Sneakers
eBay Buys Sneaker Con Authentication Service To Make Sure Your Kicks Ain’t Bandooloo
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: eBay / eBay Sneaker reselling is big business these days and eBay is looking to not only cash in on the movement, but is also spending a pretty penny to ensure that sellers and buyers get their money’s worth whenever making a transaction on the secondary market. According to The Verge, eBay just bout out Sneaker Con’s sneaker authentication service to give buyers some peace of mind whenever they put down big paper to copp hard to come by kicks that SNKRS and other footwear apps wouldn’t bless heads with. Last October eBay announced their new sneaker authentication system for any pair of sneakers purchased for more than $100. Collectors and hypebeasts rejoiced at the news as many a sneaker aficionado had at one point or another been jerked by sellers flipp...
HHW Gaming: Xbox & adidas Latest Sneaker Collaboration Pays Homage To The Iconic Xbox 360 Console
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Xbox / adidas The Xbox x adidas collaboration is giving gamers more heat for their feet. In celebration of Xbox’s 20th anniversary, Microsoft and adidas unveiled another pair of kicks, the Xbox 360 Forum Mid. Based on the name alone, you already know these particular sneakers draw inspiration from Microsoft’s follow-up to its first console, the Xbox 360, which is considered one of the greatest video consoles ever made. The sneakers look exactly like the console taking its white coloring with grey accents while featuring the chrome disc tray from the 360 consoles. The Xbox button from the 360 controllers and console air vents also lives on the side of each sneaker. Source: Xbox / adidas Related Stories It would be an Xbox-themed sneaker if there weren’t an...
Virgil Abloh Gives The Air Force 1 Mid The Off-White Treatment
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jordan Brand / NIke Is it us or does it seem like Virgil Abloh likes a challenge when remixing his Nike collaborations? After taking arguably the least popular Jordan model in the Air Jordan II to give it the Off-White makeover, Virgil is now setting his eyes on another often overlooked Nike silhouette whose popularity he’ll try to resurrect. Highsnobiety just gave sneakerheads a sneak peak Virgil’s latest remix project in the Nike Air Force 1 Mids, and well, how ’bout them Knicks? Hardly recognizable at first glance, the Off-White Air Force 1 Mid’s are covered in fabric that render the sneaker unrecognizable with the criss-cross lacing that’s become his calling card of sorts, and track spikes on the soles that he’s used on previous models. Yeah, we don’t...
Game-Worn Michael Jordan Nike Sneakers Sell For $1.47M In Las Vegas
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Courtesy Sotheby’s / Sotheby’s If you happen to have any game-worn kicks donned by Michael Jordan himself in your collection, you’re sitting on millions. On Sunday, Oct. 24, a pair of Air Ships rocked by the GOAT in one of his earliest NBA games sold for a cool $1.47M. Source: Courtesy Sotheby’s / Sotheby’s The auction was handled by Sotheby’s—now clearly the purveyor of million-dollar kicks—at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Bloomberg reports that the buyer was Nick Fiorella, who is described as “a high-end cards collector.” That’s a card holder with plenty of banks. Related Stories Reportedly, the kicks were worn during just the 5th game (Nov. 1, 1984) of Michael Jordan’s career. Sneakerheads will recognize the white and red shoe not as his A...
The Air Jordan 1 Mid’s Are Rising In Popularity
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jordan Brand / Jordan Brand The Air Jordan 1 Mid’s have gotten a lot of hate over the past few years from sneakerheads and collectors alike. Despite many wanting Jordan Brand to drop many of their colorways in AJ1 High form, the Mid’s are apparently a big deal overseas. In StockX’s Big Facts report, they are finding that one of the most hated on silhouettes in the sneaker game is actually performing pretty well out in Europe with the UK buying up to three times the Mid’s as the whole world, but now sales across the globe are up 100%. Word?! Not only are the Mid’s getting more love around the world, but apparently women’s releases are appreciating more in value than the men’s are. We’re not sure if that’s because women buy more than men or because the wome...
LaVar Ball Unveils Big Baller Brand’s $695 “Luxury Lifestyle” Sneaker, Twitter Spots The Jig Immediately
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Big Baller Brand / BBB “Luxury Lifestyle” Sneakers LaVar Ball and Big Baller Brand are officially back in the sneaker business. LaMelo Ball made a splash Tuesday (Oct.12) when the Charlotte Hornets second-year NBA player revealed his first signature with PUMA. His dad, LaVar Ball, figured why not join in on the fun and decided it would also be an excellent time to announce the return of the Big Baller Brand with the reveal of the brand’s “luxury lifestyle” sneakers. The sneakers, which are blatant rip-offs of the Stan Smith or the now-popular Alexander McQueen high fashion sneaker your favorite Hip-Hop loves to wear, were designed by the last Ball standing that is repping the brand not named LaVar, LiAngelo. Besides the lazy design, what stand...
