Why Australia is a player in global sneaker market and how China is driving the sales boom
Independent retailers such as Sneakerboy and magazine Sneaker Freaker are contributing to Australia’s increasing relevance in the global sneaker business. Sales figures are also being boosted by big spending Chinese buyers
On June 30 last year, chaos came to the backstreets behind Bondi Beach – not a pub brawl, but the world’s first pop-up store selling Louis Vuitton’s collaboration range with American skate and street wear brand Supreme.
Hundreds queued to get their hands on the hotly-anticipated collection, hours before business hours started opening in the only other seven cities selected for similar pop-ups in Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Paris, London, Miami and LA. Resellers reportedly flipped items to those still waiting in line at a 100 per cent markup and stock sold out within an hour.
Australia might not be on the way to or from any of the world’s major hubs, but it’s becoming increasingly important to the international street wear and sneaker industry.
The story of Incu: how Hong Kong-born twins built a fashion empire in Australia
“We have a place at the table,” says Rachel Muscat, an Australian who has been Adidas’ global collaborations director since 2009, overseeing the sports giant’s creative tie-ins with artists and designers such as Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Raf Simons, Gosha Rubchinskiy and Alexander Wang, that have been instrumental in helping Adidas regain both street cred and market share in recent years.
