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'Sneakerheads' converge on the city Sunday

Joey Matthews | 10/24/2014, 5:55 a.m.
"Sneakerheads" will be looking to buy, sell and trade sneakers and clothing accessories from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at ...
A sampling of 150 pairs of sneakers Chris Northington currently owns in his collection.

They’re known as “Sneakerheads.”

And hundreds of them are expected to gather this Sunday, Oct. 26.

Location: The Broadberry, 2729 W. Broad St.

They will be looking to buy, sell and trade sneakers and clothing accessories from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Peep My Feet Sneaker & Streetwear Convention.

“Sneakerheads are people who just genuinely love sneakers,” said Richmonder Chris Northington.

He is organizing the convention with friends Noah Oddo of Richmond and Kharee Hamilton of Washington.

Sneaker enthusiasts are expected to pay anywhere from $50 to “thousands of dollars” for wares from about 20 vendors planned for the event.

Most of the sneakers represent the lifestyles of fashion, the hip-hop culture, entertainment and music, Mr. Northington said.

Some of the trendiest shoes sought include hip-hop star Kanye West’s Air Yeezy shoes and the Air Mag shoes worn by actor Michael J. Fox in the movie classic “Back to the Future II.”

Enthusiasts also will seek Nike classics, starting with the trailblazing Air Jordans of the Michael Jordan era to shoes endorsed by other NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron “King” James.

The sneaker craze has caught on nationwide, with some conventions attracting as many as 30,000 people, Mr. Northington said.

Mr. Northington, 37, recalls getting hooked on the sneaker craze after buying his first pair of shoes, the Jordan I, in 1985.

Since then, he said he has owned more than 300 pairs of shoes at one time. Today he has about 150.

Mr. Northington is marketing director at the Richmond-based Source House of Shoes, the primary sponsoring company, along with Charged Up Entertainment.

He and his two friends organized their first sneaker convention in February 2013 at The Camel, a Richmond club.

They held two more at that venue before seeking the larger space at the Broadberry to accommodate more sneaker seekers.

Sneaker conventions are “family friendly,” Mr. Northington noted, attracting people who want to discuss the latest sneaker trends, exchange phone numbers and engage via social media.

“It’s an all-inclusive culture where it doesn’t matter your background or your age,” he said. “It’s something that anybody who’s interested can get into.”

Tickets to the convention are $5.

Other details: peepmyfeetva@gmail.com or access the RVA Sneakerhead Community Facebook page.