Getting Their Kicks: Sneakerheads of Oklahoma

The name Kicklahoma is known around Oklahoma for being the place to score hard-to-get sneakers. Whether it’s at one of its two stores in Oklahoma City or one of the special events it holds around the country, members of the Sneakerhead subculture often find themselves delving through the Kicklahoma stock.

While Kicklahoma owner Juan Guerra, 31, caters to the growing legions of sneaker collectors, he also finds time to add to his own collection. That included showing up at a recent event wearing the Nike KD 4 “What The.” It had been on top of Guerra’s Holy Grail list of most coveted sneakers; a shoe so in demand that even though he purchased them in January, Guerra wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about them until July. In fact, he waited until October.

“The KD 4 is the most iconic Kevin Durant shoe. It’s everybody’s favorite. It’s not necessarily mine. But the shoe itself in that specific colorway, there are only three pairs,” Guerra says. “KD owns the (size) 18, the designer owns the 9 and I own the 9. So it’s one out of three. Neither one of those two gentlemen has worn the shoe yet.”

While Guerra didn’t go into detail on how much he spent to get the shoes, he did say they are valued at about the same price as a new car. “I had to have that shoe because I’m known for having all these KDs,” he says. “When I was finally able to acquire that shoe in my size, people were like, ‘Are you going to wear it?’ I was like, ‘Yes, I’m going to wear it.’ Why would I spend that much money and have it in the closet?”

While that seems extravagant for something that most people might throw in a duffel bag after working out at the YMCA, Guerra counts himself as a true Sneakerhead. He owns more than 800 pairs of sneakers that take up two rooms in his house. Some 650 are from Kevin Durant’s signature line. So there was no way he was going to let something that iconic get away from him.

That is the mindset of many shoe enthusiasts around the country who are part of the Sneakerhead community. These are people who will do whatever it takes to get the newest (or best retro) kicks to add to their collection.

It’s a growing, albeit somewhat competitive, community in Oklahoma, which is one of the reasons Christian Velez and John Ariete opened their Edmond shop Variant Sneakers and Apparel, 100 N. Broadway, Ste. 154, in October. The shop sells high-end sneakers for women and men of all ages and demographics.

John Ariete, co-owner of Edmond’s Variant Sneakers & Apparel

“The sneaker community is growing worldwide, and especially in our state,” Velez says. “There is nothing like this in this area, the north side of Edmond. We wanted to kind of be like pioneers in that movement. We were surprised to learn the demographic is 14 to 50-plus. Talking about demographics, they always think of guys wearing this stuff. We sell a lot to females who are into the footwear.”

The true definition of a Sneakerhead varies, depending on who you talk to. Travis Singleton, founder of the website sneakerreporter.com, who was based in Oklahoma City for five years, said a Sneakerhead is somebody who collects sneakers to wear them.

But according to Ariete, people who collect sneakers to wear and those who buy them to turn around and resell them are all under the Sneakerhead umbrella, although on different tiers. “For me, I collect, I sell, I trade and I wear them. I have about 200 pairs of shoes right now. I probably only wear 20 percent of them. But that’s my art. That’s me collecting my Van Gogh or Picasso. I have shoes that I would never wear, but I will go upstairs and look at them almost every day. At the end of the day, it’s what it means to you. Some people will buy them not to collect; they just know they are going to appreciate in value. They have turned them into assets or stocks.”

Others fall more into the Chad Reinke camp. The Oklahoma City film producer and founder of Reel Alpha Films has a private collection that numbers more than 200, and has to keep half his stock at his office. Despite the overflow, Reinke said he has never sold any of his kicks. “I think there are some people into sneakers who are more into buying pairs, holding them, then selling them,” Reinke says. “I’m kind of the purist that says shoes are made to be worn. I’m not the guy that buys a pair of shoes, sets them on a shelf, leaves them in a box, then flips them when the price goes up. The purist in me says I appreciate them for what they are, but at the end of the day, they are shoes. I’m not knocking those guys’ hustle. I would say you’re not a Sneakerhead, but a smart entrepreneur, which—there is nothing wrong with that.”

The secondary or resale market for sneakers is estimated to bring in $1 billion in revenues. Because of that, becoming a Sneakerhead is definitely easier. The market is saturated with boutique shops and online sites that eliminate much of the hassle and work of getting that prized sneaker if the customer has the money.

Variant and Kicklahoma are just a couple of the secondary market stores that have opened up in Oklahoma in the past few years. Others include The Laboratory, 525 NW 11th St., Ste. 123, OKC; Grinmore, 1706 NW 16th, OKC and Silhouette Sneakers & Art, 10 N. Greenwood Ave., Tulsa.

These stores have become vital to Sneakerheads, even those who long for the good old days. “The frustrating thing for guys like me is, I used to be able to walk into Foot Locker and buy these shoes,” Reinke says. “Now some of the guys will game the system a little bit to get their hands on them. So now I am paying $300 bucks for a pair of shoes that retail for $120. Before this was a big deal, I could go get them for $120.”

In late October, a pair of size 13 Nike sneakers worn by Michael Jordan in his rookie season was sold for a record-setting $1.472 million at a Sotheby’s auction. According to Sotheby's, they are the earliest known regular-season pair of Nikes worn by Jordan during a game. That made them a must-have for a Sneakerhead like Nick Fiorella, the collector who shelled out the money.

Morning features reporter for OKC’s Fox 25 Malcolm Tubbs has never paid $1.4 million for a pair of sneakers, but he does understand the fascination of owning them. “I am a fan of sneakers, I am a fan of the whole culture and just the overall swag,” Tubbs says.

Yet Tubbs' journey to becoming a Sneakerhead didn’t start until he became the emcee at Oklahoma City Thunder games. He said being in the spotlight made him more mindful of his appearance.

Tubbs is an emerging Sneakerhead in the beginning stage of his collection: He has only 20 pairs after having given away a few dozen pairs to family and friends.

While sneakers were once strictly the territory of athletes like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, it’s been hip-hop stars such as Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and social personalities like Sean Wotherspoon who have taken the sneaker game to a wider audience. It was Wotherspoon’s 1/97 collaboration with Nike that essentially became the foundation for what is now Variant Sneakers. Velez had always wanted the sneaker, but never had enough money to purchase a pair.

“It was our second or third day hanging out and I said, ‘We are going to buy that shoe today,’” Ariete says. “We walked about the mall and bought shoes to resell, for him to be able to buy the shoes. And he did. That was barely a year and a half ago. He was barely selling shoes. Now he owns a store.” That same Sean Wotherspoon model now sits in Variant with a price tag of $1,700. But Velez said he will never sell the pair he bought with Ariete’s help. The story behind the shoe is worth more than the actual money they would undoubtedly bring.

“That shoe will never leave my collection because it tells a story of us being at the mall. It’s just more than a shoe to me,” Velez says. “That’s a shoe that even showed me how to resell shoes. Some of the shoes we were buying, we were making $9. But that $9 will add up. That conversation and that experience just to get that shoe changed my perspective on reselling. I started just for that shoe.”

At the end of the day, it’s the stories behind each sneaker, and the thrill of the hunt, that keeps Sneakerheads new and old on the prowl.

Photography by Valentina Gutierrez