SNEAKER INFO Vol.1
Sneaker situation in 2021.

Kojima:These white-on-white "Air Force 1" shoes sold well all year round. The price of leather shoes is 10,000 yen, so there is a wide range of customers, from high school students to adults like us, and they have established a position where you can't go wrong if you wear them. Also, "Dunk" shoes are selling well, and young people are overwhelmingly buying them. Moreover, when we get them in stock, they are all sold out within a day, so we don't even have any to display (laughs).

Kojima:Before last year's self-restraint, we had a lot of inbound foreign visitors to our stores, so sales were good all around, but now that we have only Japanese customers, I feel that everyone's buying standards have become more severe.

Kojima:In terms of design, the 80's were dominated by so-called "basics" such as the "Air Force 1," "Forum," "Stan Smith," and "Superstar" by Adidas. In the 90s, sneakers were recognized as a fashion item. Looking back on it now, I can see that the sneakers of the 90s had many innovative or outstanding designs.

Kojima:But at that time, it was still a subculture, and I got the impression that collectors were still collecting them in a modest way. I remember that it was not until the 2000s that they became a major item. I started my sneaker history with the "Air Max" in 1995, and joined ATMOS in 2000, but if you look at it as a boom, the 2000s was a 90s revival, and the 2020s is a 00s revival.

Kojima:People in their 30s and 40s already know what they like. It may be a misnomer, but young people are worth educating. They tend to buy the things they wore when they were young, even after they grow up, so I thought it would be a good idea to educate them. For example, if I like "Nike," I will buy "Nike" for my children. And because that child wore Nike, he or she will choose Nike when he or she grows up, creating a cycle. So, I am planning to make various attempts to create a "Harajuku of the 00's" theme for ATMOS, and "New Vintage" as mentioned in HOUYHNHNM's Series article is one of the keywords. One of the keywords is "new vintage," which is mentioned in Huinamu's series of articles. Since last year, I have been sensing that the vintage clothing stores are being reevaluated. The idea is that items from the 90s to the 00s will become vintage after 20 years. I think this category will become more interesting if it is explored further.

Kojima:In the 2010s, performance shoes and sneakers as fashion were lumped into the same category, but in the 2020s, they are further subdivided into classic models that can be bought anytime (for our generation), In the 2020's, however, the standard models that can be bought at any time (for our generation) may feel both nostalgic and fresh.

Kojima:Southeast Asia is crazy exciting.

Kojima:The trend is like Harajuku 20 years ago. Unlike Japan, the U.S., or Europe, there is no information or anything yet, so they are really coming now! There is a kind of enthusiasm. Also, in Thailand and Indonesia, there are local street brands and factory production backgrounds, which is why brands from Jakarta are selling so well. The population is the fourth largest in the world, so the momentum is already very strong. For example, when we go to the U.S. or Europe, we end up seeing only Japanese brands in every store.

Kojima:That's right. We are now in a situation where you can buy anything from anywhere in the world if you have the money to pay for it, but in Southeast Asia, there are a lot of things that are like, "What's this? But in Southeast Asia, there are a lot of things that are just like "what is this? That is why the ATMOS Jakarta store also carries shoe brands picked by local people.

Kojima:In the past, #FR2 collaborated with a brand called "Compass" in Jakarta, and thousands of pairs were sold out immediately. I thought this kind of initiative was very interesting. Also, although not shoes, we have started to carry THE NETWORK BUSINESS, an apparel brand for sneakerheads started by Mr. Ishikawa of #FR2, at ATMOS. For example, we are releasing a sweatshirt set-up in the same coloring as the next "Air Jordan 1" on the same day as the sneakers. In a sense, we took a counter-intuitive approach, and the response was quite positive.

Kojima:Under these circumstances, we had to cancel the "atmos con vol.8" scheduled for March 2020, but this year we are working on both the digital and physical aspects of the event. The physical event is scheduled for October. We are planning to release the information on the digital one soon. Please look forward to it!