I am a sneakerhead episode 194 - @Theshoemmelier
First of all, could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Daniel Montoya Jr. and I was born and raised in Austin, TX. I am a classical music composer and am married with a 5-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old puggle named Mahler. When not composing music I enjoy recording podcasts & making videos about shoes, I have a small-time clothing brand geared to the world of marching band, and I keep a steady rotation of about 250 shoes (both dress and casual) at any given time.
For how long have you been collecting sneakers, do you remember what your first pair was?
I vividly remember getting a pair of the Nike Air Trainer SC 'Bo Jackson.' I loved the mixture of orange and blue and how chunky it was. I remember also really being into Airwalks, British Knights, LA Gear, K-Swiss, and Reebok! I was pretty much like every kid who only got one new pair of shoes a year. But right around my junior year of high school (1995), I started collecting shoes starting with dress shoes and Timberlands. Once I was able to have adult money all bets were off!
You seem to be collecting a great variety of brands, do you have any favourites?
Of course, I like Jordans, Yeezys, Ultra Boost, New Balance, etc. But what excites me lately is collabs or the smaller shoe companies. Union, Social Status, A Ma Maniere, Patta, Sacai, Packer, Tokyo Design Studio, & Y-3 are a few of my favorite collaborators. And when it comes to smaller or lesser-known shoe brands, I enjoy what Mache is doing with his Mache Runner, Casbia has some cool stuff, Sneep has very intriguing silhouettes, and I can't wait to get my pair of DIZYGOTIC in! But I have to give a shoutout to one of my current favorite silhouettes, the Nike Air Jordan 1 Zoom Air CMFT. Boy do I love that silhouette! The worst thing about Jordan 1s is how uncomfortable they are. And if Nike could just release more iconic Jordan 1 colorways in the CMFT silhouette I would be thrilled!
Do you have a favourite pair in your collection?
Is it a copout to say my favorite pair of shoes is that one I'm wearing on any given day? This might be the toughest question to answer since I have so many shoes in my possession! Due to recency bias, I want to say the A Ma Maniere x Nike Air Jordan 3 'Raised by Women.' That's definitely my shoe of the year and I think it's one of the best shoes of the last 5 or so years. But if I take a step back I think my favorite pair is probably the Gucci Baling Fabric High Top 'Grey/White.' It's not the most comfortable shoe (without secondary insoles), and it definitely borrows from the Jordan 3, 4, & other silhouettes, but the way I can pretty much wear it with anything. It can be casual and it can be dressy. And it goes with shorts, jeans, slack, or even a suit!
If you could only wear one pair for the remaining of 2022 which would it be?
I was wrong, this is the most difficult question to answer! I think in order to be stylish, yet comfortable, and to wear a pair that could pretty much be worn on any given day, I would have to say the adidas Yeezy Boost 700 v2 'Static.' The 700 is not only my 2nd favorite Yeezy silhouette, behind the 380, but I think it's the second most comfortable Yeezy behind the 350 v2 CMPCT. And because it's white and silver, it would be perfect for any season and any outfit.
What do you think of the current stage of the sneaker community?
Ah, the question du jour. It seems like at any given time people in the sneaker community are discussing this very topic. It's hard to not quickly veer into "back in my day" or "the kidz these dayz" rhetoric. But the truth of the matter is sneaker culture obviously means different things to different generations. There are folks who refuse to wear any Jordan 1 colorway that MJ himself didn’t wear... There are folks who remember standing in lines and stampedes for sneaker releases. And of course, there are those younger folks who got into the game because of Kanye, Travis Scott, and other celebrities. We all love sneakers and got into the game for different reasons. And right now, making money reselling sneakers is a huge reason folks are getting into the culture. Sneaker reselling is the modern-day lemonade stand. I have seriously bought sneakers from high school kids who had their parents grab the shoes for them during the day. What a wild time for shoes! At the end of the day do I wish I could grab any sneaker I want for retail and not have to fight resellers AND bots? Yes. But am I happy that if I miss out on a release and/or want a shoe early there's a market I can go to for that shoe? Absolutely. The sneaker game has evolved and we can either evolve with it or just sit in a lazy-boy waxing poetic about the old days while wearing an old beat-up pair of Reebok Pumps!
Do you have anything on your radar at the moment?
Like many a sneaker collector before me, I have been in the process of condensing and curating my sneaker collection. I am no longer interested in obtaining every hyped release for my YouTube channel or IG only to wear it 1-3 times and then resell it. If a hyped release and/or collab comes out with a cool colorway and/or story, then I'll get it. If there's a great colorway of an Ultra Boost or Nike Overbreak I'm totally gonna grab it, hype be damned. For 2022, I would say three pairs have piqued my interest: the Union x Nike Air Jordan 2, the A Ma Maniere x Nike Air Jordan 2, and adidas Yeezy 1050. Fashion is all about taking risks and no other sneaker designer is taking the huge swings that Yeezy does. And yes, I fully realize the irony in picking three hyped releases after I just said hype be damned!
Make sure to follow Daniel on Instagram and subscribe to his YouTube channel