'If you have heat on your feet, it instantly catches my eye'
Out in the Open's Isabelle Gallant isn't a "sneakerhead". But lately, she's been paying a lot more attention to people's feet after meeting three Canadians who collect kicks.
Dalton's collection of 100 pairs isn't considered all that excessive in the sneaker world, but he sees no problem stocking up on one style if he really likes the look.
"I don't mind buying it in five different colours or 10 different colours," he said.
Calgarian Andrew Phung says his sneakers have given him confidence — and he's got a lot of them. As an improv actor, his footwear love is linked to how he feels performing on stage, and he admits he's been made fun of for the superstitions he holds when it comes to certain shoes.
"When a shoe does well on stage, it's connected to the stage and I feel like it should belong there," said Andrew.
And if not?
"There's nights where sometimes I'll walk off stage with a pair of shoes and I'll be like 'Well, you're getting worn outside all the time now.'"
Andrew has somewhere between 200 and 300 pairs, and keeps them in his spare bedroom in the basement — "but it's not really (the spare bedroom), it's a lot of sneakers."
These days, he's trying to cut back on his collection by making sure he only wears what he really loves and selling the others.
Chara Samarco doesn't often offload her sneakers. Instead she's focused on growing her collection, and has waited more than 19 hours in a lineup outside a store for a new shoe to be released.
"The feeling of just being first in line, knowing that I accomplished something, and that everyone wanted my spot, it just makes your adrenaline go," said Chara.
The trouble for her and many other female "sneakerheads" is that sneakers are often only released in men's sizes. She has gone so far as to buy plain white sneakers in her size only to pay extra to get them customized in the colourway she prefers.
But it's not just sizing issues that keeps the sneakerhead world predominantly male. Chara said women aren't taken seriously, and misogyny is rampant in the subculture.
"I feel like we're constantly having to defend ourselves. Sometimes I feel like we don't get the same treatment. They will say, like, 'You're a hypebeast' or 'You don't know sneakers.'"
As for Isabelle, she's started spending more time looking at people's feet — and decided it's time to upgrade her five-year-old sneakers.