For centuries, pundits and policymakers have wrestled with the central question: is there such a thing as a single, integrated “Europe”. The formation of the European Union in 1993 seemed to answer this question in the affirmative. However, recent events have called into question the viability of the European project and whether such a singular entity even exists.
And then, of course, there’s the relation of Europe to the United States. Culturally, there is much that unites America and Europe, to say nothing of our literal alliances (see: NATO). But despite the commonalities, big differences remain between European and American sensibilities. We wear cowboy hats; you wear berets. We have Queen Bey; you have actual Queens. We have limited health care and unlimited guns; you have free health care and no guns.
Now that StockX is moving across the Atlantic, we wanted to explore this question with regard to one of the highest forms of culture – sneaker culture. How much similarity is there between England, Europe, and the United States? Do London hypebeasts enjoy the same footwear as their counterparts in Berlin? Do New Yorkers lust after the same colorways as Parisians? Or are the sneaker preferences of these noble tribes as dissimilar as their mother tongues?
To answer this question, we dug into our sales numbers for 2018. For each of the last 10 months, we identified the top-selling sneaker in the U.S., the U.K., and the rest of Europe, to see what patterns emerge. Here is a visualization of our findings:
As you can see, there was a fair amount of variation across the three regions. In certain months (February and June), the U.S., U.K., and Europe each had its own unique most-popular colorway.
There are also some interesting region-specific stories. The United Kingdom seems especially partial to Yeezys: for 9 of the past 10 months, the most popular colorway in the U.K. was a Yeezy (compared to 7 of 10 in the U.S.). Meanwhile, continental Europe appears to favor Air Force 1s, with two such colorways appearing on their best-seller lists (compared to zero in Great Britain).
And yet, at the end of the day, there is more that unites us than divides us. In 6 of the last 10 months, all three regions had the same most popular shoe. The unifying factor? Yeezys. Basically every time a new Yeezy dropped, the U.S., U.K., and Europe harmonized their preferences: in January (Blue Tint), March (Wave Runner), April (Blush), July (Butter), September (Wave Runner again), and October (Cream White), the entire Northern Atlantic alliance was in agreement.
With StockX’s transatlantic expansion, buying will be easier and selling will be faster than ever before for our European customers. As such, our European market data – and our understanding of European buying habits – will vastly improve. As we learn more, we’ll be sure to share more insights into European sneaker culture. So stay tuned!
