Just For Kicks! 2012 Houston Sneaker Summit

The colors! All of the colors!

Sneakers are serious business.

Collecting sneakers isn’t just a fad or a fashion trend, it has grown into its own full blown culture. Lifted by the immense popularity of hip-hop fashion and iconic athletes like Michael Jordan, the sneaker has become more than just a piece of clothing. For some, the right sneakers are a sign of status.  For  others, sneakers are how they express their personal, creative style. I mean, all through middle school and most of high school, our sneakers were the only part of our uniforms that we could use to express ourselves.

Gum bottoms. Nice.

For me there’s nothing better than a fresh pair of white-on-white Nike AF-1s. Dress ’em up or dress ’em down, as long as they’re clean and not scuffed, I’m good to go. Now don’t get me wrong. I respect all the Jordan enthusiasts and the Adidas three-stripe-die-hards but I’m all about the simplistic style of Air Force Ones.

White-on white. Black-on-black. Red and yellow for my throwback Rockets. Maroon and White for my Aggies. I got them. And if not, I want them. These guys understand.

Alright I’m no sneaker-head. Well not a true sneaker-head. You won’t catch me waiting in line for the next re-release of Jordans at 3 in the morning. I could catch ammonia! (Yeah you remember this video from Greenspoint Mall when the Concords were re-released late last year. *sigh*) I don’t have a wall of shoes or a garage full of shoe boxes, but after missing out on the last sneaker summit during the summer, I couldn’t wait for this one.

This kid had one of the smaller collections...

Nothing however, could have prepared me for what I experienced at the Reliant Center Sunday evening at the 2012 Winter Houston Sneaker Summit. These people love, LOVE, sneakers! Some were there to look, others were there to do business — big money business at that — but they were all there because of their common love for sneakers.

For those who are unaware, Houston is a serious hot bed for the sneaker-loving community. Real sneaker-heads know where the low key sneaker shops are around town, the shops that carry those rare color combinations. The Sneaker Summit was a place for all of these shops and their loyal followers to come together and share in all the sneaker love.

Personally, as a first-timer, I was shocked and completely amazed by the entire scene all at once. It took a while to really just soak it all in. With a DJ spinning an appropriate hip hop soundtrack in the background, I watched as sneakers were being furiously traded and sold like stocks on Wall Street. Seriously, just replace brokers running around waving stock tickets in the air with guys running around waving Air Jordans.

Then there were the pop-up shops from small, local fashion lines with their inventory of custom t-shirts, sweatshirts, and caps. Great for my obsession with finding interesting and unique tees but not so good for the wallet!

Got mine!

In fact, I think I came away with my new favorite cap (from Premium Goods) and new favorite tee (from Nerdy Fresh)! No new sneakers though… next sneaker summit!

Check out all our coverage from the 2012 Houston Sneaker Summit in our featured gallery here!