After their invention in the late 1800s, sneakers became a pop-culture staple by the 1970s and '80s with models like the Adidas Superstar, Puma Clyde, and Nike Air Force 1. But it wasn't until the release of the Air Jordan in 1985 that sneaker fandom became an international obsession and evolved into a disruptive shoe market.
Resellers all over the world feed sneakerheads' voracious appetite for shoes. Some act like speculative investors, stocking up on inventory as a bet that prices will rise, sometimes yielding enormous profits. Others sell their own, re-imagined versions of the popular shoes, making up part of a growing segment of the market characterized by both creativity and controversy.
