When I went to the centre of town a couple of weeks ago to go to the market I witnessed something strange. Near the markets there are a couple of shops and one of them sells sneakers. The store was open, but in front of it there were around 20 people waiting impatiently and yelling to the store owner if there was a list. Curious as I am I asked what was happening and it turned out that there was a release of a specific model sneaker and these people wanted to have it first.
Of course this is a phenomenon which doesn’t only happens when it comes to sneakers. I’ve seen it happening with phones, but it’s fascinating to see. It is the ultimate expression of being a consumer and materialism. The fact that you are willing to head out and in some cases sleep outside in order to get you hands on something and make it your property is amazing. The documentary shows the world of the sneakerheads. People who collect them as a hobby and how obsessed they can become.
Sneakerheadz isn’t the first documentary about this phenomenon. In 2005 Just for Kicks< already did this and I liked that a bit better. Reason for that was that the interviews were a lot more entertaining. This looks more at the facts. This doesn't mean that there are situations which won't surprise you. There are collectors who admit that they have stopped counting how many sneakers they own once they hit 100. There is even an athlete who has installed a vault in his house (bank size) to store his collection. [dzs_parallaxer media="http://www.defilmkijker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Bespreking-Sneakerheadz.jpg" clip_height="300" total_height="600" breakout="trybreakout" direction="reverse" use_loading="on" mode="normal" enable_scrollbar="off"]
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Subjects like violence because of sneakers, in which people are even killed, are talked about, just like Japanese sneaker culture, but are just small parts, making the documentary feel fragmented. The market for sneaker collecting has grown a lot, where an exclusive model is still produced in the thousands. Sneaker companies are using the demand and have expanded their effort to create them, but I would have liked to see more of that side. Maybe they weren’t willing to cooperate, but it’s an interesting part of this culture. If you want to see one documentary about the subject it’s better to watch Just for Kicks. But if you are a real sneakerhead than this is a must see, as the love people have for sneakers shines through. You can watch most of this documentary at GQ as 13-part series..
