Table of Contents

Introduction: Placing Sneakers within Sociology
Chapter 1: Academic Research on Footwear
Chapter 2: Sneakers as a Subculture: From Underground to Upperground
Chapter 3: Sneakers as a Symbol of Manhood: Wearing Masculinity on Their Feet
Chapter 4: Sneakers as Fashion: Reclaiming Masculine Adornment
Chapter 5: The Sneaker Subculture from Durkheimian Perspectives
Conclusion: Future Directions and Possibilities in Footwear Studies

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

The first academic study of sneakers and sneaker subculture in America.

About the Author

Yuniya Kawamura is Professor of Sociology at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, USA. She is the author of The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion (Berg, 2004), Fashion-ology (Berg, 2005), Doing Research in Fashion and Dress (Berg, 2011), and Fashioning Japanese Subcultures (Berg, 2012).

Reviews

Finally, a book on sneakers for fashion scholars! No single item of clothing has played a larger role in American youth cultural history, and Kawamura does a brilliant job of recounting that history, contextualizing sneakers within the post-subcultural moment, and placing them in tension with larger debates in fashion studies.
*Brent Luvaas, Drexel University, USA*

It’s all about the sneaker! A fascinating look at the sneaker subculture phenomenon from a sociologist’s eye. Exploring complex sneaker codes relating to status, identity, peer recognition, fashion and gender politics it includes illuminating contributions from those enthusiasts and collectors, at the very heart of sneaker consumption. Well-illustrated, a definite must read.
*Rebecca Shawcross, Northampton Museum, UK*

Kawamura’s Sneakers convinces that a considered sociology of a single everyday object – albeit an infamous commodity that solicits consumer madness and subcultural respect – creates a worthy interdisciplinary global phenomenon called ‘sneakerology’.
*Alison Gill, University of Western Sydney, Australia*