Sneakers. The Cultural Biography of Sports Shoes

Sneakers have long been not only a phenomenon of modern fashion, but also a phenomenon of modern culture, attractive and controversial at the same time. The book by sports design historian and journalist Ekaterina Kulinicheva is an attempt to look at the history of this type of footwear not through the history of brands and models, but through the role that sports shoes have played and play in culture, through their "cultural biography", which largely determines our attitude to this item of clothing. It is this biography that is the focus of the author's attention. Sneakers turn out to be heroes not only in the history of sports and fashion, but also in the history of everyday life, medicine and corporality, technical inventions and industry, cinema, music, subcultures, etc. Among the heroes of the book are not only brands and athletes, but also directors, musicians and ordinary fashion consumers who accept or reject sneakers. Special attention is paid to sneakers as an object of collecting.