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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Mike D. Sykes, II

SPECIAL DELIVERY: The A Ma Maniére ‘Airness’ Jordan 1 perfectly explains the state of sneaker culture

We’re living through a golden age in sneaker culture.

There are so many shoes released to the public each and every week from a number of different brands. Sneakerheads can literally take their pick on what their next find will be. We’re also living in a time where OG sneakers are right at our fingertips thanks to secondary market platforms.

Yet, somehow, it’s harder than ever to cop an even remotely coveted sneaker.

Each and every week we see it on Nike’s SNKRS app, on Adidas’ CONFIRMED, with various New Balance drops. There are so few pairs that you need a bot to buy them. Or you may just go straight to the secondary market and pay marked-up resale prices for a shoe you really want.

And it’s people who love this culture — the Black and brown people who built it into what it is — are often the ones who don’t get to participate because of all these barriers of entry.

That’s the story of “Airness.” That’s the story the A Ma Maniére Jordan 1 is telling us. It’s a story about the gentrification of sneakers.

Sykes and crew break it all down in the latest episode of Special Delivery. Tap in.

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