If your in London or planning a trip to the Capital anytime between 26th January and 5th February, blank out two or three hours in your diary and head to North London, we promise you won’t regret it. ‘G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time )Sneakers’ is a new exhibition launching in London.
Curated by leading international sneaker expert, Neal Heard, the renowned author of the first and most iconic book on Sneaker culture, ‘Trainers’. The exhibition will be both a history and an homage – revealing the secret stories behind the creation of the most iconic sneakers ever made; providing a fascinating narrative of the integral role they played within key sporting & cultural movements throughout the 20th & 21st century; and even offering a glimpse into the psychological hinterland of the cult of sneaker obsession.
Featuring a 3,000-year timeline, G.O.A.T Sneakers identifies the earliest known iterations of the shoe before chronicling its evolution across the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries – along the way charting the many infamous controversies & scandals (such as the debate around who first invented vulcanised rubber; the origin of the term ‘sneaker’; the trainer-versus- sneaker question) as well as the extraordinary stories surrounding the creation of the most iconic brands and designs over the years and how they were variously appropriated by successive generations of cultural tribes around the world.
The centrepiece of the exhibition will be an entire wall devoted to the twenty-five greatest sneakers of all time, as voted for by an international online poll of the general from a longlist created by an international panel of over 25 industry experts.
Exploring the obsessive devotion inspired by sneakers, the exhibition will also offer a look ‘Inside The Mind of a Sneakerhead’ in the form of a hidden installation featuring the highlights of the renowned collections of two sneaker obsessives, Brooksy and Kish Kash. Offering a must see not just for sneaker pimps and trainer aficionados, but also the curious and style conscious and best of all its FREE.
G.O.A.T. Sneakers – in association with Lyst, Jan 26th – Feb 5th
The Archivist’s Gallery, 2-10 Hertford Road, London N1 5ET
