Shattered Backboards: The Current State of Women's Sneakers

For years, decades really, sneakers, the sneaker game, and the sneaker industry have been just another space of male privilege, treating women inside and outside the industry as second-class citizens.

Increasingly over the last several years, the pervasive reality of misogyny has come under very public scrutiny. Across culture, politics, and even the executive boardrooms of multinational companies, an era of confronting gender and sexual discrimination and abuse seems to be unfolding.

In reaction to this current social and cultural climate, Footwear News recently declared that the “women’s sneaker market is on the cusp of revolution.” Both Nike and the famous London brick-and-mortar retailer, Selfridges, have debuted a new online shopping platform, Nike Unlaced, and women’s sneakers dedicated retail space, respectively.

Discussing the possibility of a sneaker market revolution, VP and creative director of Nike Women, Julie Igarashi, believes in the huge potential for women’s sneakers because of the overwhelming demand in Europe and North America: “some consumers want a men’s shoe but they want it in a smaller size. In other cases, she wants it for her and by her. So it’s exciting to be able to offer [through Nike Unlaced] that breadth.” 

Perhaps a true revolution is upon us; perhaps 2018 marks the beginning of lasting change, rather than another false start. A cursory internet search certainly makes the argument that people are talking, and writing, about women in sneakers at this particular moment. 

From the Air Jordan 1 Satin “Shattered Backboard,” Nike’s “Season of Her,” the forward-looking design of the Air Jordan 1 Rebel XX, and women in skateboarding, 2018 may be remembered as the beginning of the revolution.

The Marketplace

Let’s take a look at the marketplace for women’s sized sneakers, women-designed sneakers, and women-branded sneakers. New releases and market data argue that Nike, at least among the major sneaker companies, has taken the lead in designing and manufacturing with women in mind.

This year, Nike and Jordan Brand announced a line of Air Jordans designed exclusively for women, “The Season of Her.” This line features Jordans in sizes, designs, and colorways made exclusively for women. “The Season of Her” has featured: The Air Jordan 1 in suede and satin material and colorways such as light aqua, mint foam, and ice peach; an Air Jordan 1 with a zipper; The Jordan XII manufactured with luxe vanchetta tan leather.

AJ 1 Season of Her, Mint Foam	AJ 1 Season of Her, Black Zipper
AJ 12 Vanchetta Tan	AJ 1 Season of Her // Nike

Jordan Brand president Larry Miller acknowledged, “we could have done it sooner, and we probably should have done it sooner, but I feel good about the fact that we are where we are now.”

And the data shows something that should be self-evident: women like sneakers, too!    

Recently, and for the first time, StockX witnessed a women’s exclusive sneaker as the number one seller on our platform. Released May 5, 2018, The Air Jordan 1 High Satin “Shattered Backboard” experienced thousands of sales in just the first week of release. And it proved as pricey as it was popular, with an average price of $385 a sale, and an average price premium of 140%.  

Air Jordan 1 Shattered Backboard

Why this shift to women?

Moving away from athlete-branded sneakers to sell shoes, and sales driven by artists and cultural influencers outside sports’ realm has increasingly become the norm for men’s sneakers.

Since Kanye West’s ascendance, collaborations and designs with streetwear designers and brands, such as Ronnie Feig, Supreme, and Off-White, and hip-hop artists including Vince Staples, and Tyler, the Creator have become the driving force in sneaker sales. Even brands like Vans, Converse, and Keds received renewed street cred during the 1980s and 1990s from the likes of the Ramones, Sid Vicious, and Kurt Cobain.

So it makes sense that the rise of the artist designed and/or collaborative sneaker would also provide creative and economic space for women-exclusive, and women-designed sneakers.    

Sophia Chang became the first Asian-American woman to design an entire collection with a major sportswear brand. The illustrator collaborated with Puma in 2014, designing sneakers and apparel for both men and women. This was a major milestone in the sneaker and streetwear industry, where Chang has said that historically women, “are always approached as a female first, instead of a professional.”

