First up, could you please introduce yourself?

Hi guys and girls,

My name is Dennis, almost 37 years old and I'm living with my wife and 2 kids in a small village near the beautiful city of Mainz/Germany. I am a kindergarten teacher with a passion for football, movies, good food and of course sneakers.

How many pairs do you currently have?

Right now, maybe about 34 pairs.

Are you planning on keeping that number steady or growing/decreasing it?

That's one of the really good questions. It depends on my mood and on what I am seeing in the shops or on Instagram.

My goal was 30 pairs, as you can read the goal was not successful.

You seem to have a great variety of sneakers in your collection, do you have any favourite brands?

Thank you for the words.

I was a huge Nike head back in the day. The swoosh was the only thing you have seen on my feet. A lot of Air Max's used to be in my collection. But in the last couple of years, Nike disappointed me. I was no longer into the brand. The designs have bored me. For me, it looks like, that Nike is resting from their success.

As I'm looking for new shoes, the algorithm of the internet showed me some New Balance shoes. And that was the day were New Balance became the new brand in my sneakerworld. As I'm getting older, don't if the age is a reason, my attention went to the "smaller" brands in the sneaker game. Karhu and Mizuno become my favourite brands. It is really fun to watch their collections and collaborations. And with my first Asics Gel-Lyte III, I fell in love with the brand with the tiger stripes.

When it comes to my favourite brands, what your question was about I would say that New Balance, especially the Made in Uk and USA models, Asics, Karhu and Mizuno are my favourite brands.

Through the pandemic, where everyone was at home and got more time for nearly everything I'm getting more into the sneakerbubble. I don't even know at that time, that the sneaker community is so big.

And because my time was nearly infinite in the pandemic I started my Instagram account "sind_nur_turnschuhe". In English it means "they_are_just_kicks".

In the end, we are all blessed that we have the opportunity to buy most of the shoes we are wanting. But in the end, they are just shoes, we are all walking in so that our feet were saved.

Do you usually buy sneakers in physical stores or online?

Unfortunately, the opportunity for me to buy sneakers in physical stores is really limited.

In my hometown, Mainz, we only have a Snipes and JD. There is no small shop where you can buy some of the "smaller" brands. In Frankfurt, there is a 43einhalb and in Darmstadt, there is an Asphaltgold, two cities that are around about 45 minutes away. So for me, there is, unfortunately, no chance to buy some good sneakers in my near vicinity. So, online is my only opportunity to get some good sneakers if I do not want some Air Forces, for example.

What is your favourite pair in your collection, perhaps a top 3?

A top 3 is not easy, but I will try it.

One of my newest pairs is the Asics Gel NYC in the oyster grey cw. This shoe is so damn good and comfortable and just beautiful.

I was lucky to get a pair of the Lost & Founds Jordan 1's. For me, a Jordan, only one Jordan, belongs to the collection of a sneakerhead. Our beautiful game, bubble, community however you gonna call it, started with Air Jordan 1 Chicago. This is just my opinion.

The 991 from New Balance is the shoe I would wear for the rest of my life. No more words.

So my top 3 would be:

Jordan 1 Chicago

New Balance 991

Asics Gel NYC

If you could only wear one pair for the rest of 2023, which would it be and why?

Ok, maybe I should have read the last question before I answered the penultimate question.

The pair I would wear for the rest of the year 2023 would be the Asics Gel 1130 collab with HAL Studios. What a damn good shoe.

Thank you for the opportunity to let you know who I am. In the end, I'm just a guy who loves shoes. Like most of you who are reading the good and nice articles from the epsilonmagazine.

Thank you dear Oliver for the opportunity and being part of your beautiful magazine.

Make sure to follow Dennis on Instagram: