IF THE SHOES FIT

Avid collectors can't get enough of sneakers

By JOY SEWING
Houston Chronicle

When he ran out of space in one bedroom closet, Terrence Phillips began storing his sneakers in another one.

Then that one filled up.

Now, with more than 100 pairs of sneakers in his collection, Phillips shoves a box of sneakers in just about any space he can find.

Since he started collecting sneakers two years ago, he's spent nearly $6,000. He wears each at least once and stores them in their original boxes. His girlfriend thought it was a phase when he began collecting them, but she soon learned that sneakers are his thing.

"I have more shoes than she does," Phillips says, laughing. "I've always had a thing for sneakers. When I was a kid, I wanted them more than toys."

Phillips, 23, is a bona-fide sneakerhead, one of a growing group of sneaker collectors also called sneaker freakers. They can't get enough of their favorite shoes, whether the brands are Nike, Puma, adidas, Converse or others. They often make fashion statements with their sneakers in wild colors and styles, and they'll pay a mint for a limited-edition or vintage shoe.

Jennifer Ford, owner of Premium Goods in Rice Village, specializes in unique and hard-to-find sneakers. She credits Michael Jordan with starting the craze in the 1980s with Nike's Air Jordan shoe. (He was one of the first professional athletes to sign a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with a sneaker company.) "Many of the collectors started with Air Jordans that they got as a kid. As they got older, they just got hooked," Ford says.

She knows this from experience. As children, Ford and her older sister fought over Air Jordans, equating sneakers with maternal love. "If my sister got a pair first, I thought my mom loved her more, so I'd cry until I got my own."

Ford continued to covet sneakers as a student at Emory University in Atlanta. With an economics degree, she moved to New York to work as a buyer for Lord & Taylor. There, she learned the ins and outs of retail and connected with a friend who launched Premium Goods New York in Brooklyn.

When Ford returned to Houston last fall to be near family, she opened the store's second location.

Ford says about 75 percent of her customers are collectors such as Phillips. Some don't even wear the shoes they buy; others like to make a fashion statement. Collectible sneakers usually come in unique color combinations, and sneakerheads have the style to pull off the wild colors, Ford says.

Phillips wears his sneakers to work at a local retailer. His favorites are a pair of tan and pink Nike Air Force I sneakers that he bought last fall. "I like different, wild colors; something you don't see on everyone else," he says.

Sneakers have been a fashion icon for nearly a century. The first rubber-soled shoes, invented in the early 1900s, were called "sneakers" because their rubber soles made little noises on the floor. The sneaker of all sneakers — Converse's Chuck Taylor, released in 1917 — made a fashionable comeback this spring in several colors. According to Sneakers, The Complete Collector's Guide (Thames & Hudson, $29.95), it's the best-selling sports shoe of all time.

Actor Sean Penn made Vans slip-ons popular with the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1981. When the rap group Run DMC struck a hit with My adidas in the 1980s, sneakers became part of the look for the hip-hop generation. Today, talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres is known for the variety of sneakers she wears.

Barney Waters, vice president of marketing for Puma North America, says there is more of a demand today than ever before for sneakers as casual wear.

The Puma Clyde or Suede style, released in 1968 as a basketball shoe, is popular with sneakerheads.

"They want something that will turn heads. That might be a vintage shoe that you can only find covered in cobwebs in a dusty storeroom or a modern limited-edition release," Waters says.

Since Premium Goods opened late last year, Phillips has purchased about eight pairs. He's bought his other sneakers from Internet sites and stores in New York and Los Angeles.

Phillips now has his eyes on the Air Force II Espos, valued at $600-$700, but he'll pay $500, tops.

"I have my limits," he says.