Christopher Claxton has been collecting shoes for six years. Showcases collection on Instagram.

By: Nicholas Kuzar

Christopher Claxton waited in line at Kith Brooklyn on a snowy day for a pair of sneakers he had no interest in buying.

“We weren’t that far in line and about 5 minutes after the store opened the sneakers were sold out,” said Claxton. “We froze for nothing.”

Claxton didn’t walk away with any new pairs of sneakers that day, but this is rarely the case. Since 2014, he has hoarded over 100 pairs of sneakers, with an estimated value of over $20,000. 

On December 31st, 2019, Claxton took to Instagram to post pictures of sneakers from his collection under the username @Kicks_R_4_Chris. Photography was only a small part of his shoe collecting hobby, up until the COVID-19 pandemic forced all into quarantine.

“I was bored during quarantine, saw there was a camera bundle sale on Amazon, and decided to make the purchase,” said Claxton. “ I started taking pictures and really enjoyed it.”

The amount of pictures he’s taken of his collection has surpassed the collection itself, with over 200 posts on his Instagram.

Unusually, while his hobby of sneaker collecting and photography largely intersect, Claxton doesn’t buy sneakers to take photos of them. He only buys sneakers that he knows he will wear at some point in time.

Most sneaker collectors are hesitant to wear their collection, especially those that catalogue their collections in photos, however, Claxton will wear sneakers from his collection during his daily routine. He is constantly swapping between them, ensuring that at some point each pair had been worn at least once.

“I take pictures of the daily sneakers that I wear, I wear my sneakers casually so they don’t usually get beat up,” said Claxton. “I also have a lot of pairs so I keep them in rotation, allowing my pairs to stay clean for years.”