QUEUEING outside an upmarket Johannesburg clothing store, young fashion lovers hope to lay their hands on the latest sneakers to come out of the United States.
For South Africa's city dwellers, sneakers are more than just shoes.
As a marker of personality as well as social status, they are cared for and worn with pride, and youths compete to hunt down the rarest models from a market flooded with old and new sneakers including many fakes.
"Sneakers kind of tell your story," graffiti artist Rasik "Mr.ekse" Green told AFP as he was spray-painting a commissioned mural on the rooftop of a building in downtown Johannesburg.
Green's elaborate graffiti designs which he also uses to redecorate and personalise sneakers are highly sought after.
The shoes are often an expression of geographic roots in a country with 12 official languages and dozens of ethnicities.
"For instance we know Cape Townians love their bubbles," said Green, referring to a chunky, thick-soled Nike design.
And residents of the Johannesburg township of Soweto "love their (Converse) All Stars", he said. "It's kind of a code."
The athletic footwear craze is linked to African American hip-hop culture, which infuses South Africa's rich musical heritage as well as its fashion.
Collecting and trading shoes has become a hobby in Africa's most industrialised nation, with aficionados known as "sneaker heads".
In 2019, 800 pairs of Reeboks, created in a limited edition in collaboration with South African rap sensation AKA, sold out 10 minutes after their online release.
A South African brand, Bathu -- slang for "shoe" -- conquered the local market with a unique mesh design.
While its low-end sneakers cost 1,300 rand ($84), Bathu came out with a limited edition, the Opel GSI, with only 80 pairs which it sold for 397,000 rand each in June 2019.
"That wouldn't have happened 30 years ago," Green said.
But another designer, Andile "ScotchIsDope" Cele, warned that sneaker fanaticism is "becoming about class."
Paying extravagant amounts for the shoes is "almost like an investment to say, you're helping yourself, so that you can live with these (wealthy) people... almost like 'fake it till you make it' type of thing."
- Worn 'art piece' -
Sneakers have not always been viewed positively in South Africa.
Gangsters terrorising townships during the 1980s often wore Chuck Taylor All Stars, a high-topped stitched canvas shoe manufactured by the US firm Converse.
The sneakers, originally designed as basketball shoes, acquired a "thug" reputation that stuck.
"My parents didn't want me to get a pair because it was mixed up with a certain culture that was for criminals," recalled Hector Mgiba, 28, who has an extensive collection of Converse All-Stars.
He said Converse shoes were also associated with "pantsula", a dance born among young black township dwellers as a form of protest against apartheid, and snubbed by older generations.
"Pantsula" dancers typically wore smart shirts, flare trousers and All-Stars -- perfect for their quick steps and hops.
Mgiba, a teenager at the time, saved up to buy a second-hand pair behind his parents' back.
"I loved it so much and I wanted to pave my own way to how I express myself," he said.
"The way it fades when it gets worn out, it becomes more of an art piece."
A popular music genre known as Kwaito that emerged in Soweto during the 1990s cast Converse into a new light.
Dancers in colourful All Stars turned the shoe into a symbol of township youth in post-apartheid South Africa.
Today the rubber-soled shoe is worn with both formal fitted suits and casual dress by young South Africans of all backgrounds and skin tones.
- 'Bringing us together' -
As demand for sneakers has grown, local entrepreneurs have become fierce rivals to international brands.
Unable to afford the latest sneakers as a young boy, local designer Lekau Sehoana made his first pair of sneakers from worn-out shoes, old jeans and polyurethane.
His "Drip" footwear brand, launched in 2019, gained popularity with its brightly coloured bubble soles and stretchy material.
Sehoana now uses part of the company's earnings to make shoes for children in townships.
"I guess it's one way of uniting us and bringing us together, as a people, as a country, as different races," Green said.
"Besides all our differences, at least we share one common thing... shoes."
ETX Studio
Wed Mar 10 2021
Nicholas "NickyD" Deftereos, a sneakers collector, stands in Court Order vintage sneakers reseller shop in Rosebank, Johannesburg. ETXStudiopic
Man Utd dan Martial sah berpisah
Pemain yang memakai jersi nombor sembilan itu mengesahkan statusnya susulan baki kontrak yang akan tamat pada Jun ini.
Anda kini boleh mendengungkan irama muzik pada YouTube Music untuk mencari lagu
YouTube Music telah dikemas kini yang membenarkan pengguna mendengungkan irama muzik yang bermain di dalam fikiran untuk mencari lagu tersebut.
AWANI Pagi: Kos Sara Hidup VS Kos Gaya Hidup
Masyarakat dilihat sukar mengimbangi perbelanjaan kos gaya hidup yang hanya berdasarkan keutamaan peribadi, minat dan tabiat perbelanjaan mereka. Pada masa yang sama, mereka perlu mendapani cabaran menampung perbelanjaan asas bagi memenuhi keperluan asas kehidupan. Bagaimana keseimbangan antara kedua aspek ini dapat diwujudkan?
