NAN-ELS-5
Sneakers
By Tinuade Adeshiyan
Lagos, March 21, 2017(NAN) The decades old preference for sports shoes (Sneakers) by youths has continued unabated, with more fanciful designs being churned out by sportswear manufacturers to keep their clientele perpetually hooked to their products.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that sneakers have been in existence as far back as the late 18th Century.
At that time, it was called plimsolls, and they were pretty crude, for one thing, there was no right foot or left foot.
Around 1892, the U.S. Rubber Company came up with more comfortable rubber sneakers with canvas tops, called Keds.
By 1917, these sneakers began to be mass produced. (They got the nickname sneakers because they were so quiet, a person wearing them could sneak up on someone)
That same year, Marquis Converse produced the first shoe made just for basketball, called Converse.
Sneakers also known as athletic shoes, tennis shoes, runners, takkies or trainers are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise but now it has evolved to be used for casual everyday activities.
Sneakers, generally describes a type of footwear with a flexible sole made of rubber or synthetic material and an upper part made of leather or synthetic materials.
Examples of such shoes include athletic footwear such as basketball shoes, tennis shoes, cross trainers and other shoes worn for specific sports.
Sneakers went international in 1924, that’s when a German named Adi Dassler created a sneaker that he named after himself, Adidas.
This brand became the most popular athletic shoe in the world.
Unlike in other shoes, sneakers are worn at the comfort of homes to school, markets and casually to offices.
Sneakers have become a footwear staple and almost every person had a pair of sneakers in their wardrobe, as sneakers are some of the most practical and comfortable shoes to have ever been invented.
When they were introduced, sneakers were only available for the male population but are now also available for the females.
For some time now, sneakers have gained ground silently and have been influenced mainly by its unisex nature.
Having been popular long ago, it has practically gained grounds in fashion, entertainment and music industry.
In series of interviews carried out by NAN on Tuesday in Lagos some students gave different reasons why sneakers are their preferred choice of footwear.
Ronke Jaydees, a final year student of the Lagos State Polytechnic in Ikorodu, said she has 11 pairs of sneakers and of different colours which she wears to school.
Jaydees said she was more comfortable wearing it on her pair of jeans trousers.
“It makes me to look smart at all times,’’ she said.
Another student, Ismail Wasiu, said he was more comfortable in it than any shoes, as he is always smart with his dressings.
“Not only do I look smart in it, it also complements what I wear at any given time,’’ Wasiu said.
Anike Rollas, an employee of a private corporate organisation, told NAN that she got more interested in the sneaker after watching the movie; “Jenifas Diary’’.
“I was inspired by the way the lead actress in the movie matched all her dressings with sneakers, so I decided to get different colours too, I have eight pairs,’’ she said.
Aminu Abeeb a student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), said he had to get his own because almost everybody in the school had a pair or more.
“Everyone in school is wearing sneakers, if you don’t have one, you are fashion dead,’’ he said.
On the contrary, a banker, who identified himself as Rotimi Fagbenle, said the shoe was not allowed in many offices and could not be worn on suits.
“I agree almost everyone wants to have the shoe or already have a pair but it is not official, it can only be worn one on Fridays and on only Jeans,’’ he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Chinedu Abagwe, who deals on different brands of shoes in the popular “Balogun Market’’ on Lagos Island, told NAN that the bulk of his clients now preferred different brands of sneakers.
He added that the reason for their preference for sneakers was because of the comfort it provided.
“I am always restocking because of the high demand by my customers who buy in bulk or on retail basis,’’ he said.
Mrs Teniola Adigun, who trades in children shoes, said many mothers’ preferred sneakers for their children as it makes them comfortable and smart.
“Initially, I was not selling it, but I had to begin selling it because that’s what most of them wants for their children.
“Most mothers ask for these shoes for their wards and the demands keeps increasing by the day,’’ Adigun added. (NAN)
TAL/ERO/PDE
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara/Peter Ejiofor)