Sally Herships
Inside the booming collectible market for sneakers
When twenty eight year old Robbie Williams of the Bronx talks about sneakers, his face gets a soft, besotted look, like he’s talking about a new girlfriend.
“It’s a love affair,” he says. “The way I lace them. The way they hit my foot. The way the light hits them.”
Williams even has a sneaker tattoo. In green ink, etched into his upper arm for all eternity, or until really good laser surgery, is a pair of Jordan Fives.
“Right now,” he says, “I have 185 pairs of shoes.”