Sneakers: sports shoes to fashion icons¹ 运动鞋：从体育用品到时尚的象征
 

　　运动鞋的用途广泛、款式多样，还引领着潮流时尚。你是 “运动鞋迷（sneakerhead）” 吗？最初，运动鞋是专为体育运动员设计的实用鞋品。而如今它已成为一种时尚的符号，产业价值数十亿美元。本期节目聚焦运动鞋行业的诞生和发展。

　　词汇：fashion 时尚

　　Many of us wear trainers, or sneakers as they are called in American English. They might not seem like anything special, but these items of footwear have become an obsession² for some people. Get ready to meet the sneakerheads.

　　From their beginnings as practical footwear for athletes, trainers or sneakers have become big business. They are now a massive part of the global fashion industry, and the sneaker market could be worth $120bn by 2026. Trainers started to gain cultural cachet in the 1970s due to the popularity of basketball and football in US and UK youth culture, says fashion gallery curator Ligaya Salazar. Celebrity³ endorsements⁴ from the likes of Run DMC and Michael Jordan boosted the market through the 1980s and 90s. Brendan Dunne, host of a podcast dedicated⁵ to sneakers, describes how, as they became cooler and more expensive, sneakers became status signifiers.

　　While most trainers are made for the mass market, limited-edition pairs are made to appeal to those who are looking for something special. Sneakerheads are those who collect rare trainers, sometimes paying thousands of dollars for a pair. Dunne compares it to art collecting, pointing out that they have been sold by major auction⁶ houses and are seen by some as an investment.

　　Trainer manufacturers have seen this market for rare sneakers as a good business opportunity and have teamed up with celebrities⁷ to produce limited edition pairs. This feeds into the resale market for this footwear. Some sneakerheads spend hours camping outside shops to get their hands on the most desirable limited editions which they can then flip⁸ for a huge profit.

　　So, an item that started as an everyday functional⁹ object for people playing sports can now also be a high-fashion item worth thousands of dollars.

　　词汇表

　　trainers （英式英语）运动鞋

　　sneakers （美式英语）运动鞋

　　footwear 鞋类

　　sneakerhead 运动鞋迷，痴迷于收集或交易运动鞋的人practical 实用的

　　market 市场

　　cultural cachet 文化声望

　　celebrity endorsement 名人代言

　　status signifier 地位的象征

　　mass market 大众市场

　　limited-edition 限量版的

　　appeal to 吸引

　　rare 稀有的

　　pair 一双

　　investment 投资

　　manufacturer 制造商

　　resale market 转售市场

　　desirable 渴望得到的

　　flip （为盈利而）迅速转售

　　high-fashion 高级时装的

 

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