Localising Urban Fashion

The Namibian buying, trading, and selling shoes circle has just stepped its game up with Sneakerheads Namibia.For those who have no idea what Sneakerheads Namibia is, Brad ‘Sneakerhead’ Wilson shared some of his knowledge on the movement.

Simply put, Sneakerheads Namibia is a community where people who love sneakers can interact with one another. “It’s a small community, growing week by week. It’s just people who have takkies in common. We share pics, our views and thoughts and our collections,” Wilson said.

You might have seen the Sneakerheads Namibia stall in collaboration with Streethouse at Ricky’s Custom Car Show (RCCS) about two weeks ago where a variety of sneakers were on sale, as well as unique ‘Khomasdal’ straight-cut caps.

However, the community started from rather humble beginnings.

Sneakerheads Namibia started out as a small Facebook group with originally four members, but has since grown to 700 strong, Wilson said. “We just wanted to share our thoughts, opinions and collections with each other – a group of friends with a passion for takkies.” He also mentioned that the aim of the group is to inform sneaker lovers so that when they buy themselves the perfect pair, they won’t be making a mistake.

“Although not everyone contributes, we know they are watching, reading or lurking.

Our goals are simple: Education. We want the 12-year-old who likes takkies to be able to make an informed decision when his parents buy him that one pair for the year. We want that child to know the history or tech behind a shoe and not just blindly want the shoe because of the brand or celebrity endorsement,” Wilson said.

He also mentioned that although a few new stores are hopping onto the Sneakerheads wagon, there are still a few hiccups when it comes down to delivering top-of-the-line products, especially in Namibia.

“The obstacle in Namibia is of course availability of products. Although we have a few more stores who cater to us, we still don’t have access to the more premium products.”

While Sneakerheads Namibia drew inspiration from programmes such as the South African Sneaker Exchange, it does not operate on the same concept. Wilson described the stall at RCCS as a foretaste of what is in the works.

“What we had was a stall based on the concept or beginnings of a sneaker event.

We asked the community members what pairs they wanted to sell and then made these available at Ricky’s Custom Car Show. Going forward, we’re hoping to grow and have more than one stall at RCCS,” he mentioned.

While Sneakerheads Namibia is a wonderful local initiative, Windhoekers might want to take their hats off for the very stylish, local and unique ‘Khomasdal’ cap brand. Another sneakerhead, Delano Hansen, told The Weekender what the brand is all about.

“We wanted to do something that our community can identify with and be proud to be seen with it and also bring the community closer together, especially amongst the youth,” Hansen said.

Hansen also mentioned that Namibians all over have been responding extremely well to the brand, and admitted that the brand might still grow to represent other towns and neighbourhoods.

“We didn’t really plan so far ahead but have received such an overwhelming response from people everywhere. People who are not just from Khomasdal but many Namibians from different towns and abroad showed so much support that it has motivated us to venture into doing snapbacks for various different locations in Namibia and possibly T-shirts too.”

The brand ‘Khomasdal’ was decided upon to shine a positive light on the neighbourhood and inspire change.

“It’s where we grew up and we want to bring Khomasdal to the forefront more, we hope that this will. But also mostly because we wanted to start a trend that encourages positive change for Khomasdal that will spread into other suburbs too,” Hansen said.

To cop a ‘Khomasdal’ snapback, contact Hansen at 0811220953 or 0812811782. The caps cost N$350 and deliveries are free in Windhoek.

For those keen to join the Sneakerheads Namibia Facebook group, you have to request permission as it is a closed group. Once you’re in, Sneakerheads urge you to “post your collections, hit us with your pair of the day, all brands welcome”.

If you’re looking to buy, sell or trade sneakers, just use the ‘Sell Something’ feature when posting and you’re good to go.

– @jonathan_sasha on Twitter; @jonathan.sasha on Instagram; jonathansasha.tumblr.com

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