This is my sole purpose

Sneakerheads are taking it up a notch. See how old and new fans across India are lacing up today

- Anil Sadarangani

Two years ago, 18-year-old BMS student Saahil Hassanandani borrowed Rs 8,300 from cousins and then camped overnight for 14 hours on the street outside the boutique sneaker store VegNonVeg, in Bandra, Mumbai, to buy a pair of Nike Dunk High Syracuse just as it released. He was not quite a sneakerhead yet.

He was a reseller. He sold those coveted sneakers to someone else for Rs 14,000, then refunded his cousins, then did the same thing again and again.

Today, Hassanandani has a sneaker collection of his own—the outcome of the profits he made as a reseller. His 40 pairs of sneakers include a Travis Scott Reverse Mocha lows and an Air Jordan 1 High Chicago "Lost and Found”. He calls himself a hardcore sneakerhead. Hundreds of young people across the country are similarly upgrading from reselling to collector.

The OGS 

In the beginning, a mere 8-ten years ago, the sneakerhead community in India comprised a privileged few who could either afford to buy coveted limited edition sneakers or knew an 'insider' who helped them buy new releases before they dropped.

Now, stories of young people stalking shoe drops on social media, camping all night on pavements, some even going to extreme lengths to acquire coveted sneakers to either resell, put on a pedestal, or wear to flex, are commonplace.