New Sneakerhead Era: Augmented Reality Meets Digital Fashion

With roots across basketball, hip-hop culture, and music, the sneakerhead subculture is a global phenomenon that emerged in the U.S. in the late 1980s. Sneakerheads, the individuals who have built this unique subculture, are best described as people who collect, trade, or stock sneakers as a hobby.

How Sneakers Became Popular

It all started when brands started associating themselves with athletes and celebrities. Back in 1985, the infamous line of Air Jordan, worn by Michael Jordan himself, entered the mainstream fashion scene. Hip-hop subculture and music became synonymous with a young demographic, while hip-hop artists gave sneakers much-needed “street credibility” as status symbols during this period.

By the start of 2020, sneakerhead culture had gone fully global, extending beyond basketball shoes. Celebrities like Kanye West with his Yeezys and consumer-centric brands like Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Converse, and others started producing low-rise sneakers, which led to the rise of a diverse variety of sneakers within the sneakerhead subculture.

Sneakers and the Metaverse

Fast forward to 2022, and sneakerhead culture is arriving in blockchain and the metaverse. Vyking, a leading augmented reality (AR) try-on technology provider for major fashion brands, has announced the launch of flex, a next-generation AR application for digital fashion.

By combining true digital ownership with an innovative AR platform, flex marks a significant step forward for the digital fashion revolution. This digital sneaker hub will be launched at Block/Space presented by Tezos, part of SXSW 2022, and will include a series of sneaker collections as NFTs on the Tezos blockchain.

The debut series of sneakers on flex includes designs from popular creators, including French AR artist Johanna Jaskowska (johwska for short), renowned footwear designer Finn Rush-Taylor Studio, and Monument.

The platform aims to showcase creators from across the metaverse while at the same time adding new dynamics to the concept of fashion, creativity, and NFTs. Users can try on every sneaker on flex in AR (augmented reality) by just scanning the relevant QR code.

To access the range of digital sneakers on flex, users will need to connect their Tezos wallet. Once connected, users can collect the flex NFT for the sneakers they want by confirming the transaction. Each ownership record is verifiable on the Tezos blockchain, giving sneakerheads the option to now digitally ‘flex’ their sneaker collections.

Designers have full ownership of their designs on flex, thanks to the Tezos blockchain’s smart contracts, which ensure they receive royalties on new and secondary sales. Due to Tezos’ highly affordable minting costs and low carbon footprint, it can be used by creators and users without compromising sustainability.

The Vyking team elected to build flex on Tezos because these qualities align with their mission of making digital fashion accessible, sustainable, and inclusive.

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