Hype historians will say the culture of sneaker collecting shifted with the humble, and universally hated, pigeon. When Nike released the SB “Pigeon” Dunk on February 22, 2005, kids camped outside for days — braving a blizzard — for the chance to snag the brand’s New York City-inspired shoe.
While this chaotic scene would hardly bat an eye today, it was largely unheard of back then. With just 150 pairs sold across five shops in the city, the hyper-limited release almost stirred a riot: a shoving match broke out, weapons were drawn, and the NYPD and SWAT were called to make arrests.
“Part of the reason why the cops showed up is because they thought we were dealing drugs out of our store,” narrated Jeff Staple, the visionary behind the Pigeon Dunks and owner of the now closed boutique Reed Space in Lower East Side. Of course, they didn’t believe him when he said he was just selling footwear. But when the phrase “Sneaker frenzy” was slapped across the New York Post’s front page the following day, the world soon awakened to the sneaker cult.
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