Meet 5 sneaker enthusiasts from Northeast India

Content creators from Northeast India talk about their love (and dislike) for everything related to sneakers

The pool of Air Jordan and Yeezy lovers just keeps getting bigger and bigger as more people (young and old, gender no bar) get in on the hype around this culture of sneakers that boasts of a growing community of shoe collectors. While many are embracing the title of ‘sneakerhead’ proudly, owing to their vast collection of sneakers, there are quite a few who are over this hype. Our last feature had ardent sneaker lovers from across the country, which you can read about here. This time around, we scoured Northeast India to speak to those who, whether in or out of the hype culture, share their love for a good pair of sneakers.

Kishor Thapa

Kishor Thapa’s love for sneakers goes back to his college days when he used to be a breakdancer. “I used to watch videos of other B-boys from around the world and would dream of owning sneakers and caps that my favourite B-boy wore at the time in those videos. By matching shoes with caps and using funky laces, it was their way of expressing their style, through the medium of dance,” shares Thapa, who also credits the rise of hip-hop for the rise of streetwear culture. “I got to learn about hip-hop through dance and that taught me about the sneaker and streetwear culture,” he adds. Now as a professional Taekwondo athlete, Thapa owns more than 45 pairs of sneakers, a collection he slowly built on from 2012, his first pair being Nike High Dunk in Wolf Grey. “I still remember it wasn’t cheap. I had to ask my brother to buy it for me as my birthday gift, who then took me to a Nike store and bought me my first pair,” he recalls. Thapa—a big fan of Air Jordan 4s—believes his Air Jordan 4 ‘ What The 4’, Air Jordan 4 UNC and Yeezy 350 Static are the most expensive shoes in his collection currently. When asked about his wish list, Thapa admitted he has a lot of pairs in mind. The ones he wants to add to his collection next include Air Jordan 3 x Fragments, Nike Air Max 1 x Kasina and Concepts x Nike Air Max 1 SP.

Gaurav Karki

“Let’s be honest, right now, every week there is a new release [of sneakers] and it’s not even a normal release—most of them are a bunch of collaborations. Over time I’ve understood that it’s like a rat race and it’s never going to end because there will always be something new in the market,” says Gaurav Karki, a multi-media professional who is a photographer, filmmaker and YouTuber. Although his ancestry is rooted in Nepal, Karki started getting into sneakers when he was in school in New Delhi. “My first sneakers, the one that drove me into this sneaker culture, were the Reebok Classic CL in leather white. Since then, I have been obsessed with the story behind each sneaker,” Karki explains. He has previously worked as a street-style photographer for Indian sneaker multi-brand store VegNonVeg, and has seen the sneaker culture grow over time. “At the time, I remember seeing Air Jordan 1 Bred sitting on Myntra’s website for almost a week! Just imagine that!” Although he’s trying to reduce some of the sneakers from his collection, Karki still boasts of an eclectic mix of his favourites, including the black-and-white Superstars from Adidas Originals, Nike Air Jordan 1s, Adidas’ Sambas and Gazelle, Vans’ Old Skool and Nike Cortez, which he refers to as “the gangster shoe.”

Esalan Rynjah

Shillong-based Esalan Rynjah, a second-generation entrepreneur, has been into sneakers since his teenage years. “The economics behind the sneaker culture, the stories that go in the making of each pair and the attention to detail of grail sneakers used on a silhouette, like Nike SB Dunks, was what got me intrigued,” says Rynjah. But he credits Virgil Abloh and Off-White for getting him hooked on to the hype scene. Rynjah’s Instagram account chronicles his obsession for sneakers, which first started with “a good ‘ol pair of Converse Chuck Taylors” and moved on to Dunk Low by Nike x Off-White, Air Jordans 3, 4 and 5, and the Nike x Travis Scott SB Dunk being the most expensive pair in his collection. When asked about the growing ‘hype’ around sneaker culture in India, he believes that it’s thanks to a lot of influencers who have promoted this culture online that has now attracted more people into sneakers. “In the future, I do see more brands coming in and more stores selling sneakers at retail rates. But what I think we need is a proper skate shop that sells sneakers and, optimistically, has a good Nike SB (skateboarding) Dunk release in India,” he says.

Manash Jyoti Nath

Although a full-time Bachelors of Commerce student and a part-time working professional based in Assam, Manash Jyoti Nath had already amassed over 30 pairs of sneakers, half of which he sold in the last two years. His Instagram account (@heymnx) reflects his minimal style and his love for sneakers which he displays through his Instagram stories, featuring everything from Nike Air Jordan 3 to vintage Puma x Buttergoods. Jyoti Nath’s inspiration comes from rappers and celebrities who got him hooked on to the hype culture at the time he copped his first pair of sneakers, a pair of Nike Air Force 1s. The young student believes that since everyone is getting into the ‘sneaker game,’ this culture of hype is set to boom in the near future. However, he does have one concern. “As more brands will start to come into this game, so will the resellers, which will make it hard for customers to cop sneakers at retail prices,” says Jyoti Nath, who doesn’t buy sneakers at resell prices, which is why the most expensive pair of sneakers in his collection remain the Nike Air Jordan 1 Heritage.

Rikzung Dorjee

Rikzung Dorjee insists that he’s out of the sneaker game now, even though he currently has about 40 pairs in his collection. “The reselling market has changed the whole system. Why waste so much money on the same pair of sneakers that cost less than half of what the resellers sell it at?” says Dorjee. “People in India are only about the hype. Yes, there are OG sneakerheads who collect sneakers, even the deadstock ones. But there are many who are just in it for the hype, without even knowing the story behind these sneakers,” he adds. While Dorjee may no longer be in the hype culture, his love for sneakers started from school, where he played basketball and idolised Michael Jordan. “At the time I used to wear classic Puma shoes. Later on I was introduced to the world of Nike Air Jordans and started collecting Air Jordan 1s,” he says. Although he may no longer call himself a sneakerhead, this Sikkim-born, actor, model and designer still loves a good pair of shoes and is eyeing Louis Vuitton’s monogrammed training sneakers as his next buy.

Also Read: Meet India’s coolest sneakerheads

Also Read: The most talked-about sneaker collaborations of 2022 that got us hyped

Also Read: The essential guide to sneaker terminology