With the release and subsequent immediate sell-out of the Saucony x Packer Shoes x Just Blaze Grid 9000 “Snow Beach” sneaker yesterday, I got to thinking about something that I like to call “sneaker nostalgia” and how there’s a lot of false instances of it going around the game right now.
Don’t get it wrong, this is by no means an article dissing the shoe. I love the colorway and the Grid 9000 is my favorite Saucony model. I just thought this would be as good a time as any to bring up a subject that I’ve been mulling around in my head for a while now.
I think that in today’s sneaker culture, people get too caught up in nostalgia for things they weren’t even around for. Several times when I’m at the sneaker shop, I see kids who can’t be a day older than 15 come in and make comments like “Oh, I can’t mess with any Jordans past 13. I only like OG’s.” Seeing as they weren’t even alive when the vast majority of these shoes released, why would that even matter?
The same thing applies to these Sauconys. As most know, they’re inspired by the colorway of the legendary Polo Snow Beach jacket from 1992, which is a very rare piece that can fetch upwards of $2,000 on Ebay. However, it’s kind of odd that people who weren’t even born or were very young when the jacket came out are acting like it’s necessary to have the shoes because they pay homage to something (here’s a picture of the shoes for your viewing pleasure if you haven’t seen them).
In short, I think that sneakerheads need to be more honest with themselves. Weren’t around for something when it originally released? That’s fine, just don’t act like you need a sneaker for its nostalgia value. You want it because it’s dope, not because it holds any special meaning to you. There’s nothing wrong with that.
-RDwyer
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