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words, photos & interviews by @MrsTeriyaki
The location is Central London and I’m one hotel floor up in a room full of sneakerheads awaiting the result of their votes on the hottest kicks in 2017.
Exploring the UK scene, I chose to take a deeper dive into why people cast their votes and what made certain shoes worthy of their spot. Of course, each top 2017 list has brought us slightly different results – and this one from The Drop of the Year Awards is no different.
While on site, I spoke with people from different corners of the sneaker world. Event organizers, marketing consultants, social media managers and more.
Here’s what it looked like and here’s what they had to say.
Despite the results, what would you have given the number 1 and 2 spot of 2017?
@freethoughtsism: Oh wow. I’ll be honest, I’ve got so many shoes now, that I try and detach myself from the great things that are happening. I’m not sure I would have voted for it, but the shoe I missed, the one that I really wanted was the Off-White Jordan 1s. I was only able to get the Air Max 90, which I felt was slept on.
The most under-rated shoe of 2017?
@freethoughtsism: Because it’s a shoe that has been released a few times, so I can probably let it go, but it was the SF Air Force 1. I think that is such an awesome shoe, and even with the big Air Force campaign Nike did, the SF was not in any of it, I didn’t want no velvet or camo print non-sense! I picked up the men’s sail colourway in the canvas.
If you could tell 2018 one thing, what would it be?
@freethoughtsism: It’s not form over function, it’s function over form. That’s what has made brands like Nike great. Technology has come first over aesthetics so I think when we’re looking forward to 2018, we should be looking at what new technologies are being brought to the table, not what’s being retroed again and again.
Which is your shoe of 2017, and why?
@officialfootfire: The Air Jordan 6 Pinnacle ‘Promo Flight Jacket’ from the Saturday Night Live Special. The Air Jordan 6 is one of my favourite Jordan models, and it’s the pattern and premium materials on this shoe that I liked so much.
So would you say that is the most under-rated shoe of 2017, or something else?
@officialfootfire: It had attention when it released, but thinking about it, it was a slept on shoe with no hype around it which I thought wasn’t justified. I’m gutted I missed out on it as I’m not someone to pay above retail, especially when I run a discount sneaker blog!
When you think about 2017 and what was released, does it change your attitude towards this year and how you’re going to approach your pick-ups?
@officialfootfire: I would like to pick less up, but I’m sure everybody says that. It’s getting a lot harder now to get pairs that are hyped or are a collaboration. So that alone makes me pick-up less as they are usually released through raffles.
Your thoughts on the top 10 and sneakers in 2017…
@kishkash1: It’s really hard to argue with the Top 10 that people voted for tonight. But for me, my shoe of the year, or the best collaboration was the Asics Gel Mai. It’s asymmetrical, looks like a Footscape on steroids! When I first saw it I thought, ‘Woah, I need a pair of those,’ and then they brought them back. I like the fact that not many people like them because that means nobody is going to wear them.
In regards to the Off-White Jordan 1 being number 1, I think it’s hard to knock that because the Jordan 1 is the foundation of everything. It’s not my favourite Jordan, my favourite is the Jordan 4 which placed number 2 tonight, but the execution of the Jordan 1 showed more done to it than the Kaws Jordan 4s. But one thing that is crazy with-in recent marketing is that deconstructing sneakers was first done with Reebok 5 or 6 years ago, yet it wasn’t reported in such a way.
Huge fan of the Tom Sachs, that really deserved to be on there. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been into astronomy, and just fascinated with black holes and the galaxy etc. So I’m a big fan of the shoe from that aspect. Also, I’m really glad that the Diadora x Afew v7000 Highly Addictive got recognition on a few of the lists, and I felt the Skepta and Basement collaborations were very worthy too. Both phenomenal stories behind both of those shoes.
A shoe that didn’t make it that is a personal favourite is the Adidas Atlanta Spezial. When I first saw it, it just took me back to childhood! I thought the whole Spezial range was very well executed, I mean when you open up a lot of things up to popular vote, what people regard to be really cool and what is cool are two totally different things. Apart from the Atlanta, Adidas didn’t come with anything in 2017 and they have such a heritage which I don’t feel like they’ve managed too well. Right now they have the Prophere out, which doesn’t really look like an Adidas shoe or have the Adidas DNA. I get the vibe they are losing their philosophy and identity a little.
What makes a special collaboration?
@kishkash1: The story behind and it’s execution. Does it do something new, or something that’s just dope; that’s what it comes down to really for me. It’s harder to do a good collaboration now because there are so many! It’s almost like they are a new GR because of how many there are. And then it means GR shoes are getting put to the way-side. Take the Doc Brown Nike Vandal, the orange canvas one as worn in the movie. Nobody talks about that shoe, they’ll talk about the Marty McFly Bruins or the Air Mags. Yet the Vandal, worn by Christopher Lloyd is just as significant. I think people will regret picking that one up, especially now it’s in the sale.
In your opinion, why did the winner of the Top 10 win? (And in so many of the 2017 lists)
@kingoftrainers: Wow what a question… I honestly believe that the Off-White Jordan 1 deserved to win The Drop Of The Year Award because the shoe was a great design piece by Virgil. He took his time and deconstructed the whole shoe and did a great job with it. It deserved the hype it got and received around 30% of the total votes.
Tell me what shoe you were sad to not see in the running? And why do you think it was so underrated?
@kingoftrainers: I think Diadora had great shoes last year and some killer collaborations with Transformers and Afew Store to name a few. But because there was so much released last year I think it was drowned out.
Which collab was your favourite in 2017? And what made it so great?
@kingoftrainers: My favourite collaboration was the Kaws Jordan 4 because it was simply a work of art. It’s a shoe you can put on your shelf and people would come to your house and say, ‘Yo that’s a great art piece!’ I doubled up on them. Shout out to you guys for reposting my son wearing them!
Has the sneaker drops in 2017 made you approach 2018 differently?
@kingoftrainers: Great question and a very hard one to answer. But it is hard to slow down. 2017 was crazy with releases every week, but 2018 is going to be the same, even more, I think! I know there’s some crazy gems coming this year so I’m gonna try my best not to spend too much money! Who am I kidding, the King has to have it!
Final Thoughts
The panel, made up of key figures within the UK sneaker scene, discussed the nominations and winners which brought a real insight and knowledge to the evening. To be in such an intimate setting with conversations flowing was really valuable; a huge contrast to the larger events.
Being in the capital city, the votes quite strongly reflected its part of the culture but I think that’s what makes the sneaker scene so special. People come together and represent their part of the community strong, but paying respect to the rest of it too.
@MrsTeriyaki signing off from London. Peace.
