's shoe culture and market through dialogue with different characters and roles.

"The formation of sports shoes culture can not be separated from the times and environment."

Why do many people nowadays miss the culture of sneakers formed in those years?

As mentioned above, there is an important relationship with the experience of the old environment.

At home, the whole sports shoe market is not as big and impetuous as it is now. In general, it can be more pure compared with the atmosphere of shoes and friends, and there is not much sign of flooding and impetuosity in the market. It is now becoming more and more contrasted with the overly commercialized sports shoes market, and people's enthusiasm is more concentrated on sports shoes themselves.

"At the beginning, there was no concept of Sneaker, collectively known as travel shoes.

At the end of the 80s, when I was in the south of Guangzhou, I went shopping in the south of the city. I was carrying a big bag of bags to see the streets. I saw that adidas and Nike were attracted to each other, but the lowest price was 150 yuan. That would be about 40 or 50 per capita, so I could only afford to go back to Beijing and put them on display at the shop counter.

I didn't expect to sell it soon, which gave me a lot of confidence. In such a shortage of material, the younger generation of the generation still needed these products, but they could not buy them. "

-- Guo Yu

Guo Yu, founder of Beijing Asia new sports.

This 30 years old shoe shop can be said to be known in the circle, and Guo Yu himself is also the most qualified "veteran gun" in the shoes circle. He has experienced the initial stage and the change of the shoe culture.

In his experience, the real formation culture in the field of domestic sports shoes should start after 80, and the group that understands the most of sports shoes should also be this generation. For reasons, it has a very important relationship with the social environment at that time.

It's not easy to get people to add more emotion and meaning to their shoes.

"Can not afford to buy" is the most direct factor, this is not a joke.

Because the overall consumption level is not high, those who love sports shoes at that time can hardly afford to sell the shoes of the big brands. It is often difficult or long to buy a pair of shoes that they like. But when they can not easily have them, they often meet their desire for shoes by some other ways.

It is to see, understand and study.

On this point, Guo Yu, who touches all kinds of customers in the shop every day, has a deep feeling. He still remember that someone would ride a bicycle for two hours to come to the shop just to touch the object.

Imagine that when you save a year's money, you can buy it home after a long time to understand a pair of sneakers. After that process, the sense of joy is greater than that of the shoes itself. Naturally, more feelings are accumulated.

"I believe that we, or earlier generations, may like most sports shoes start from sports, such as basketball and NBA, so we will pay close attention to the equipment needed for playing basketball. At that time, the information is not very developed, so we can only learn from magazines. After accumulating a lot of knowledge of sports shoes, you can have a say in your group."

AKA is one of the generation from 80 to early 90, and now owns a Inventory Pool shoe store in Shanghai.

In his school days, people could only learn the latest information about sneakers through NBA and a few magazines.

Because information is relatively less developed, people who love sports shoes can only learn and appreciate the favorite stars and sneakers every day in magazines by using limited information: for example, what new technologies have been used, which players have won many championships in them, what stories have happened and so on, and then discuss them with like-minded people in order to get a sense of achievement beyond their income pocket.

Therefore, the culture contained in the shoes itself is so much more excavated and spread and precipitated further.

Private shoe shops and offline activities laid the foundation for the formation of early sneakers culture.

And this cultural exchange and precipitation also came from more offline exchanges and activities at that time, depending on the shops.

The early formation of the sneaker culture in China is closely related to the gradual emergence of the private shoe shop, which is also the initial cornerstone of the two tier market.

When Guo Yu was looking back at the scenes of the Limited shop shoes that had been sold at the previous stores, the most impressive thing was that people would be keen to talk to him in the shop and talk about their shoes.

Compared with today's more online selling and trading, the process of queuing for shoes will undoubtedly increase the cost of people, so it is much more memorable than moving the fingers on the mobile phone to stay overnight in the cold wind.

This is just like the customers that AKA encountered when running a shop. When they were looking for a pair of old shoes, they not only wanted to make up for the regret at that time, but more were the personal connections with these shoes, and the profound memories left behind.

As a part of culture, for the older generation of Sneakerhead, more value is embodied in a pair of shoes or what experience a person has brought to people, and what emotion has been given to this experience.

Experience is more complex and profound, and this process of nature will increase people's feelings of objective things. Compared to the present era, people's satisfaction on sports shoes is much easier than that of each shoe sale. Most people are in a state of not being able to buy scolding or buying a toy for half a day. They fall into a new cycle every other two or three days and experience the same things. This kind of pleasure can come quickly, and it is hard to leave any deep feelings and memories.

But the era of sneaker culture is different. Today's consumers have greatly increased the consumption power of a pair of thousands of sports shoes. The rapid development of the Internet and the opening of the market have also brought down the physical shops on the floor. People no longer need to go to stores in person to get those special shoes, and online pactions are much faster.

