Pornhub and Ssense recently conducted a study on one of the fastest growing fetishes on the Internet today, that of sneaker porn. We dive deeper into the rather unusual obsession on the rise in pornography which features sneakers being used for our wildest desires and beyond.

Upon hearing the phrase sneaker porn, I'm quite sure all manner of thoughts might be passing through your head on exactly what iterations this might take, and yes they are all there, and all growing in popularity. Foot fetishism is far from anything new, bare feet, heels, boots, ankle socks are all historically known to tickle quite a few fancies, but the quickest growing search within porn related footwear is now the sneaker. The relationship and quite blurry line between fashion and porn is also well known, just look at most modern ad campaigns. Nss a couple years ago created a fun app site called ‘fashion or porn’ in which two partially covered images are set next to each other, open for you to then cast your vote on whether they came from fashion ads or pornography. The frequency of how quickly you’ll get it wrong is really rather interesting.

The why

To get a grasp of the psychology behind sneaker fetishism, we need to start at the object of desire, the sneaker. The sneaker has become tied to a height of success within society, especially for males, they're tied to athletism, wealth, and prestige, its become a modern symbol of success, particularly now with the extremely limited availability of certain models, more than ever before the sneaker is a sign of status, a sign of unattainability, a sign of desire, all foundations for a good fetish to start its inception.

This kind of physical intimacy with sneakers brings the body back into contact with a piece of apparel that's increasingly divorced from its original function. Huffing, caressing, and intercourse with sneakers, using them to trample another person, or even simply having sex with someone while wearing them is a physical act, albeit one that runs counter to the designed function of the shoes. SSense

We also shouldn’t forget theand its physical dimension, the feel of leather has long been a source of enjoyment for many, well documented by therapist and sadomasochists a like. The touch of the soft leather, the careful and detailed stitching,, all sees parallels to sexual activities.

These practices are mirrored by the true sneaker freak, many can recognize the pleasure of pulling a fresh pair of unworn sneakers out of the box, the fondling, and admiration of the desired object we now behold in front of us. The smell of that fresh sneaker scent, the degrees of separation between these and the acts seen in sneaker porn are more just in degrees than in kind. The line between sneaker obsessed and sneaker fetishist quickly becomes blurred.

Which brands turn us on?

Looking closer at the actual data, let us start with where sneakers fall in the full range of apparel searches. At the top, we see the perhaps not so unexpected top placement of ‘panties’ followed in second by the more surprising search forwhich even beats out 'lingerie' in the third position. Sneakers are now actually in the top 20 of apparel searches on Pornhub.

Going against the grain of the most popular brands in the ‘real’ world of retail we see that the most searched for brand in relation to porn is Calvin Klein, followed by Converse and then Nike. In 4th we see Harmony, followed by adidas, Gucci, Vans, Moncler, Dior and in tenth Yeezy. Giving a whole new level to the age-old battle of adidas vs. Nike.

Pornhub’s statisticians found that proportionately, male visitors are 55% more likely to search for sneaker porn compared to women. Visitors to Pornhub Gay pages are 1124% more likely to search for sneakers compared to non-gay visitors.

With gay men's particularly large interest in sneaker porn, a study was done to look closer at their interests. ‘Sneaker sex’ is the most searched, followed by French sneaker, which we’re still trying to figure out exactly what is? Followed by a myriad of different desires, but one thing is clear once again, Nike seems to be hotter then adidas.

Polish sneakers, as unusual as it may sound, does make more sense when seeing that Poland was the country in which most searched for sneaker porn. Followed by Berlin, Milan, Prague, and Paris. Twenty of the top thirty sneaker searching cities are located in Europe. Sao Paulo, Brazil ranks 11th, Montreal, Canada is 16th and Adelaide, Australia is 24th.

For heterosexual searches the top spot went to ‘sneaker worship’, followed by the brand search of Converse in second place, meaning that for heterosexuals, when it comes to sneakers, Converse is hotter than Nike, which I'm sure could make for an interesting analysis and the next Nike board meeting. Going further down the list we see some more unusual sneaker fetishes also being very popular, 'sneaker trampling', 'sneaker lick', and 'sneaker smell' are all there, and even that of 'sneaker ball busting' is featured rather high on the list, ouch!

Demographics show visitors between the ages of 35 to 44 are the most likely to search for sneakers, by a margin of +18%. Visitors above the age of 55 are far less likely to search for sneakers compared to those under 55. PornHub





Sneaker freak or fetish?

Looking at which cities and countries are the most represented when it comes to sneaker porn searches, we see Warsaw, Poland take the top spot, which we must say was a bit of a surprise, followed by Berlin, Germany which I'm sure comes as a surprise, to a far few less, and our own fashion home Milan, Italy takes the third spot. Which might lead to some rather different ponderings at our next sneaker meet, on exactly whats going through the minds of those admiring with hungry eyes that most grailed of sneaks, and even lead to a pause to ask your own selves, exactly how big of a sneaker freak are you?