Word: sneaker
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Once part of a secretive urban subculture that began in New York City in the 1970s, sneaker freaks like Thomas have come out of the closet, rising up not only across the U.S. but also around the rest of the globe, from Berlin to Tokyo. While many are driven by nostalgia for the classic Adidas or Pumas they wore as a kid, others amass the shoes not to wear but to save and admire like a stamp or baseball-card collection. "It's the thrill of the chase," says Carra Crehan, 26, who works at a New York City sneaker...
Shoe exhibitionism is gaining even more traction with websites for sneaker aficionados like hypebeast.com and kix-files.com and magazines like Sole Collector. Designers like Stella McCartney and Gwen Stefani are stepping in with styles created especially for women, and a slew of customizers is establishing a following by transforming off-the-rack sneakers into one-of-a-kind works of art. There's even an online petition at operationmcfly.blogspot.com for a public release of the moon-boot-style Nikes Michael J. Fox wore in Back to the Future...
Google then had another brainstorm: extend the ad-link idea beyond search queries so that any content site could automatically run ads linked to its text. Google's technology, known as AdSense, can instantly analyze the text of any site and deliver relevant ads to it. Your sneaker company could place ads on tennis-information sites that participate in the Google network. Brin and Page signed up thousands and thousands of clients before their competitors knew what was happening. Now Google plans to apply the model in other media, and it just bought dMarc Broadcasting, whose automated systems connect advertisers...
Risk management is the clearest benefit of doing good. Nike knows something about that. The Oregon-based sneaker giant spent the 1990s batting away criticism for its dependence on foreign sweatshop labor. It became clear that the company was in trouble when Amnesty International postcards protesting the practice began arriving at Nike headquarters in the early 1990s. The campaign evolved into boycotts. Colleges dropped the brand from their athletic wear, and Nike spokesman Michael Jordan was put in the awkward position of calling on his sponsor to "do the right thing...
...color (which his p.r. nicely describes as "ethno-fluorescence at its best") also comes as a relief in a global fashion scene perennially hung up on blacks, grays and neutral tones?and to a sneaker market that still prioritizes functionality and athletic performance, even though most of us wear sneakers anywhere but the track. "I'm trying to make people curious again," says Arora. That much seems assured. Just try wearing the shoes shown here...