Spotlight: "Sneaker Culture" steps into cross-cultural role between U.S., China

by Julia Pierrepont III, Huang Heng

LOS ANGELES, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Americans share many Cross-cultural interests, such as movies, music, fashion, and now one of the hottest trends on both continents is... sneakers.

But not just any sneakers: limited edition, vintage collectors items, like Air Jordan, Nike Air Max, Adidas Yeezy Boost, Revenge X Storm, Fear of God Military, and more.

"It may sound crazy, but we see ourselves as kind of cultural ambassadors creating bridges between the U.S. and China," Jiahuan Xia, a partner and co-founder of SoleStage, a leading limited edition sneaker reseller, told Xinhua Sunday. "Nothing communicates better aCross cultures than a shared passion."

"When you collect cool kicks, it doesn't matter if you are American or Chinese or from anywhere else in the world," added one of his co-founding partners, Yu Zhang.

An expert at intuiting the links between fashion and one's sense of identity, Xia explained, "We all love basketball and rap music, so sneakers become a common language for young guys like us. If I see their sneakers, I can tell just by looking at them what they like and what kind of a person they are."

Led by rappers, pro-ballers and young Hollywood celebrities whose fame gives them that coveted "cool factor," limited edition sneakers have come of age and are all the rage in both China and the United States.

That popularity has spawned a massive athletic shoe industry that topped 60 billion U.S. dollars worldwide in 2018 and is expected to rise to 95 billion U.S. dollars by 2025, according to 29-year-old Zhang.

Limited quantities of any popular commodity naturally spawn fierce competition amongst buyers eager to possess it. According to Forbes, that has fueled a billion dollar secondary resale market in which a rare model bought for a mere 190 U.S. dollars can rocket up in price overnight to 6,000 U.S. dollars a pair.

A Chinese-owned U.S. consignment store chain, SoleStage is riding that wave.

SoleStage was founded in 2013 by Lei Wang, Zhang, and the youngest, Xia, three young Chinese guys who shared a passion for athletic shoes. At the tender ages of 13 to 15, they all started out, separately, as collectors, but got fired up with entrepreneurial zeal when they realized how profitable resale opportunities were.

"We decided to go into business together when we realized that separately we were just driving up prices for each other, but if we worked together, we could combine our expertise and connections and get great products at better prices," Zhang explained.

"It was hard in the beginning because some buyers were afraid that because we were Chinese we might be selling fakes. So we had to work extra hard to build our reputation for honesty and access to rare, authentic products," revealed Zhang.

And that hard work paid off.

To date, the trio have opened three stores in California - Los Angeles, Irvine and Santa Clara - and one in New York City, that cater to American consumers - mostly young, hip males - serviced from a massive warehouse in City of Industry, a suburban city located 20 kilometers east of Los Angeles downtown, cock full of product that ensures they can keep up with the increasing demand.

And, they are opening a fifth store in Beijing in May to better serve the Chinese market.

"What sets this store apart is it has something for all its customers, not just one hyped clothing brand," Angel Cornejo, the Hispanic-American manager of the Los Angeles store, told Xinhua. "We reach a bigger audience. And we've got great connections, so we can offer rare stuff."

"That's the whole point," Xia agreed. "With our connections, we can bring authentic U.S fashion and sneakers to China and bring Chinese brands to the U.S. It's gotta go both ways."

Xia wear a sport vest with a striking logo of Li Ning, a Chinese sportswear brand who debuted its fall/winter 2019 collection at the New York Fashion Week (NYFW) last month. Xia said SoleStage joined the promotion works.

By 2018, these three young guys had built a successful resale business, and they expect substantial growth next year when they release their new shoe buying app, "Shine," that will provide accurate, up-to-the-second price comparisons and sales opportunities in both the United States and China.

"We know both ends, both countries, that's our advantage. We are an American-based brand that understands the U.S. market, but we are also Chinese, and we know China better than any of our competitors ever could," asserted Xia.

And their customers agree.

"Fashion should be about expressing yourself and being unique. And these guys have that," said one young American shopper at SoleStage's Los Angeles store, next to Supreme, in the trendy West Hollywood Fairfax district.

Supreme is an American skateboarding shop and clothing brand, established in New York City in April of 1994. The brand, catering to the hip hop, rock cultures, and the youth culture in general, is very popular both in the United States and China.

Popular RB and hip hop artist, Joseph DeVinci from Atlanta, told Xinhua, "I've been here, like, 50 times. I find the craziest thing and buy it. I bought [Kobe] Bricks yesterday. I bought two pair of Yeezy's last week. I'm not a collector, I just like shoes."

Store manager Angel seconded that. "We all love shoes. When you like something, you want to know all about it: the history, colors, models, materials..."

He also loves his job and is glad that his Chinese bosses set up shop in LA. "I love working for these guys, they're my bosses, but they're also my friends. We hang out and talk a lot about shoes."

Another American regular, Tatum, said, "It's crazy that three young Chinese guys got into this in such a big way over here. That's cool."