“Making Little Moves”: U-32’s Shoe Masters

Max Fair, a U-32 High School graduate, first discovered his love for shoes his freshman year, when a sophomore at the time, Devante Lee, “Put him on the trend.”

 “I was into Jordans and stuff like that, but he (Devante) actually had shoes like that,” Max said. “I started getting some money and started making little moves.” 

“Sneaker Culture” at U-32 is more than just buying and exchanging shoes. Students often take inspiration from others to develop their own style or even use the sneaker medium to meet new people. 

The first shoes that really interested Max Fair were Devante’s “Jordan Top Three’s” a shoe now being sold for the lofty price of a thousand dollars, on the reselling market of course. Another shoe that drew Max in, and also one of his first big sneaker purchases was the Jordan 5.   

Many see shoes as the foundation to an outfit. “I do like to match my fit (outfit) to what shoes I want to wear that day,” Max said. “I don’t like to wear too many shoes but I also try to not wear the same pair two days in a row.

Another member of the U-32 community who partakes in ‘Sneaker Culture’ is not a student. But a teacher. 

George Cook began his sneaker addiction at a young age. When he was little he was obsessed with basketball, and like many kids at that time his favorite player was Michael Jordan. 

George Cook’s Office Shoe Rack

George made his first big sneaker purchase in the late 80’s when he bought the original Jordans. “We had all of the Jordan equipment,” George said.”You know, the Jordan shoe was invented because he wanted to wear it to a game and events like weddings. He made sports equipment fashionable.” 

George likes to play with more dressy clothes and mix and match them with athletic wear. “Something that I’ve always been genuinely interested in is accessories, you know, shoes, belts, watches, ties.” George said.  “And I got this from my Mom”.

Dylan Lutz is an upperclassman at U-32 and is not only a sneaker buyer. But also resells shoes on the side. “When I got Instagram I just kind of saw it was introduced to the whole sneaker world.” Many people share this experience;  seeing different outfits and shoes on the Instagram explore page (recommended posts) . They admire it and want to emulate or draw influence from it. 

Dylan is currently running a sneaker reselling operation under the name “Nine_Sneakers” on instagram. He’s sold many pairs of shoes through this account, and has put the profits right back into purchasing more to begin the process again. This is Dylan’s contribution to “Sneaker Culture.”

Shoes bring people together, or just give them an interest to pursue in their free time. “I’m closer to a lot of people because of shoes,” Dylan said, “especially through trading with Devante it builds a connection.”