The Rise of the Sneaker
Sneakers are seen on the young and old, and have made their appearance from street culture and high fashion to innovative collaborations. An exhibition titled ‘Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture’ explores the history of the sneaker and its place within society and culture.
The exhibition comes at a time where other elements of street culture are finding their permanent place amongst locations and genres previously reserved for the refined. fluoro spoke to Elizabeth Semmelhack, Senior Curator, at the Bata Shoe Museum about the rise of the sneaker and how it is changing the offerings of the luxury market.
(f) How did you find yourself as curator of the Bata Shoe Museum? What background led to this?
(ES) I am an art historian by training but unlike many art historians I found myself distinctly uninterested in the unique object—works made by a singular mind intended to be consumed by an individual collector or a small audience—instead I was fascinated by mass-produced works that were meant to be broadly consumed at the moment of creation, works that responded to the pulse of a moment.
My graduate work focused on Japanese prints of the 18th century but when the position as Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum opened I knew that I could take the questions I found most interesting and ask them of footwear.
(f) What do you think it is about sneakers that make them such a collectible item?
(ES) I think it is a mix of factors. Everything from memory and desire to marketing and hero worship has made sneakers highly desirable.
(f) What is your perspective on what has driven sneakers from street culture to high fashion?
(ES) I think that street culture has successfully constructed new ideals of masculinity and repositioned many articles of street culture dress into icons of accomplishment.
(f) From your experience has the entrance of street culture into high fashion changed the luxury market?
(ES) Street culture offers models of success that are more diverse as well as more fashion forward. Luxury markets have responded to this shift, think of all the high-end designers now offering sneakers from Louis Vuitton to Lanvin.
(f) What is next for the future at the Bata Shoe Museum?
We have a lot in the works. I am working on an exhibition about 19th century fashion that will look at both the gloss of high fashion and the realities of how high fashion was made and maintained. We have our 20th anniversary in 2015 and we are working on a large circumpolar exhibition. Also ‘Out of the Box” will probably travel across the United States.
—
Semmelhack will discuss sneaker’s relationship to high fashion in a talk titled ‘Loosening Up: Sneakers And High Fashion’, on Sunday 10 November 2013. ‘Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture’ is on display at the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto until Sunday 30 March, 2014.
