Review by New York Times Review
LEAVE IT TO A SNEAKER historian to note that when Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their famous Black Power salute at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, they stepped up to the podium shoeless, each sprinter carrying a single Puma Suede. (The gesture was meant to symbolize black poverty.) In "Kicks: The Great American Story of Sneakers," Nicholas Smith is continually freezing such iconic moments and zooming in on the overlooked footwear. We learn that Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, the British Olympians memorialized in the 1981 movie "Chariots of Fire," were shod by Joseph William Foster, whose grandsons went on to start Reebok. And that Jesse Owens won his four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin games in a pair of track spikes courtesy of the brothers Rudolf and Adi Dassler, the future founders of Puma and Adidas, respectively. The Dassler brothers' role in Owens's triumph over the Übermenschen is, however, somewhat diminished by the fact that they also outfitted the German team and had belonged to the Nazi Party since 1933 - and sold soccer cleats called "Blitz" and "Kampf." But mostly the story of sneakers is, as Smith's subtitle suggests, an American one: of humble origins and unapologetic success, of self-expression through consumerism and association with celebrity, of a product being put on a pedestal and a brand name serving as artist's signature. The boom was fueled by a series of fitness crazes, beginning with "pedestrian fever" in the mid-19th century, when spectators filled New York City's Madison Square Garden to watch a six-day walking race; followed shortly thereafter by the vogue for croquet, the first sport to necessitate a rubber-soled shoe; "sidewalk surfing," better known as skateboarding, in the 1960s; jogging in the 1970s; aerobics in the 1980s; and "cross-training" in the 1990s. "Kicks" is filled with interesting trivia - Plimsolls are named for the horizontal stripe used to judge a ship's seaworthiness; the exposed bubble on the Nike Air Max was inspired by the Pompidou Center in Paris - but it relies too much on contemporary sources. Smith mentions in passing that Michael Eugene Thomas, the killer in the horrific 1989 case that prompted the Sports Illustrated cover story "Your Sneakers or Your Life," went on to commit a series of non-sneaker-related murders, yet presents the original media narrative at face value. He recounts the controversies surrounding the slavelike working conditions at overseas contract factories, but has little to say about the industry's environmental impact. Smith is not a "sneakerhead" himself, and "Kicks" is not for the initiate. But there is enough material on the cult of the sneaker to satisfy most curious outsiders. The modern era began in 1985: Year 1 in the sneakerhead calendar. The "Buttfaces," as Nike's executives called themselves, decided to let their roughly 120 N.B.A. sponsorships expire and bet everything on one promising rookie named Michael Jordan, based largely on a single crowd-pleasing N.C.A.A. title-winning jump shot. In a preseason game, Jordan was fined $1,000 for violating the league's dress code - a steal, publicity-wise - but the offending article was a pair of Air Ships, not Air Jordans, as Smith suggests. "If kids out there are into the new sneakers, that's cool," Mike D of the Beastie Boys is quoted as saying to MTV's "House of Style" in 1992. "We just lean toward the classic, functional design." (In this case, the "deadstock" Adidas Campus.) The group kept a "sneaker pimp" on the payroll to root around the stockrooms of sporting goods stores for such unworn relics of the old school. "You gotta find them, like records," his bandmate Ad-Rock said. "It's like a hobby." The Beasties represented the classicist strain of sneaker collecting, which had by then entered its rococo phase. The "Made in Italy" Air Jordan II, released in 1986, featured faux-lizard leather detailing and cost a "then-unheard-of" $100. Today, limitededition models like the Supreme x Nike Air Foamposite 1 retail for hundreds, and trade for thousands on the billion-dollar secondary market. Meanwhile, at Puma, the mantle of creative director has passed just last month from Rihanna to Jay-Z. Soon the finer auction houses will have credentialed experts on hand to authenticate Dunks of dubious provenance and appraise heirloom Yeezys. ? ASH CARTER is a senior editor at Esquire.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 8, 2018]
Review by Booklist Review
Journalist Smith, a contributor to Esquire and Tucson Weekly, expounds on the sneaker as a cultural, economic, and political symbol in modern history. Tracing the journey and evolution of the sneaker with a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses sports, business, and fashion, Smith illustrates how the sneaker rose to its sensational commodity status today. He covers familiar brands and stars Nike, Adidas, Michael Jordan and writes in detail about the business practices and subcultures that revolve around the product. No background (or interest, even) in footwear is required to enjoy this entertaining read. Smith's extensive and eclectic research calls on podcasts, Sports Illustrated archives, and interviews with key players. Readers of sports history, popular culture, and business will be fascinated by Smith's exciting, informative, and multifaceted narrative of the major roles the sneaker has played in U.S. branding, perceptions, and culture.--Pun, Raymond Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Journalist Smith examines the history of sneakers in the United States, from the invention of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear to modern-day designer models. As organized sports and leisure activities gained in popularity in the early 20th -century, sneakers became the shoes of choice for athletes. Smith recounts the origins of several shoe companies, including how the acrimonious split of the Dassler family business led to the formation of Adidas and Puma. Nike arose from coach Bill Bowerman's continuous redesign of shoes for his University of Oregon track team. Vans focused on the then-niche skateboarding market, while Reebok designed shoes for women during the 1980s aerobic fitness movement. Smith illustrates how athletes, such as Chuck Taylor and Michael Jordan, have been a driving force in marketing and best sellers. Beyond sports, Smith notes how sneaker fashion has become embedded in American culture, specifically highlighting its role in hip-hop style. The conclusion briefly addresses problematic areas of the industry, including sweatshop labor. VERDICT An entertaining and casual read blending pop culture and sports, though the treatment of sweatshop conditions could have been more thorough.-Chris Wilkes, -Tazewell Cty. P.L., VA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In his first book, journalist Smith follows his fascination, sprinting through the evolution of the planet's hippest, most popular footwear, a history that goes way beyond sports and into the streets of the youth culture.The tale begins with inventor Charles Goodyear, whose innovations and patents on rubber laid the basis for all things sneaker to come. Combine these innovations with a demand for sports footwear, and an industry was born. From the expansion of soccer and rugby, men's and women's tennis, the rebirth of the Olympic games, and the 1891 invention of basketball, the turn-of-the-20th-century sports explosion created an increasing proliferation of athletesalong with thousands of feet needing protection. As the author demonstrates, with the professionalization of sports through the coming decades and events like the 1960s creation of jogging as a pastime, the demand for sneakers continued to growand it hasn't lost any momentum in the new millennium. The demand for sneakers today often boils down to status ("some people will wait in line for days to get kicks no one else has") rather than utility, and Smith details how ingenious media campaigns such as Spike Lee's Mars Blackmon/Michael Jordan ads spawned an all-new fashion boom beginning in 1988, with Nike selling millions of pairs of Air Jordan sneakers for their creative efforts. Today, with sneakers dominating the streets on the feet of the youth, the author explains that this universal footwear has become the latest symbol of globalization. With that symbolism, new controversies abound. Aside from sneaker manufacturers still battling to overcome stigmas of sweatshop conditions and poverty wages, they walk a fine line in marketing their wares as the popularity of gangster fashion grows in the street culture.A cornucopia of factoids and fun asides bursting with a wealth of in-depth information on every aspect of sneakers, from their birth to their current and continuing explosive popularity. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
