EXHIBITION-SNEAKERS Sneakers, old and new, go on display at a new exhibit in New York

Record ID: 148040

  • Title: EXHIBITION-SNEAKERS Sneakers, old and new, go on display at a new exhibit in New York
  • Date: 8th July 2015
  • Summary: BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 08, 2015) (REUTERS) EXHIBIT ENTRANCE WIDE OF EXHIBIT SNEAKERS ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) LISA SMALL, CURATOR OF EXHIBITION, BROOKLYN MUSEUM, SAYING: "It's an exhibition that explores this item that is very common to most people. Everyone has a pair of sneakers, but this show kind of explores its history from the 19th century th
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5PBYKPAVCJJ251GDYKPH5JKWC
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Brooklyn Museum in New York is telling the story of sneakers with a new exhibition entitled "The Rise of Sneaker Culture," which was first shown at the Bata Show Museum in Toronto, Canada.
    "It's an exhibition that explores this item that is very common to most people. Everyone has a pair of sneakers, but this show kind of explores its history from the 19th century through today and how it's become this kind of iconic form of footwear that has so many different meanings," said Lisa Small, the curator of exhibitions for the museum.
    This is the first American stop of the traveling exhibition which displays roughly 150 sneakers.
    When the first sneakers were made they were considered a status symbol because of their expensive price tag.
    "Rubber was a very expensive material when it first came out. So these first sneakers in the late nineteenth earl twentieth century meant that you were wealthily enough not only to afford the sneakers, but the reason you were wearing them is because you were playing tennis, you were playing croquet. You had leisure time to peruse those kinds of activities," said Small.
    Now, as luxury designers and celebrities jump into the sneaker game, the elite element of the shoes continues.
    "We have a shoe that Kanye designed for Louis Vuitton. We have the new Yeezy that just came out this year. We have sneakers by Christian Louboutin, that's another really interesting fact. High-end women's shoe designers entering the men's sneaker game. So we've got Prada, we've got Louboutin, we've got Jimmy Choo's."
    Some of the highlights include all 23 pairs of Air Jordan sneakers Nike created with former NBA star Michael Jordan and a pair of Adidas signed and donated by the legendary New York rap group Run DMC.
    "We have, you know, Converse from 1917. We have the cleated running shoe that Adi Dassler, founder of Adidas, gave to the Olympics athletic Jesse Owens to practice in for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin," added Small.
    Visitors will also have a chance to view a prototype submitted by Adidas.
    "Probably, the newest sneaker in the exhibition is an Adidas collaboration with 'Parley for the Oceans.' It's in the front room and it's made from plastics that have been reclaimed from the ocean, like ocean garbage. It's sort of recycling. And it's a prototype -- the shoe isn't even available to the market until 2016."
    Sneaker-heads will be able to share their stories on an interactive display.
    The exhibit will run from July 10 until October 4 before heading to the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio in December.
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