(Abhineet Singh & Anand Ahuja, cofounders, Veg Non Veg)

(Shivani Boruah, Freelance stylist)

(Sham Ramachandran, creative director, stateofunrest.com)

An hour of rain does not dampen the enthusiasm of people trooping into a restaurant at Delhi’s tony Hauz Khas for a meet-up of DKX 3.0 (Delhi Kicks Xchange). Even the founder of Sneaker Talk India — a group of sneaker enthusiasts that is organising the event — Atul Sharma is surprised by the turnout.When he started the community three years ago to bring sneakerheads together, the group had only 40 people. Today, the group has nearly 5,000 Instagram followers.They are all in for the kicks — a slang for shoes. Meenakshi Singh and Bhavisha Dave were in for a similar surprise in Bengaluru three months ago. The streetwear curator and culture consultancy, Capsul Collective, run by the former Puma marketing professionals organised a modest pop-up focusing on sneakers and streetwear expecting 20-30 people. More than 100 turned up.The country is seeing a rise in the subculture of sneakerheads — people who collect, trade or admire sneakers. Sneakerheads know their subject. They associate sneakers with a piece of history or streetwear. “They’re products of multi-genre exploration, bringing together the worlds of music, art, design, fashion and tech. They’re a walking history of the streets,” says Abhineet Singh, cofounder of Veg Non Veg, a multi-brand sneaker store in Delhi that also doubles up as an avenue to explore art, culture and music.It is this history that usually drives sneakerheads. The subculture movement started in the US and was fanned by hip-hop culture and icons like Run DMC, basketball greats like Michael Jordan and skateboarding. The subculture is gaining ground in India. And street style culture is giving this trend a push like never before.Dave has sensed the winds of change. Capsul Collective works only with clothes and accessories but plans to add sneakers to the list. After all, Dave and Meenakshi Singh had worked with Puma in India, Russia and Turkey. “While working at Puma, we realised that there’s a change coming in — the street/sneaker culture in India is priming. We didn’t want to sit on the sidelines and watch it go by,” she says.If you doubt their optimism, take a look at the list of sneakerhead events in India. In February this year, Soledition, “a celebration of the rising” sneaker culture in India, held the country’s first sneaker festival. In March, Puma brought SneakerPimps — “the world’s largest sneaker exhibition and street-based art show” — to India. Sneaker Pimps has toured the world over 14 times, produced more than 500 shows in over 63 cities, says its website.Homegrown.Co.In organised the first edition of street and sneaker culture lifestyle festival, HG Street, the same month. Sneaker makers have also noticed the enthusiasm. Companies like Adidas, Nike, Puma and Vans are bringing their limited edition range to India now, though enthusiasts say not enough is coming. The shoes get sold out in two hours. Asics – known for its performance sportswear – started with a showroom for its fashion sneaker brand Onitsuka Tiger in Mumbai in September 2017, opened one in Chandigarh the same year and followed with a showroom in Delhi in July 2018.Asics India was perhaps wrong in gauging the mood for sneaker demand, says Rajat Khurana, managing director. The response has been unprecedented. The brand, most famous for Mexico 66, the yellow shoes worn by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, looks at India anew. “The culture started in 2015 in India. It’s a trending topic. What works is the favourable demographics. And as more youngsters get digitally hitched and exposed to the global street style and trends, it will only grow bigger,” says Khurana.Sneakerhead culture might be on the rise but premium sneakers do not bring in huge sales, says Debosmita Majumder, marketing head of Puma India. For her, the sneaker culture is a sleeping giant. “India is traditionally not a closed-shoe buying population. But there has been an adoption of sneakers of late. Brands also get visibility when Bollywood celebrities use a pair of shoes.”To ensure that the segment does not stay under-serviced, Abhineet Singh, Anand Ahuja (married to actor Sonam Kapoor) and Emilia Bergmans decided to open Veg Non Veg. It aims to promote the zeitgeist surrounding sneakers. Another premium sneakers store, Superkicks, was opened in Mumbai. Then there is Sprynt in Bengaluru.Abhineet Singh is a collector and a lover of classics such as Air Jordan 1 and Nike Air Max, and Ahuja prefers the newer, more innovative shoes like Nike Flyknits and Adidas Adizero Primeknits. Despite the differences, the sneaker culture binds them.Managing differences in taste is not an issue, the real challenge is understanding the Indian market, says Abhineet Singh. “There are two clear segments: a market for regular sneakers, anything between Rs 7,000 and Rs 9,000, and an equally big market for premium sneakers, above Rs 18,000. One of the other challenges regarding price are the import duties the brands have to pay, which make some sneakers in India more expensive than in the rest of the world.”Sangeet Paryani of Superkicks says the biggest challenge is to get good releases to India. Abhineet Singh adds, “Not everything gets ranged or released in the Asian/Indian market. We’re working together with the brands to make these limited editions available in India.”Paryani launched the Yeezy Boost this year. It was sold out in a day. But such releases are limited. The 28-year-old Paryani says setting up the store took a year because he had to personally meet each brand and convince them to send their lifestyle shoes to India. “For brands, the sneaker culture in India is still too new to be considered a potential market,” he adds.Recently, he tied up with Italian handmade sneaker brand Ylati. “India has two sets of sneakerheads,” says Bengaluru-based freelance stylist Shivani Boruah, “one set who loves sneakers and collect the OG (originals or first release) sneakers. And there’s another set who are solely into hyped sneakers. It’s more of how big your pockets are and how big you are into the shoe game.”Boruah owns 40 pairs.Publicist Gokul M, another Bengaluru resident passionate about sneakers, has learnt to be savvy with his money. Every month, he adds an amount to his sneaker fund and trawls the net for new drops (sneakerhead talk for releases) and resale offers. He does not like people buying their way into a culture without really realising the significance.Collectors like him find the Bollywood-driven frenzy for sneakers unnerving. “It drives prices up and also creates a shortage in a market where there are too few choices.” He has 75-plus sneakers and counts his Puma X Alexander McQueen and Boris Becker as prized possessions.Kochi-based Sham Ramachandran, partner and creative director of stateofunrest.com, recently joined Instagram to document his love for sneakers through @manlovesneakers. He has a wish list of 35 sneakers brands and models, apart from the 160 pairs he owns. “It’s an addiction. One can’t explain why you collect.” He asks his friends coming from the US to get sneakers. “Most of my purchases are from the US. In India, you don’t get the iconic pieces,” he says.Sharma of Sneaker Talk India says the best way to buy is to go online. “Most sneakerheads have a list of sneakers they want to own. They trawl the net or look for resales or pop-ups selling deadstock (sneakers that have not been worn).” At any given pop-up, deadstock or near-deadstock can fetch up to Rs 4 lakh in a day.The sneaker culture is running ahead. It’s the companies that need to catch up.