atlanta's sneaker-mad, too

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, another look at the retro-snaeker trend.

In step with a retro look
Colorful track shoes, trainers take a sprint back to the good old days
By A. SCOTT WALTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/08/04

Money for nothing?

That's debatable.

Chicks for free?

Granted.

Still, rock stars don't get everything they want.

Last week, during a shopping stop at the Standard sportswear boutique in Buckhead, Collective Soul guitarist Dean Roland could only gaze in disappointment at the limited-edition, cap-toed, red, white and blue leather sneakers that Puma had commissioned Japanese designer Mihara Yasuhiro to design.

"I wanted those, but they blew out of my size too fast," said Roland, who remembers South Korea as the last, best tour stop for scoring unique sneaker styles.

"It's the fashion element," said Roland. "These days you can mix in all kinds of different-colored sneakers with what you're wearing, and it looks cool."

Apparently, people's penchant for rocking the fashionable track shoes that Roland favors runs deep.

The "retro trainer" pays tribute to track-shoe styles originally popular during the running craze of the late '70s.

Love for the shoes began overseas and migrated to the United States about two years ago.

Puma and Adidas are the brands most commonly credited with reviving the track shoe, but brands such as Pony, Asics and Gola have benefited from the revival as well.

Bloomingdale's is a leading proponent of the "retro trainer" trend. And they don't intend to stop selling them anytime soon.

"It's a look that won't go away," said Sheila Aimette, Bloomie's director for shoes and accessories. "The shoe with a vintage feel to it, or a name with history behind it, is extremely popular with kids today."

Sales of retro track-shoe styles in the United States rose from $1.2 billion in the period ending in April 2003 to $1.4 billion in April 2004, according to the New York-based NPD Group.

NPD's sportswear-industry analyst, Marshall Cohen, said the popular look evokes a "lifestyle" more than it does a trend.

"It's all about the consumers looking back and showing recognition of styles from the past, and manufacturers acknowledging the recognition by moving those styles forward," Cohen said.

Manufacturers create a buzz by regenerating the same basic looks every few months — they simply change the color combinations and vary the materials.

"I've learned this: The brighter the color, the better it sells," said the owner of Decatur's Sole shoe boutique, Abigail Lignugaris. "The sneakers people are looking for are more about fashion than function."

Farshad Arshid, owner of the Standard boutique, said the track-inspired sneaker trend has caught on a bit slower locally than it has in cities like New York and Los Angeles because "they're not as widely available here yet, and you have to be a little bit more evolved from a fashion standpoint to get into this look."

But Arshid also predicted that the trend will remain on strong footing, at least for the next two years.

"They're still hot sellers in bigger cities, and they haven't even come close to peaking here yet," he said. "It's not going to last forever, but it's still definitely got some legs."