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The sneaker game’s grown tremendously over the past decade, but now it’s time to learn how it all began.
Thanks to a new docuseries directed by Sean Menard, The Sneaker Boom, will delve into the basketball sneaker marketing world of the 1990s. The docuseries–already in post-production–will dig deep into the NBA’s global takeover that began in the 1990s and its culture that began to spread to other countries.
Marketing played a huge role in its growing popularity and playing up the personalities of its biggest stars in commercials and ads. As the players star power grew, so did the shoes they wore, as they became just as famous for casual wear.
To tell the story, Menard is enlisting some of the biggest and most marketed NBA players of the 1990s, like Dee Brown, Larry Johnson, Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill, who were sponsored by Reebok, Converse, Nike and Fila.
According to Deadline, the docuseries is described as a story that picks up where the recent Ben Affleck-directed film Air ends.
On the marketing side, the project will also feature legendary executive Sonny Vaccaro, who worked at Nike and played a massive role in campaigning for Michael Jordan to join Nike and launch what has become the most successful sneaker line in the Air Jordan collection.
The Sneaker Boom is heralded by RTG Features, the sister company of Slam magazine and the media company.
Menard spoke about the project and the feeling of speaking to those working on the campaigns behind the scenes.
“The most interesting aspect of production for me was getting to meet these marketing execs who had never shared their story on camera before,” said Menard in a statement to Deadline. “Early in their careers they helped launch sneakers into mainstream popular culture, and their success came from taking big creative risks. It was very inspiring.”
The docuseries is wrapping up, but a release date has yet to be announced.