The Sneaker Game: RARES App Founder Gerome Sapp
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: handout / RARES Sneakers are big money, and investing in them is a no-brainer, now. Gerome Sapp, a former NFL player and the Founder & CEO of RARES, introduced a new app that allows users to literally invest in kicks, but convincing venture capitalists of the money in the sneaker game was practically a non-starter. Despite a degree in Finance from Notre Dame (and an MBA from Harvard Business School), a keen insight into the viability of sneakers as an asset class, and a dedication inherent in anyone who can carve out a career as a pro-athlete, Sapp had to pull up stakes and go for self. “Finally, I was just like, ‘these people aren’t even my demographic’,” recalls Sapp of getting the cold shoulder from venture capitalists. “They don’t understand sneak...
HYPEBEAST & Neiman Marcus Team For New Sneaker Virtual Showroom
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Hypebeast / Hypebeast Just when you thought you couldn’t possibly take anymore sneaker related ventures, HYPEBEAST and Neiman Marcus have teamed up to take sneakerheads on a virtual journey to show us what we can’t have, and we’re not mad at all. HYPEBEAST is reporting that they’ve teamed with Marcus to create a virtual showroom that will feature 11 of the most exclusive kicks from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Balmain, Christian Louboutin, Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, Maison Margiela, Off-White™, Versace and Giuseppe Zanotti. Wait, no Jordans? We’re not sure how we feel about that. We know the world doesn’t revolve around the Jumpman, but still. The collaboration is part of Neiman’s “Re-Introduce Yourself” campaign which looks to g...
eBay Announces New “Inside Drop” Sneaker Rewards For Sellers & Buyers
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: eBay / eBay eBay is out here really blessing sneakerheads in ways that you’d expect from some of your favorite sneaker apps on your phone. Source: eBay / eBay Almost two years after deading the dreaded “Seller Fees” and a year after beginning their own sneaker authentication program to ensure bootlegs don’t get past them, eBay is now rewarding both sellers and buyers with a new “Inside Drop” release. The “Inside Drop” will be available to all ebayers across the board and will feature all kinds of grails that had you feeling blue when you got that notification that you had an “L” in your back pocket. How’s the drop going to work? Well, check the information provided by eBay below. Whether it’s their first or five-hundredth listing, eBay users can list a pa...
Sneaker Store Employee Shot & Killed During Sneaker Raffle Dispute
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Gary Coronado / Getty Sneakerbots, resellers, and even sneaker apps have ruined the sneaker game something seriously. But now its gotten to the point where trying to win a pair of coveted sneakers (that would’ve probably been a general in-store release pre-pandemic) is leading to violence out in these streets. The latest incident actually cost someone their life as KTLA5 is reporting that an employee at famous sneaker boutique Shoe Palace was shot and killed over a sneaker raffle in the store this past Wednesday (August 11). According to the report a group of men and a woman began arguing in front of the store on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax district over a sneaker raffle. When store employee Jayren Bradford went out to intervene, he was shot and killed....
adidas Sells Reebok for $2.5B, Still Drops A New Human Rights Collection
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Reebok / Reebok For a while there was talk that adidas was looking to unload their Reebok brand to the highest bidder with rumors that Master P and Baron Davis were interested in purchasing the OG sneaker brand. Well, it’s a done deal and Reebok will officially have new owners (not Master P or Baron Davis, though) as Reuters is reporting that adidas offloaded Reebok for a cool $2.5 billion to Authentic Brands Group. Not quite the profit they might’ve been hoping to get. Heck, they didn’t even break even as adidas purchased Reebok in 2006 for $3.8 billion only to struggle with sales and profits over the years which pushed them to just give up on the brand. They’ve tried everything from retro’ing classic silhouettes from OG’s NBA players like Shaquille O’Ne...
KLEKT: The Sneaker Resale App That’s Not Just For Sneakerheads
Fashion resale is at an all time high, and one part of the industry that’s seen a huge rise in resale is sneakers. Thanks to apps like StockX, events like Crepe City, and an increased awareness around sustainability and pre-owned fashion, resale platforms are the most popular form of buying and selling sneakers. One platform that aims to bring more women into the resale industry is KLEKT, an online marketplace that promotes safety and inclusivity. We caught up with KLEKT’s CEO, Sally Scott, to talk about the app and the future of sneaker resale. POPSUGAR: What can you tell us about KLEKT, for those who haven’t heard of it? Sally Scott: KLEKT is an original sneaker marketplace. We bring buyers and sellers of sneakers and streetwear together to help create a community of li...
