Our Community Collections series is back after a brief intermission.
This time we focus our attention on Los Angeles native Long Ly. The basketball and sneaker aficionado is a true believer of wearing your shoes and is certainly not opposed to sporting vintage footwear on court that you forgot about or haven’t seen in years (just check out his Instagram account – @myshoelife). Ly’s entire collection consists of Jordans, a multitude of basketball shoes, random Air Force Ones and SB Dunks, but today we take a closer look at a hefty number of Jordans and vintage Nike Basketball gems in his stockpile of sneakers.
Check out Ly’s rarest pair, his most frequently worn sneaker, his personal favorite and more in today’s edition of Community Collections below.
Profile:
Name: Long Ly
Instagram: @myshoelife
City: Los Angeles, California
Started: Around 2001
Size: 10.5/11
Sneaker Story
“Growing up, I was blessed and very fortunate to have parents that were willing and able to get me the shoes that were somewhat trendy from Vans, Pumas and AirWalks, to Reeboks, Nikes and of course, Jordans. At the same time, my parents never spoiled me with every single release or what have you. Like most others, they bought me one, maybe two pairs of shoes per school year. Some of the more notable shoes I had as a kid were the Jordan IV White/Cement (1stJordans), and the Jordan V Black and Metallic Silver in 89, 90… then skip over to the Jordan IX Charcoal, Shadow X and Concord and IE XIs as those came out, as well with a few other notables from the Nike Basketball franchise along the way. However, I wouldn’t say that I was collecting shoes until I got to college where I started making money on my own, and had two roommates that were employed by the largest sneaker company in the world. This is where it became excessive and out of control. With their discount, and the influx of retro sneakers, I felt like I was able to get everything I missed out on growing up… for a fraction of what it was supposed to cost. Now, the shoes were beginning to stockpile. One part of the closet became filled with dunks and air force I’s to random casuals and runners, and the other part became filled with Jordans and basketball shoes. This infatuation consumed my life like a disease where everything seemed like a great deal and everything seemed like it was a must have. Like with everything else, it had to come to an end, and it did when we graduated. Fast forward a few years… I still remained pretty involved with buying sneakers, but it was nowhere near as bad as it was before. I had to settle down a bit, once marriage; kids; and a home were involved, but I still continue to add to my collection of 250 plus pairs. Though it may seem like I have a lot of sneakers, I really can’t say that my collection comes close to being as exclusive as the collectors of today. I just don’t have the connections, the patience or the excessive cash flow to afford me exclusive stuff like Yeezy’s, PE’s or what have you . I really hate using the word collected, but for conversation sake… I’ve collected everything from SB Dunk, to Air Force Is, to the less heralded SB models, but my favorites have always been retro Jordans and basketball. For this feature, I am going to focus just on some Jordans I have, and some vintage Nike Basketball shoes that some of you nostalgic folks may enjoy. I hope you like the feature… welcome to my shoe life. ”
