Nice Kicks in the News!

It’s usually a single shoe that first lures one into the cult of the sneaker. Then the myriad color schemes and limited editions entrench these shoe aficionados in obsession, making them “sneakerheads.” The Tracy McGrady shoe that UCLA sports is now on its sixth issue. “T-MAC” signed a lifetime contract with adidas in 2002, and the company has since released hundreds of different designs bearing his name. Sneakerheads collect these shoes or wear them for style, not for athletic purpose. Still, sneaker collectors usually own 10 or more pairs.

Tonight UCLA will wear this type of limited, sought-after shoe. It is a special-edition adidas T-MAC 6, made specifically for UCLA to sport during the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The blue and gold shoe features a subtle laser Hawaiian print, the type of small detail sneakerheads love. Sneaker blogs have been buzzing about the shoe for the past month, and on Nov. 15, adidas released just 75 pairs of the shoe in an exclusive online sale.

“It’s a great feeling – who would have ever thought I’d be influencing what shoes people wear?” UCLA small forward Josh Shipp said.

Adidas signed its original sports-marketing agreement with UCLA in 1998. The brand also sponsors three of the other seven Maui Invitational teams: Chaminade, Memphis and DePaul. Each team received the special-edition T-MAC 6 shoes to wear in its own colors. The same shoes were sold in limited quantity on the company’s Web site and at a Maui shoe store.

The UCLA edition sold out in minutes, and only those on the adidas e-mail list had the opportunity to purchase the shoe. The promotion and sale of the shoe is an attempt by adidas to tap into the limited market, which is currently dominated by Nike.

Matt Halfhill is the author of nicekicks.com, which he describes as a sneaker-blog/sneaker information site. It is the most-read sneaker site on the Internet. The site allows sneakerheads to discuss limited shoes and reports the very latest information about a scene that is at times very mysterious. Halfhill first reported on the T-MAC 6 special-edition shoe on Oct. 31.

“Before there was never really a company that made college-edition shoes available to the public. Adidas is aligning its product with the UCLA legacy, and it’s a great way for it to enter the limited market,” Halfhill said. “People go bananas for these special-edition team shoes.”

Oliver Peer is a second-year business-economics student and a self-described sneakerhead.

“I love finding limited editions; it’s all about the thrill of the hunt. I would definitely wear the special-edition T-MAC 6 shoes. The fact that they’re so limited makes them so much more attractive. If they’re limited they’re tight, basically,” Peer said.

The sneaker obsession has exploded recently, and shoe companies have rushed to satisfy their consumers with more and more limited-edition shoes. Even the basketball players themselves are immersed in the culture.

“We’re all into the sneaker culture, and it’s really cool to be a part of it. Everybody is excited about the shoe. I think it looks very nice,” UCLA shooting guard Arron Afflalo said.

It makes sense for adidas to target UCLA for its championship history, but it also has a great location. Los Angeles is a center of the sneaker culture, with stores like Undefeated and Supreme devoted to selling limited shoes.

Blayke Esparza has managed Undefeated in Los Angeles for the past year. The store opened in 2002, and it now has three other locations in Los Angeles, one in Japan, and is opening a fifth location in Las Vegas on Jan. 1, 2007.

“People have been doing this sneaker thing for a while; it was a real subculture. Now the mainstream has caught on, and it’s really blowing up,” Esparza said. “We’re catering to consumers that are willing to pay extreme amounts for the rarest and most-limited sneakers they can find.”

But for all the hoopla surrounding the sneaker culture, there will always be the Lorenzo Matas, who just can’t understand the craze.