I confess, I still get quite excited at the thought of a pair of boxfresh Adidas trainers.
I don't know what it is about that brand in particular - perhaps it's because, like Mancunian sneakerhead Gary Aspden, I grew up in the north-west of England, an area Aspden refers to as the "Adidas heartland".
Aspden's obsession with all things Adidas has resulted in him being made a brand consultant for the German sportswear label. I'm not sure what that means beyond lots of free shoes, but I do know he organised an exhibition of Adidas trainers in London last year and this year he worked with the label on a capsule collection called Spezial. An exhibition dedicated to that line has just closed in Manchester.
But what's really interesting is how both capsule collection and exhibition came into being.
It started when Aspden received an email late last year containing information that blew his mind. Indiana Jones had the Holy Grail to chase, of course, but what do you think would fill an Adidas-obsessed sneakerhead with the same sort of awe? If you said a dusty sports shop in a suburb of Buenos Aires packed with vintage kicks that haven't been touched for decades, then you'd be right. Aspden - dazed, excited and probably a little disbelieving - found himself looking at photographs of just such a treasure. And so he approached what he refers to as "a couple of notorious collectors" with an enticing proposal: "Fancy flying to Argentina to check it out?"
Those collectors were Mike Chetcuti and Robert Brooks and, together with film-maker Greg Bond and photographer Neil Bedford, they flew to Argentina with Aspden in January. Also along for the ride was a man rock fans will recognise - Ian Brown, formerly of the Stone Roses and a self-confessed sneakerhead and friend of Aspden's. Honestly, you couldn't make it up.
Even as they approached the shop window, they realised they were looking at vintage styles none of them had clapped eyes on for years.
"As we stepped inside, it was like stepping into Aladdin's Cave," says Chetcuti in Bond's film, available on YouTube. "In this day and age, to find so much vintage Adidas is crazy," adds an awestruck Robert Brooks. Ian Brown doesn't say anything, but I've never seen him look so happy.
As well as the shoes themselves, the star of the film is the shop's eccentric owner, 75-year-old Carlos Ruiz. Fag in hand, he speaks about becoming a widower and how he has run the shop for over three decades as a form of therapy. "A noble product" is how he describes his treasure trove of vintage Adidas goods, which perhaps explains why he often refuses to sell any of it.
Aspden eventually persuades him to part with some of it, though, and one of the last shots we see is of a van crammed with boxes. A cheery wave from Carlos and then they're off back to Blighty. Kind of takes sole searching to a whole new level, doesn't it? But what a way to get your kicks.
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