The Sneaker Industry Is Still Behind In It's Attempt To Include Women

A few weeks ago I was presented with a project where I was tasked to find a diverse group of sneakerheads. In the end, the greatest challenge was not in finding black, Chinese, gay or straight collectors, it was the attempt to find female sneaker enthusiasts. The current lack of women in the industry is proof that the sneakerhead market is still seen as a sort of boys club. With sneaker collection being a male dominated hobby there’s a great void in the market for female enthusiasts.

But is the industry slowly expanding it’s wings? Or are women still seen as over-sexualized objects only permitted to wear heels? Many brands, have not been paying attention to the female consumer as a market of itself, and often times this forces female sneakerheads to buy male styles and sizes. Many of the major sneaker producers create male sneakers without the thought of a female consumer in mind, and often times when she is considered, it is a diluted version of the male sneaker that is created as opposed to putting in the equivalent amount of work it took to create and design the original version. 

“The female market has been providing very little diversity in product due to the dumbing down of footwear into ‘shrink it and pink it’ pieces designed by men. Brands have been launching female sneakers with what they think we want to wear, and have little insight as to what we actually wear.” Said Susan Boyle, owner of New York women’s sneaker boutique Rime, in an interview earlier this year. The industry is guilty of the same problem that a lot of people around the world still struggle with: they do not see women outside of the pretty pink box they build around her, and when they do see them it’s mainly as an accessory to a man. Regardless of the existing demand, the sneaker industry is yet to entirely see female sneakers as a market itself. In the past, brands often looked to athletes and rap artists to develop the hype around a particular sneaker, in 1984 Nike signed Michael Jordan to debut the first Air Jordan’s, and in 1986 adidas did the same with hip-hop group Run-DMC for My Adidas. So why wasn’t a similar effort made with women like Veronica Campbell-Brown or Missy Elliot back then?

In the last year women’s sneaker sales have grown 37 percent according to data from the NPD Group, and of course, corporations will, and have already been taking advantage of this. With the rise of the fashion sneaker and Instagram fitness culture, it is mandatory for sneaker corporations to put their focus on their female consumers, now that it represents a greater part of the market. However, in order to successfully make shoes for women, these have to be designed by women, as opposed to men who create what they think the female consumer wants. PUMA is one of the brands ahead of the game with their previous appointment of Rihanna as creative director and collaborations with designer Sophia Chang, Nike has also been proactive on their appointment of Women’s Creative Director Maria Vu and collaborations with female designers and athletes on projects such as the Nike City Ready Womenswear Collection and the opening of their first women’s stores. So although a few years late, the industry seems to slowly be catching up with creating a space for female sneaker heads. 

However, what is most important is for us as consumers and allies to keep the conversation going, and voice the issues surrounding women in the sneaker industry. It’s important that we let women know that it’s not a boys only club and that they are in fact welcome. In 2018, a woman who is passionate for a genre of footwear other than heels should not have her sexuality or femininity questioned, but should be seen in the same light as any other woman. In fact, the woman who wears a pair of Air Jordan lll OG’s in the morning might be the same woman who will rock a pair of Louboutins just as well for dinner in the evening.