Vashti Kola’s Air Jordan II, Lavender

The Air Jordan line continues to be almost exclusively a male preserve, with a few notable exceptions. Designer and artist Vashtie Kola was the first woman to design an Air Jordan, the 2010 Air Jordan II “Lavender.” Stylist, model, and influencer Aleali May is the first woman to design a men’s and women’s Air Jordan, with her 2017 Air Jordan 1 “Shadow.”   

Aleali May’s Air Jordan 1, Shadow

Following in the wake of Sophia Chang, Aleali May, and Vashti Kola, a list of women designing and collaborating with sneaker companies continues to grow. The last few years have seen these collaborations: PUMA x Kylie Jenner, Nike x Bella Hadid, PUMA x Selena Gomez, Reebok x Local Heroes, PUMA x Fenty (Rihanna), and adidas x Refinery 29. All of these sneaker collaborations implicitly carve a space for women within the sneaker world. Some, however, are explicit about their social and political intent.

The adidas x Refinery 29 “BOOST the Nation” campaign worked with 50 different women artists to customize an UltraBOOST sneaker honoring their home state. The shoes were auctioned to raise money for Women Win, a charity dedicated to gender equity, leadership, and empowerment for women through sports.

Additionally, Vans recently announced that Cara-Beth Burnside would become the very first female skateboarder to have a signature Vans skate shoe as a part of much broader campaign in support of global gender equality and equity, “This is Off the Wall.” One arm of this campaign is “Girls Skate India,” helping India’s first woman skateboarder, Atita Verghese, build skate parks and getting more young women skateboarding.  

Shoes and Equity

With the increased focus on women as designers and consumers of sneakers, a bigger issue concerning true equity in the marketplace warrants a reckoning. As recent #MeToo scandals make clear, it’s impossible for self-professed “progressive” corporations to behave equitably when executive leadership remains overwhelmingly male.

Further pushing against the traditional boundaries of the sneaker world, Nike debuted The “1 Reimagined” collection in January 2018. Nike selected 14 women to helm this collection, resulting in the Air Jordan 1 Rebel XX. The reimagined Air Jordan 1 features a zipper, asymmetrical lacing, and a large, inverted “Nike Air” logo on the instep. The Rebel comes in the Chicago colorway and the Top 3 blends the “Royal,” “Chicago,” and “Banned” colorways.

AJ 1 Rebel, Top 3

AJ 1 Rebel, Chicago

In addition to the dramatic rethinking of the Air Jordan 1, specifically designed by and for women, Nike has also released a new ad campaign featuring Lena Waithe as a “shoe therapist” helping famous athletes deal with their “shoe addiction.” It’s a great tongue-in-cheek commercial featuring a queer, African-American woman as the star, and Lena and Nike reintroduces the famous “It’s Gotta be the Shoes” phrase without Michael Jordan or Spike Lee. The “Shoe Therapy” spots feels like a watershed moment in sneaker advertising.

Women-exclusive, women-designed, and women-promoted sneakers feel like small moments of activism and resistance within a larger network of social, economic, and political marginalization. However, women’s increased visibility within the sneaker industry is still managed by the appropriative, exploitative, and expropriative dictates of global capitalism.

Highlighting the tangled relationships between activism, consumerism, and capitalism, Argentinian artist Judi Werthein created a line of shoes, the Brinco, intended for migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border. Brinco translates as “Jump” and the sneakers include a map of the U.S.-Mexico border on the inner sole, a flashlight, a compass, and pockets to hide money and medicine. As part of her work, Werthein distributed the sneakers for free to prospective border-crossers in Tijuana, Mexico. The Brincos were also sold as $215 objets d’art in the United States.

The “Brinco,” created by Judi Werthain // e-flux

From the Air Jordan 1 Satin Shattered Backboard, Nike’s “Season of Her,” reimagined and redesigned sneakers, and women in skateboarding, the presence and importance of women in the sneaker world, and gender equity and equality more broadly, has become increasingly visible. However, it is also a space that is still in need of greater representation of women as designers, women in corporate boardrooms, and as signature endorsers.

The changing sneaker world of 2018 just might be paving the way.