Planning a sneak attack

 by Brittany McCall
 published on Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Started by a nice dude, with some nice dreams, is a Web site, about ice creams. That is, new, wildly colored sneakers as they relate to the global phenomenon of sneaker collecting.

Sneakerfreaker.com is the be-all, end-all resource for sneaker fanatics or, as the site implies, Sneaker Freakers.

The Web site features a forum to discuss and fawn over the latest styles, regular contests, store locators and a hodge-podge collection of shoe-related videos (think YouTube for shoes, not "Shoes" by Kelly).

And for those who are unfamiliar with the community of sneaker collectors and enthusiasts, the site proves to be a good source of information to satiate curiosity. There is an enormous collection of articles and interviews conducted by site editors with influential people in the sneaker-design world, like Nike designer Lady Claw Money.

One feature article discusses the potential value of rarer sneaker styles in the world of serious collecting. The article discusses and implies there are people who collect sneakers for cash just as stay-at-home moms became feral over Beanie Babies in the '90s.

Regardless, the site is well-designed with bright colors, clean fonts and a lack of ads encroaching on the content.

Sneakerfreaker.com may have been designed for the shoe freak, but it appeals to the layman as a window into the relatively unknown world of sneaker collecting.

— brittany.mccall@asu.edu