Ikuti kupasannya di AWANI Pagi bersama Dr Nurul Ashikin Alias.
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
Ikuti kupasannya di AWANI Pagi bersama Dr Nurul Ashikin Alias.
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
Jemaah Haji muda raih keputusan 9A dalam SPM
Jaga solat, jaga hubungan dengan mak dan ayah serta guru selain adab sesama kawan, itu antara resepi Muhammad Ameer Che Noor Azam, pelajar Sekolah Menengah Puchong Utama Satu sehingga berjaya memperol
Budak lapan tahun dinobat juruvideo dron termuda dunia
Pengiktirafan Louisa Royer yang membawa dronnya semasa melakukan percutian di Eropah, Jepun, Australia dan Korea Selatan oleh GWR.
Siklon Remal: Wisma Putra pantau impak di India, Bangladesh
Wisma Putra dalam satu kenyataan mengingatkan rakyat Malaysia yang berada di kawasan yang terjejas untuk sentiasa berwaspada.
AWANI Pagi: Berita tumpuan & menarik di astroawani.com [28 Mei 2024]
Antara fokus Awani Pagi bersama Afiezy Azaman & Farhan Hakimi
SPM 2023: Prestasi kebangsaan meningkat
KWSP: Lebih 2 juta mohon pindah Akaun Sejahtera ke Akaun Fleksibel
Penghantaran bakat TVET ke China tepat masanya
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
SPM 2023: Prestasi kebangsaan meningkat
KWSP: Lebih 2 juta mohon pindah Akaun Sejahtera ke Akaun Fleksibel
Penghantaran bakat TVET ke China tepat masanya
#AWANInews #AWANIPagi
Gol akrobatik Garnacho dinobat terbaik EPL
Gol menerusi sepakan akrobatik pemain berusia 19 tahun itu dijelmakan seawal minit ketiga semasa aksi EPL di Goodison Park tahun lalu.
Tingkatkan penghantaran pelajar TVET ke China
Penghantaran bakat Kemahiran TVET tempatan ke China ketika ini adalah relevan memandangkan China merupakan gergasi ekonomi dunia dan China merupakan peneraju dalam industri teknologi hijau , industri kejuruteraan EV dan teknologi tenaga diperbaharui.
Penunggang motosikal maut selepas 11 hari bertarung nyawa
Pada jam lebih 8.20 malam Isnin, mangsa telah disahkan meninggal dunia di wad Unit Rawatan Rapi (ICU) HTAN.
Lebih 500 pekerja lombong emas jadi tebusan
Seramai 543 pekerja sebuah lombong emas di timur Johannesburg di Afrika Selatan dijadikan tebusan sejak Ahad lepas, lapor Xinhua pada Selasa.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
73 maut termasuk tujuh kanak-kanak dalam kebakaran bangunan tinggal di Johannesburg
Bangunan itu adalah bangunan yang telah ditinggalkan tetapi masih diduduki golongan gelandangan.
PM Jepun makan ikan 'sashimi' mahu buktikan ia selamat
Perdana Menteri Jepun, Fumio Kishida menikmati hidangan sashimi ketika makan tengah hari sebagai usaha untuk membuktikan produk makanan laut negara itu adalah selamat.
Sekurang-kurangnya 63 maut dalam kebakaran bangunan di Johannesburg
Mulaudzi berkata angka kematian mungkin meningkat kerana usaha mencari mangsa masih diteruskan.
Letupan di Johannesburg disebabkan oleh kebocoran gas
Letupan itu menyebabkan beberapa kenderaan penumpang terbalik dengan permukaan jalan musnah seperti dilanda gempa bumi.
Pelajar di Afrika Selatan mula kembali ke sekolah
Murid-murid Gred 7 dan 12 merupakan kumpulan pertama kembali ke kelas setelah sekolah ditutup pada Mac lalu.
Serangan 20,000 lebah, penerbangan ditunda
Pakar dipanggil untuk menggeluarkan kira-kira 20,000 lebah dari enjin pesawat berkenaan dan pihak berkuasa berkata ia adalah kejadian yang jarang-jarang berlaku.
11 pemandu bas mini maut diserang hendap
Kesemua mangsa diserang hendap ketika dalam perjalanan pulang ke Johannesburg selepas menghadiri majlis pengebumian rakan mereka Sabtu lalu.
Baju rasis: Butik H&M di Johannesburg digeledah
Gara-gara bengang dengan insiden tulisan coolest monkey in the jungle yang tertera pada baju jenama H&M yang tular sebelum ini, sebuah butik jenama tersebut di pusat beli-belah Sandton City and Menl