THE SNEAKER ODYSSEY: HOW SNEAKERS TOOK OVER THE WORLD

Sneakers, tennis shoes or even pumps... Whatever you call them, these shoes have colonized our feet in the space of a few decades. Rich and poor, men and women, young and old, the communitý of converts spans the globe and breaks free of all social barriers. Originally designed for sporting activitý, they can now be worn for almost any occasion. Every day, new sneaker models arrive in stores, proposed by powerful multinationals fighting for their share of a cake valued at over 100 billion euros. How did a simple sports shoe become both an everyday object and a global fashion accessory?

From the research laboratories of major brands to cargo ships full of counterfeits, from Chinese factories to the catwalks of Paris fashion week, from the ghettos of New York to the parades of star influencers, from the collections of compulsive buyers to the immense open-air dumps of Asia, Pierre Demoux has walked on the heels of the sneaker across the globe to recount its incredible odyssey. Focusing on its shining facets as well as its shadowy areas.

All along the way, the adventures of pioneers, family rivalries, unexpected successes and bitter failures, marketing wars, industrial epics, the destinies of anonymous people and sometimes even entire towns, all linked to this seemingly insignificant object, will intersect. Only at first glance. Because behind the cool, playfuĺ side, the history of basketball is also the history of economic and cultural globalization.

AUTHOR: Journalist Pierre Demoux has been following sport-business newś for Les Echos for several years. In 2019, he was awarded the Prix lycéen "Lire l'économie" for L'Odyssée de la basket. This reference work on sneakers deserved an updated, expanded and illustrated reissue (and retitled for the occasion).