In addition, with the rise of social media, both the shoe culture and the market now rely more on the Internet.

"Now is the most prosperous and most chaotic stage in the market for shoes."

After a long period of development, the shoe market has come to the most prosperous period. When more people come in, the culture of sneakers has become more and more popular. More and more people are stepping into this circle and attracting more capital injections.

The two tier market has become the most valuable part of business in this field. From the earliest traditional consumption mode to the Internet, the understanding and participation of consumers has undergone a great change.

The threshold for speculation and resale businesses has been lowered, and consumers are more concerned about prices than the shoes themselves.

Speculation and resale are the most important topics in the market of sports shoes nowadays.

In the past, consumers often attributed serious speculation to a group of shoe vendors.

They are well versed in business rules and make use of the wrong resources to earn the difference between the two level market and the official selling price. In the moment, this group can be called an industry, but it is mixed up and mixed, and the competition is becoming more and more intense.

"People will be very disgusted with my role, because they feel that they can't buy shoes and sell high prices are all caused by shoe vendors, but I think this is a game rule. Shoes vendors can buy shoes that you can't buy because they are smart enough, have capital and ability, and can't buy people, naturally, they will be jealous," ENZO said.

He has been selling shoes for many years. In his view, shoe vendors are also making profits through their own hardships, as long as they do not violate laws and morals.

In the face of cultural and emotional problems, ENZO bluntly said: "I am doing business in the shoe business solely for the purpose of making money, and my feelings are really nothing to do with me."

In today's sports shoes market, there are quite a number of shoe sellers like ENZO, who only pursue business. After all, sneakers can bring good benefits to them.

However, more people are likely to switch between lovers and businessmen.

VKD is a senior sports shoe enthusiast. At the same time, he used his shoes as a business a year ago to find supplies for domestic shoe shops, but now he has completely abandoned them. He said: "the purpose of making money from sneakers at the beginning is to make them have the ability to buy more favorite sports shoes. At that time, not many people are selling sports shoes, the profits are relatively large, and they have chosen to give up the business. One is now" everyone is traffickers ", the market has become more pparent, and the money has not earned so well.

The other is the reason for yourself. When you regard this as a means of making money, it will be a little bit worse when you love it, because there are too many things to be taken into account, so it is still more simple and happy to be a consumer who likes sports shoes.

It is obvious that shoe vendors exist when the sneaker culture is initially formed, and it has always appeared as a negative image. However, with the expansion of the market and further commercialization, people have been able to view them more rationally. At the same time, at present, the largest "business" group in the market is no longer those "professional shoe vendors". Under the drive of profitability, more and more ordinary people are joining the ranks of making money by sneakers.

KYU is a girl living in Shanghai. She does not sell shoes as a major source of money, like shoe dealers, but plans to participate in the sale of all kinds of shoes. The purpose is very simple: she likes to wear her own clothes, whereas she sells to earn some pocket money.

"I and the people around me will always pay attention to these shoes, and they will pull a group. Every time they draw the lottery activities to the inside, choose and judge the shoes you want to take part in, and if you don't like them, sell them on the nice and poison APP."

It is no longer normal to resell the shoes, but now more and more people are starting to regard this as a means of making money, compared with earlier ones. They are no longer limited to "changing their shoes". After all, the whole process has developed to a very simple and fast stage. Most of the sneakers are sold online, they only need to register information, move their fingers to participate in the game, and do not have to queue up all night, almost no cost.

Once lucky, it's easy to earn hundreds or even thousands of differences through reselling, which is also an important factor in the rapid expansion of the shoe market.

This trend has an important relationship with the emergence of a trading platform like poison and nice.

Due to the integration of targeted resources and information, users can use this platform to exchange shoes more clearly and quickly.

In addition, it also provides a more efficient resale channel for retail investors. Through the above price reference, we can know the two level market prices of every pair of shoes now.

To a certain extent, this reduces the threshold for everyone to participate in the resale of shoes, and makes the resale price of the entire two level market more pparent.

Combined with the brand name rules of today's brand names, the sale of sneakers has become a matter of almost everyone's grasp. You don't need to know much about the rules in this market. The only difficulty is the luck of drawing lots.

Information, brand and social software have an impact on the changing psychology of the new generation of consumers.

Aside from selling and selling these keywords, another reason why people feel impetuous is the change in the consumer psychology of the new generation.

"Now that the pace of information and things is developing too fast, young people may be unable to understand the story behind their shoes compared with the older generation. They are constantly receiving information from all sides, and always want to know the latest things.

And when you find yourself in this process, you will slow down and go back to pursue what you really like.

-- TomChung

In this era of information explosion, people do not need to take the initiative to get information.

