Cape Town - Ashley Basson bought four Kanye West sneakers for R4 000 each in February and sold them for R25 000 each. But now a pair is worth R50 000.
Basson is a sneakerhead. He works at Lost Property, which advertises itself as SA’s Premier Sneaker Boutique and was one of six sneaker traders who sold and exchanged sought-after footwear at the Sneaker Exchange at the Zip Zap Circus, next to Artscape on the Foreshore.
The event attracted residents from across Cape Town. There were no R200 or R300 takkies in sight – just designer footwear from R1 000 upwards, with many pairs ranging from R2 000 to R5 000.
The most expensive sneakers at the event – a R13 500 beige pair of Air Jordans manufactured with the same leather as Chanel bags – were marketed by Jessi Titus, co-owner of Base Sneaker Parlour.
The event was began two-and-a-half years ago by two sneakerheads, Tebogo Mogola and Zaid Osman.
Sneakerheads arrived with boxes of sneakers or a few pairs, admired footwear on display, compared brands or exchanged them.
There was entertainment by hip hop DJs, including Veezus.
There were also performances by artists Youngsta, Reason and Stilo Magolide among others.
Boerewors or spring rolls, cooldrinks and ice cream were on sale as well as sweaters, T-shirts, caps and hoodies.
Mobile stylist Brandon Court was on hand to give people funky haircuts.
Artist Louis Odendaal sold his sketches of sneakers for R300 each. He said a man had just ordered 23 via the internet. A woman at another stand painted designs on sneakers, customised on request.
Within this subculture, there are categories. For example “nostalgia”, also called retro or old school, has shoes from the 1980s and 1990s. Manenberg resident Jason Fish said he was looking for old school “TLs or Vince Carters”. He was prepared to pay R5 000 for a pair.
University of Western Cape law student Mo Molefe described the elements of sneakerhead subculture as “slimfit jeans, a proper, large T-shirt, a nice swaggy cap and the best sneakers you can find”. He bought a pair of sneakers for R3 000 which he intends selling for R4 500.
Mogola said sneaker culture was “really taking off in South Africa. We’ve found our voice and are being recognised as buyers. When a shoe drops in the States, it gets here quickly”.
“Retro releases” such as sneakers worn by Michael Jordan and the pair Michael J Fox wore in the film Back to the Future were popular, said Mogola.
Osman sold Michael J Fox sneakers for R70 000, said Mogola. “Jordan 1 is the holy grail. You can buy a pair for R1 800 and sell it for R6 000.
“The prices rise quicker than anything on the stock exchange,” said Mogola.
Weekend Argus