AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Are we seeing the death of sneakers? Not just any old pair you'd wear to the gym. We're talking about the highly coveted shoes like limited edition Nike Jordans and Adidas Superstars. They're bought, swapped and resold among collectors or sneakerheads.
MIKE SYKES II: A few years ago, limited edition shoes were reselling on the aftermarket for 100% to 200% of a premium. Nowadays, that's not the case. People aren't willing to do that anymore.
RASCOE: Mike Sykes II is a sports and fashion correspondent at the Business of Fashion. Welcome to the program.
SYKES: Thanks for having me.
RASCOE: What's going on with the market for sneakers right now?
SYKES: So the market today is vastly different. The values are deflated at this point. Like, you could see, if you look at the resale price for a lost-and-found Jordan 1, something that dropped in 2023, so many people were trying to buy this shoe. And the resale price would go upward of, like, $500 to $600 for a $180 shoe, which is a nice premium.
RASCOE: Yeah.
SYKES: But these days, you could probably buy that shoe, depending on the size and where you're looking for it at, for around high $200s, maybe $300, which is, you know, not cheap for the everyday consumer. But for someone who is collecting sneakers or really into this stuff, that's not that much, considering what the price was back then.
RASCOE: You know, millennials are blamed for killing a lot of industries. But can we lay the cooling down of the sneaker market at the feet of Gen Z, or is this more about the economy as a whole?
SYKES: I would say, honestly, it's a little bit of both. Like, I think you could put this on Gen Z if you wanted to, but personally, I think this is a great thing. Like, more power to them, that they are finding new styles that fit with the way that they want to present themselves to the world. But then, on the other hand, like you said, there are general macroeconomic conditions that have contributed to this, right? So you - I mean, obviously, like, people talk about inflation a ton. You've got the tariffs that have bumped up prices on some of these shoes. You've also got Nike not being as strong as it was. It's the industry leader. And so people are just a little bit less interested in some of the limited and exclusive products, right? And so when you fuse all of those things together, that's when you get the depressed marketplace that we're seeing on the secondary market.
RASCOE: So where do you think the sneaker market goes from here?
SYKES: So I think this is all cyclical. I mean, fashion just generally moves in cycles. Now people just aren't as into those classic styles that have worked so much for so many years. It will come back around inevitably.
RASCOE: You're a big sneaker collector yourself, so are there any pairs that you have your eyes on while prices are lower?
SYKES: I mean, there are too many to...
RASCOE: (Laughter).
SYKES: ...Count, if I'm being completely honest with you. One pair that I've been looking at for years - the Northern Light Nike Dunks in the low cut. Like, the high tops? I could probably have gotten those a few years ago. But the lows? I mean, there was one point in 2021 - this is, like, the last point that I remember looking at them, at least - they were at about $700 at that time. And I was just like, I can't do that. I can't do that. And so hopefully - I don't know. Maybe I'll circle back, treat myself a little bit. I don't know.
RASCOE: That's Mike Sykes II. He's a sports and fashion correspondent at the Business of Fashion. Thank you so much.
SYKES: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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