When you open your cell phone, you can get the content of every day's sneakers, and no longer take the initiative to explore the story behind your sneakers. Under this kind of "brainwashing" and "aesthetic training", as Tom Chung has said, many people lose their direction and the market tends to homogenization.

As more people slowly shift their attention to "business", the cultural concern is naturally relatively weak. Price has become the focus of discussion and the most important concern. What kind of value does the sneaker itself contain has become less important.

"We are in the midst of a network storm, and when Nike SB Dunk Low" Panda Pigeon "was on sale, I experienced a similar feeling with the launch of OGPigeon joint in 2005. Some people really want to get it. Some people are very excited and even have a fight. The love and hate for those shoes are so strong, but now everything is happening on the Internet.

-- JeffStaple

In fact, it's not just consumers. Brands and media also play a crucial role in the balance between sports shoes and business, and interact with each other.

You can clearly feel that the whole market environment is very easy for the brand to use the joint name, limit and various gimmicks, topics and other marketing tools. This also makes the introduction of this kind of shoes become more frequent. This will give people a feeling of "quick sale". The heat and topics will be followed by waves, but it is hard to remember.

And the so-called "limit", the meaning of carrying it is no longer the same, without the real sense of "scarcity", and slowly become a victim of business.

For this phenomenon, KKTP director Kim has brought us a more practical view. He said the brand is related to the development and promotion of sports shoes and the development of technology.

When the brand is developing innovative technology, it needs a certain budget and cycle, and in this cycle, it will naturally collaborate with some culture, athletes, stars or artists to stimulate consumers in the form of new technology, but these stimuli are superficial.

Unfortunately, today's consumers seem to be more interested in gimmicks, limited and joint names, and the pioneering technology like adidas's 4D soles can't attract them.

As a matter of fact, we are now experiencing many problems in the sports shoes market, selling, following the trend and pricing. It is undeniable that in the meanwhile, we seem to have gradually neglected the part of the sneaker culture originated from the streets. This is also the key for many people to think that the market for shoes is very impetuous. Sooner or later, the future of the sports shoes market will not be denied sooner or later.

"Where will the future of the shoe market go?"

"In fact, the market for sports shoes from 2008 to 2011 has been experiencing a low tide for two or three years. After that, it began to grow larger and larger.

Now the market is like a bubble, until the swelling to a certain extent, will eventually burst the day.

Tom Chung, who has experienced more than 10 years of changes in the culture of sneakers, believes that although the market seems to be very prosperous, there are still many bubbles in the commercial sector.

When people's enthusiasm gradually fades away, the whole market may develop in another direction.

When it comes to the future of the sports shoes market, he also has similar views with Tom.

"I never saw such a sneaker market in my lifetime, but I also felt that extremes were inevitable.

The so-called ups and downs are for a reason. No one can always go up, and a pole will definitely come down. So I am waiting for the moment to come. Can we still insist on what we are doing at that time, and how many people can stay and continue to like this culture and continue to understand?

No market can always maintain its peak state. It is like a circle. When the surface of prosperity is completely gone, people on the periphery of the circle will disperse and remain the core lovers.

It is a good thing to rush into a new group of Sneakerhead at this stage, but whether it can become a part of the culture is the key.

As AKA said, many people may be interested in the field of sports shoes through various reasons such as interests, topics, and so on. But in the end, we certainly hope that you can truly discover the meaning and value of sneakers, not just simple speculation and explosive money.

With the change of times and environment, there are many problems in the shoe market. There is no doubt that culture is still the most important core. However, when attacking the problem, it seems that many of those positive aspects have been overlooked.

We can not deny that the booming market and the benefits of commercialized capital upgrading bring more people into contact with it, expand the whole group, and promote the brand to introduce more diversified products, to a certain extent, it can also promote the development and dissemination of the cultural part.

As consumers, fundamentally, the current group has shifted from the real world to the social network. Eventually, the cultural embodiment will create a new generation of virtual communities through the Internet.

Perhaps in our view, today's sneakers culture is too impetuous and commercialized, but for young people, they still have their own memories, but the meaning is different.

After all, the times have changed. We can not force brands and consumers to adopt a relatively simple style and culture as a standard in different circumstances. This may be somewhat one-sided.

"You can't throw away business and talk about culture.

If there are not so many things happening now, it will not be able to precipitate, so whether brand or consumer, and now the market is so hot, whether it is healthy or not healthy, I believe that it will eventually settle down, whether it is a group of people or some good products, eventually become part of the culture.

Ah appearance

This is the best and the worst of times.

In the final analysis, the development of today's shoe market can no longer be judged by a single dimension. Regardless of hobbies or business, there is a sense of existence. Ultimately, who will disperse and who will still love and have an answer in mind.

Business may have a lonely day, and culture...

It will continue.

Here, I would like to pay tribute to those Sneakerhead who really love the culture of sneakers.