From left: Tiong, Eugene, Hidayat

The boys of Sole Obsession have been doing their bit for the local sneaker scene, giving sneakerheads and street cats the heads-up on what’s good and providing a behind-the-scenes look at the industry from a South-East Asian perspective. Not only that, they also organize events, spend whatever free time they have to travel to stores islandwide to provide fresh updates as well as push Singapore and Asia to the world. But perhaps what we love most about the guys is not only the fact that they do it purely out of passion and fun while balancing their full-time jobs, but also that they aim to grow and encourage local street culture as well as our local labels and customizers. Guys, we salute you.

Explain Sole Obsession.
E: We do it for fun, we started 2007 March. We thought that the sneaker scene here was quite boring; nobody wanted to do anything, they just wanted to buy expensive shoes to show off. So we started a small exhibition for people to appreciate the shoes. We were friends before that, so we just decided to do something lively. In other countries,
you get people like Crooked Tongues who inspire us. And they do sneaker events as well.
W: I mess around. (laughs)
H: Nothing. We started out doing events, so the first year saw us holding events with our own sneaker collection.

Do you cover sneaker events?
E: We didn’t cover events at first, we did our own events and our first event was at the White Room; they lent us a space so we did a small exhibition and gave out some free stuff. It’s just like a social gathering for people to meet and talk about sneakers. We did another event with the Street Thing guys in KL at Zouk then a third one at Know It Nothing
where we showed off customized shoes in Singapore (we have a lot of sneaker customizers for some reason). After we did our events we decided to start a blog to cover local sneaker events that the brands or stores throw.

For those of us who don’t see the hype in sneakers, what is so interesting about it?
E: I don’t know. What is so interesting about fashion? To us it’s like our interest; some people like to collect stamps and handbags, while we like to collect shoes. It’s an interest from young, we’re somehow reliving and reminiscing our childhood.

What goes on in the mind of a sneaker head? What compels them to readily drop their cash for a pair of sneakers?
The internet plays a very big part. Before the internet we drooled over sneakers in magazines or in sporting goods stores. Of course there are collaborations that make a shoe more sought after. Mostly for us it’s a combination of specific models, materials and colourways. Another factor is how much heritage a shoe has. Sneakers that remind us of the good old days or of our childhood tug at our hearts and wallets.

Would I be wrong to compare the sneaker craze to men buying fast cars?
E: (laughs) For us it is, but I don’t know about other people. But I think other boys are like that as well, because the crowd at our events is mainly male-dominated. Unfortunately, girls in Singapore don’t really wear a lot of sneakers. There are females at our events but are just tagging along with their boyfriends.

What are the common brands in Singapore that the public is into?
E: Some of the usuals like Nike, Adidas, Puma, New Balance and Reebok but of course, predominantly Nike as they do a lot more shoes. Recently we’ve seen more events coming up; people are doing more for the sneaker culture.
H: We’re not focused on any particular brand but Eugene is now a New Balance ambassador; he only wears New Balance. But for me I’m into The Hundreds, Vans, Nike and Adidas to independent brands such as Keep, Clae and Greedy Genius. It depends if we like the materials and small details such as colour stitching and laces used.

So can I say that the aim of Sole Obsession is to exhibit shoes?
E: It’s to spread the news of new shoes. Basically the website is borne out of passion and not monetary, it’s what we like to do. Don’t take us too seriously because we don’t take ourselves very seriously. In the scene here, we think too
many people take themselves too seriously and that’s stupid. It’s just an outlet to do what we like, we don’t make any money doing it; we make a few T-shirts now and then, do some events. It’s all in good spirit and laughs.

What are your opinions on sneaker sweatshops? (With more sneakers being produced and in demand, doesn’t it encourage child labour and sweatshops?)
E: It’s not just footwear, it happens everywhere and it’s a reality we have to face. Everything is related although I think now it isn’t that bad; maybe 10 years ago it was quite rampant. I think they have quite good standards whether it’s Nike, Adidas or other brands; they’re quite stringent now. You also can’t just say it’s sneaker brands doing this,
I mean high street fashion brands also make their stuff in India or Vietnam. You can’t escape sweatshops because it’s everywhere in fashion, I guess they were highlighted more in sneaker brands. Some shoes are expensive to make; some shoes cost maybe $20 to make so compared to a T-shirt it’s much more expensive.

Besides admiring shoes, what else about them interests you?
E: I mean we like it so much that, for me, it became part of my career. I always wanted to work in the sneaker industry and by doing all these events, we get to meet people and now I’m working in New Balance Singapore. Besides Sole Obsession, I try to do my best to help push the brand in Singapore as well because it’s quite an underrated brand besides being known as the Army Brand. They do make quality shoes; they are the only brand that still manufactures shoes in England and the US.

What is the reason for the sudden birth of sneaker culture in Singapore?
E: In Singapore, it’s mainly the trend and they buy shoes to show off; like buying a flashy car. So you buy a rare shoe to show people that you can afford it and you’re one of the few who have it. However, there are people who really collect sneakers but there aren’t many with the trend moving to the indie look (i.e. skinny jeans, canvas); nobody is
really into collecting sneakers that much.

