Another day... another queue
LOAFING around on camp chairs and in tents, they have become a regular sight.
Now some of these fashion fans have been camping outside a Newcastle shop for a week to try and get their hands - or feet - on rare KAWS x Air Jordan 4 that go on sale tomorrow at End on Grainger Street.
The Newcastle store is one of only nine in the UK to be selling the limited number of trainers which will cost £290.
Crowds have gathered outside the shop, armed with camping chairs and sleeping bags, hoping to be some of the lucky few able to buy the shoes.
They’ll be on sale from tomorrow morning, but demand is so high several dozen determined shoppers started to camp out at the weekend.
Waiting a week for the trainers’ release is Jimmy Foster, a student at Northumbria University.
The 19-year-old said this is not his first time bracing the elements for a trainer launch outside End, adding: “I’m here for every shoe launch.
“I try to get everything that I can possibly afford.”
Explaining how the queueing crowd works, he said there’s a regular check on who is in line, meaning people can’t leave for long periods.
He added: “I came down on Saturday and I’ve been surviving on Greggs for breakfast.”
Jimmy said he was undecidied if he would sell the trainers, and added: “I haven’t decided yet, but they are so nice to look at. There are not many pairs of shoes I like as much as these.”
The trainer is a collaborative design based on the 1989 Jordan 4 trainers, updated by American pop artist and designer KAWS, who started as a graffiti artist before turning to paintings and sculptures, as well as product and clothing designs.
Only available in a grey suede, the shoes feature a glow-in-the-dark outsole with KAWS’ signature ‘X’ logo on the heel and lace tips, while ‘KAWS’ branding replaces the usual ‘Air Jordan.’
The camp is the latest in a long line of demand for exclusive trainers sold at the store.
Twice last year and only last month, queues of Kanye West footwear enthusiasts arrived in their hundreds just for the chance to enter their names into a raffle to buy his £149 Adidas Yeezy trainers.
Sarah, another camper in her 30s, said she was determined to get a pair of the coveted shoes.
She said: “I arrived at the weekend to queue for the trainers, which are a collaboration between KAWS - a current artist and the Air Jordans.
“They’ll cost £290 and they’re super nice shoes and really limited in number; they’re not as easy to get as the Yeezys. This camping out thing is not for the faint hearted.”