The new wave of Sneakerheads : Girls in Jordans
Girls in Jordans might not seem like a new thing to you, with all the pictures of Rihanna sporting retro Jays everywhere, but the hype was a slow burn that built over time. Now there are Tumblrs, Facebooks and Twitter accounts dedicated to girls in Jordans. Nobody can deny that women bring much more sex appeal to the shoes, but who knew there would end up being as many hardcore sneakerhead girls in Jordans as there are die hard dudes rockin’ Jays? Both the Jordan 2 and the Jordan XII took inspiration from a womans shoe and MJ himself has always been big on fashion, drawing inspiration from whatever made the most sense of blended function and aesthetic.
As long as Missy Elliot has been rapping, there have been girl sneakerheads. While Missy has always repped Adidas, it didn’t stop her fans from checking out a range of street wear and the latest kicks. She was giving permission to other women to be just as up on their game as the men were. Dunks, shell toes, Pumas, they were all becoming a presence on women who could fit into the mens sizes. With a womens size 9 shoe being the same as a mens size 8 shoe, the market was taking off in a generally undersold size. Girls in Jordans became more prevalent the more the shoe took off and solidified itself as a status symbol. Without a womens line to turn to at first, girls were buying up smaller mens sizes and buying up kids sizes.
It wasn’t until 1997, when the WNBA launched, that Jordan released a women line in response to the demand and to capitalize off the interest the WNBA was creating in Jays, which were popular in the league. Girls in Jordans was already a regular site, but now they had a model designed for them. Called only the “Women’s Air Jordan”, the shoe took heavily from the Jordan XIII design, but exclusive to the women’s Jordan was a dimpled upper and a solid to cap, but it held the podular design of the outsole of the mens design. Many men were clamoring for a replica in the mens line.
Now girls in Jordans are not only common place, but their passion for the releases is just as regular. With lines outside stores, half the people waiting are girls anxious for their fix. However, with more and more rare releases dropping, there aren’t as many sizes available for women, which brings it all back full circle. While Jordan often releases exclusives in the womens line, it’s the retro rares collectors want and girls in Jordans are no different.
Girls in Jordans have some time before the market really demands their be a supply. For now, while a hot niche, girls in Jordans don’t command enough of the market share for the brand to widen release sizes. Until it does, it’s back to kids sizes or stuffing shoes – or like a hard core collector, locking those joints up in air tight containers.
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