Sneaker Culture and skateboarding

By: Aditya D., Grade 10

I have always loved skateboarding, and when I got my first skateboard, I was ecstatic. I am far from the best skater, and I regularly struggle to land tricks. But the magic of skateboarding, for me at least, doesn’t come from flashy tricks or landing everything on the first try. It's the simple feeling of being on a board doing something that I love.

Another passion of mine revolves around shoes and sneaker culture as a whole. I’ve always enjoyed window shopping for new Jordans or New Balances. Shoes are also an essential part of skateboarding, and these two interests often connect. But lately, I’ve found myself frustrated. The sneaker world, which was once an exciting space filled with creativity and appreciation, has begun to bleed into skateboarding in a way that’s harming the culture. Specifically, it's making skate shoes unnecessarily expensive and inaccessible for actual skaters.

If you’ve ever skated, you know how fast shoes wear out. A clean pair of skate shoes can be trashed in a matter of weeks, depending on how hard you're skating. Grip tape eats up the sidewalls, kickflips rip through toe boxes, and heel bruises flatten the insoles. It’s a natural part of skating. That's why skate shoes were traditionally built to be functional, durable, and reasonably priced. They weren’t supposed to be luxury items: they were tools.

But somewhere along the way, brands started realizing that skate shoes weren’t just for skating anymore. They were fashion statements. And in the age of Instagram and TikTok, they’ve become collectible commodities. The same Dunks that used to sit on shelves at your local shop for $80 are now hyped, flipped, and resold for $300+. And I get it—cool shoes look good. Everyone wants to flex a rare pair. But when resellers and hypebeasts start eating up shoes designed for skaters just to sit on ice or post on social media, they completely miss the point.

Nike SB is a perfect example of this shift. The “SB” in Nike SB stands for skateboarding, but how many people buying SB Dunks today have ever stood on a board? What used to be one of the most reliable, skate-ready shoes is now one of the most sought-after fashion pieces in the sneaker world. You’ve got kids lining up outside of stores, bots flooding release sites, and prices on StockX going through the roof. Meanwhile, the kid who wants to skate them has to settle for a lower-tier shoe because they can’t afford to wreck a $400 pair of Dunks in three skate sessions.

And Nike isn’t the only one. Vans, a brand practically built on skateboarding, is starting to dip its toes into more limited drops and collaborations that inflate prices and create hype. New Balance, especially with its Numeric line, was once a sleeper hit for skaters. Now, it's being dragged into the fashion world, too. Brands are realizing there’s money to be made in scarcity and hype, so they’re shifting their strategies accordingly. But in doing so, they’re alienating the very people who made these shoes matter in the first place: skaters.

The saddest part is that skateboarding has always been a counterculture. It was supposed to be the anti-establishment, anti-corporate, DIY scene. You didn’t need money to skate. You just needed a board, a curb, and some beat-up shoes. Now, with the way sneaker culture is influencing the skate world, it feels like you need a credit score just to look the part. It’s pricing out new skaters, especially younger kids who can’t afford $120+ every time their shoes wear through.

It’s also created an annoying divide in the community. If someone’s skating in a rare or expensive pair, they might get side-eyed for “ruining” a collectible. On the flip side, someone rocking budget shoes might not be seen as having good “style.” That kind of judgment sucks the fun out of it. Skateboarding should never be about what brand you’re wearing; it should be about whether you’re having fun on your board.

What’s even weirder is that some of these hyped collabs are barely even functional for skating. They’re made with fancy materials, swapped insoles, or are just designed for looks rather than durability. So now we’ve got “skate shoes” that you can’t skate in. Isn’t that wild?

To be fair, there are still brands and models that stay true to skateboarding’s roots. Companies like éS, Emerica, and Lakai are still focused on functionality and pricing shoes for actual skaters. There are also affordable versions of shoes from big brands like Vans or Adidas that still hold up without the hype tax. But the fact that you have to search for functional, affordable skate shoes in a market built for skating is honestly frustrating.

I’m not against people loving sneakers. I’m one of them. I geek out over colorways, I appreciate good design, and I love a clean fit. But there has to be a balance. When sneaker culture starts to negatively impact the people who use the products, it’s a problem. Hype should never outweigh utility, especially not in skateboarding.

So where do we go from here? Honestly, it starts with awareness. Support your local skate shops, not resellers. Buy skate shoes for skating, not for clout. And if you’re into sneakers but don’t skate, maybe think twice before copping that limited SB Dunk drop, especially if you know someone else could use them.

Skateboarding is supposed to be for everyone. It doesn’t need exclusivity. It doesn’t need hype. It just needs passion, pavement, and a pair of shoes that you’re not afraid to destroy.