Shoes and My Life

While I was growing up in San Francisco, we didn't own cars because it was too expensive to own in the Bay Area. In middle school we would mostly show off our shoes and it helped create an identity for us that differed from other people. In the picture above it is called a "What the Dunk" It is made by Nike SB. These were the shoes that I liked when I was growing up. Nike SB which means Nike Skateboarding made shoes that were limited and released them with different details on each of them. The "What The Dunks" shoes had all the specific designs of every popular Nike SB through the generation on one shoe. These shoes were really rare when they were released and now they probably cost thousands of dollars.

Kids would distinguish themselves from one another by buying these Nike SB dunks. Some Nike SBs were incredibly rare and only some kids would have it. Other times the shoes would be too expensive and other kids couldn't afford it. This helped your popularity and growth in specific niches in the school. Because my school was predominantly asian we all tried to differ in many ways fashionably. We all were so alike, same culture, same clothes from our older siblings or used clothing. We needed a way to express ourselves with items that looked different, that were hard to find, that looked cool, and Nike SB helped fill the void. I'm not saying it was Nike SBs that were the only way to choose from. People often bought other shoes like Jordans or Addidas, but for Asians it was mostly Nike SB Dunks.

For the picture I chose the biggest image I could find that could show enough detail of the shoe to see the different designs that are taken from other shoes. For example the shoelaces and the coloring of the edges that hold the shoe laces are from the "Money Cat" Nike SB collection.