But was there a sneaker culture in Singapore to begin with? Who’s responsible in bringing, or sparking off sneaker culture here?
E: Yeah!
H: When they got the Silver Box SB.
E: For retailers it has to be Leftfoot and Limited Edition. Leftfoot or Vintage Closet as they were known before the name change, are the originators. Vintage Closet used to bring in sneakers that started the trend in US, Europe and Japan. From Jordans to Dunks to Gazelles to Stan Smiths to Suedes to California’s. I remember them having a pair of Adidas Micropacers that I wanted so bad, but they were $400 which was a mad amount at the time. Limited Edition opened as the sneaker scene was coming to a boil locally. They opened up the flood gates and offered locals more access to the sneakers we could only see in magazines and on the internet. LE secured a Nike SB account and fed the SB frenzy of 2004/05. And LE Vault introduced the our first Tier-0 store to Singaporeans. All the nonsensical queueing and camping overnight for sneakers started with LE. But I guess what garnered all the attention to the sneaker hysteria is probably the resellers and ebay. That probably piqued the interest in sneaker collecting. So maybe the resellers had a big part to play in sparking off sneaker culture here I guess!

But doesn’t the reselling kill the main purpose of having a sneaker culture?
E: Unfortunately in Singapore, majority of the resellers are poseurs (not to hate on anyone). I’ve spoken to 18 year olds who tell me they’re selling all their shoes because they’re growing up and they have to dress a bit older; to them it’s a phase, a trend. People tend to associate sneakers and street wear with kids’ dressing. They think to dress more maturely you’ve to wear loafers, more basic Converse but you see the scene in New York where people wear skinny jeans with high tops Air Force One and Dunks and Europeans who dress up wearing classic sneakers. You can also
see this in Japan where the market is more mature and they set up trends for themselves.

Do you think Sole Obsession is leading the direction of the sneaker culture?
E: (laughs) No. We’re quite busy so our website is mostly for our interest so we post as and when we have the time.
H: From the website you can see that we don’t have any advertisements. It’s basically our posts and friends’ links. It’s a
passion project, even though we have full-time jobs.
E: People ask us why we do this because it takes up time, and recently we even stopped posting due to our jobs but we do it out of the love we have for sneakers. I’m almost 30 and I still wear sneakers. It’s part of my life, so it’s something that won’t die off.

Where do you see sneaker culture in Singapore going?
E: I think it comes in cycles. The sneaker trend took a nose dive recently with the emergence of indie-cool. Everyone wants to be a rocker nowadays. But you do see a climb in sneaker buying again. We’re quite developed sneaker-wise for such a small country and market, so in a way the presence and availability of a wide range of sneakers is a positive. Last time sneakers were more associated with sports brands but now you get independent brands such as Supra and Clae so it’s more diverse nowadays. It’s encouraging but like I said, a lot of the times, Singaporeans follow the trend not set it.

Do you think sneakers are becoming more relevant in society given that they are now not just part of street wear but fashion as a whole?
E: Yeah, I think it is. If you follow fashion in Japan, a lot of fashion magazines (such as Huge) do incorporate sneakers into their styling. I guess it’s just whether people here want to take a risk and not just copy the style off the magazine. And I think more girls should wear sneakers, go to Rockstar and get them to style you. Say the boys from Sole Obsession sent you. (laughs)

Do designer shoes fall in the category of sneaker culture?
E: You see a lot of high-end fashion brands taking their inspiration from street wear and sort of rip off sneakers and make it a premium product. It’s the same I guess, that all aspects of fashion inspire one another. Personally, I don’t think they are part of sneaker culture because they are for a different market. Of course, you do get some
people who were into the sneaker culture, grew up and are earning more money and want something more high-fashion (so that when you wear sneakers fashionistas won’t diss you for rocking Nike Dunks when you’re wearing Raf Simons).

Do you think designers are moving towards sneaker culture? (much like the hype that surrounded the LV X Kanye Collab)
E: I think they are tapping into that genre; they see there’s a market for people who outgrow the sneaker phase, and want something that isn’t too dressy but still cool.
H: Like the Comme Des Garcons Converse where you can say that isn’t just any normal pair of Converse.
E: Instead of Supreme sneakers, you say Kanye x Louis Vuitton and Raf Simmons. I guess that what some part of the market wants.

What is the most you’ve paid for a shoe?
E: The most I’ve paid for a shoe was almost a $1000, it was a Nike Airmax One collaboration with the Dutch artist, Parra. That was the hyperstrike version, they had only 24 pairs and they had small little Parra stitching. It wasn’t much of a difference from the normal. They also included a customized box from the artist as well. But I sold off 3
pairs of shoes to fund it. If that’s any consolation!
H: I think I’ve paid $600 for an Undefeated Consortium Superstar, it was a reseller because there was no possible way I could have gotten it.
W: Mine is pretty standard, maybe $200 for a pair of shoes?

Do you actually wear those shoes?
E: Yeah, I wear almost all the shoes. For us, we don’t just buy for the hype. The damage comes from buying cheaper shoes rather than a pair of expensive shoes, for example we might buy a few standard priced shoes
and it adds up in the end.
H: We wear all of our shoes at least one. We have a rotation policy.

Any last words?
E: Sneakers are part of my life, that’s why I hate it when people say “I’m too old to wear sneakers”, so don’t say that.
H: As Eugene says, sneakers are part of my life and it’s hard to let go of 100 pairs of shoes just like that. I think one difference between Singapore and places in Europe is that when they see you on the streets with nice shoes they would ask you where you got it from but here, people would look at you and compare themselves to you. People should
just stop hating. Cheers.
W: Thank you.

Be sure to check out their site at www.soleobsession.org, and if you happen to be at Sup at 34 Haji Lane, do show your support and pick up their latest ‘Hail To The Thieves’ tee as well!