Age is nothing but a number, especially when it comes to a hobby usually taken up by a younger demographic. For 53-year-old Hong Kong sneakerhead Eddie Chang, his passion for hunting down vintage adidas sneakers started over two decades ago, but his love for the Three Stripes began as a child when his mother purchased his first pair.
We caught up with Chang in Hong Kong where he still lives today to discuss his love for adidas and which pair got his collection started, recalling how his day job led to an obscure shop in Japan’s Harajuku district in 1995. It was here that Chang got his first taste for collecting vintage adidas kicks, scoring a pair of blue suede Gazelles produced over 25 years earlier.
But his fondness for adidas will forever be tied to the Madrid, a silhouette made in West Germany during the late ‘70s that his mom bought him when he was just 12-years-old. It’s that indescribable feeling of chasing a childhood memory and the experiences surrounding those shoes that excite him most. “People think collectors like us are nuts. We don’t need the shoes, we don’t wear them — it’s the passion,” Chang explains in our video above.
For me, it’s really not about a pair of shoes. You get to understand the stories, the histories, the technology of every pair behind that generation. When you get to know more about that, you have a very different perspective about the shoes you’re collecting.
Watch how Chang’s journey with the Three Stripes unfolded and learn more about the adidas history book he helped produce.
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