Meet the men repairing and restoring vintage adidas and Jordan sneakers. In a world where sneakers are bought and traded, and where unworn status can account for massive differentials in value, there is another school of sneaker head, not looking for crisp, deadstock pairs. This collector prefers their kicks worn, beat and used, saving many from the trash. Sneakers, with glued soles and non-welted construction, were never meant to be repaired, yet a growing number of modern cobblers are fixing up beat sneakers. We speak with two sneaker restorers, dedicated to bringing rare Jordans and long lost adidas silhouettes back to life. Jose Armando Bustamante is a filmmaker and sneaker restorer documenting his work on Retrosnickers Youtube channel. Bustamante has repaired and restored countless kicks, the most well known being a rare pair of OG 1989 MILITARY BLUE Jordan 4s. The video has racked up 2.6 million Youtube views. David Charlesworth of Vintage Trainer Repairs joins us from England. Charlesworth is a trained cobbler who works traditional shoes during his business hours, and spends his evenings working on some of the world’s rarest adidas models. Charlesworth repaired many of the classics adidas found in “Sole Searching in South America” documentary. Links in this story: Retrosnickers Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/RetroSnickers Vintage Trainer Repairs www.fb.com/vintagetrainerrepairs www.instagram.com/vintage_trainer_repairs68 adidas “Sole Searching in South America” Film www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbS5kkbn9GM Visit www.highsnobiety.com for more.

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