Some of the rarest sneakers in the world are going on show at the first international design exhibition for Australia's biggest regional gallery.
Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street was developed by the London Design Museum and is touring to HOTA, Home of the Arts on the Gold Coast, which opened its gallery in 2021.
There's everything from early Converse to Comme des Garçons, but some of the most sought after sneakers are unexpected.
The Nike Air Presto shoes made for the Australian team at the 2000 Olympics, for example, are coveted by collectors because very few of them were ever made, according to curator Ligaya Salazar - and they didn't last.
"Prestos generally from that era are super rare because they didn't hold up very well, so they can fall apart a little bit," she told AAP.
"They are fantastic to see in the flesh because they are almost mythical, they are so rare."
Salazar is not a so-called sneaker head herself, but she used to play basketball back when women didn't wear sneakers every day.
"I appreciated them for performance reasons, and now I appreciate them for comfort reasons," she said.
With more than 200 shoes on show, the exhibition explores how New York's basketball and hip-hop fans changed sneakers from mere sports gear to vehicles for cultural expression, through the likes of basketballer Clyde Frazier and rappers Run-DMC.
It also looks at how sneakers have evolved from simple canvas constructions such as the iconic Converse ‘Big 9’ to intensely designed pieces of technology, with high performance shoes for specific types of running.
There are some never-seen-before prototypes, and a look at celebrity endorsements such as basketballers Chuck Taylor and Michael Jordan and rapper Travis Scott with Nike, and songwriter Pharell for Adidas.
There are also dozens of luxury-brand sneakers such as Balenciaga Vetements, Luis Vuitton, Versace and Comme des Garçons.
The new director of the HOTA gallery, Susi Muddiman is used to wearing heels, and said the world of sneakers has been a revelation - but she's catching on.
"I've got some coloured ones and some glittery ones and plain white ones," she said.
In London, Sneakers Unboxed attracted a younger and more diverse crowd than a regular gallery show, and part of HOTA's brief is to attract a new audience to the arts, Muddiman said.
"This is a show for everybody because it embraces so many different age groups and cultures. I mean, how many millions of people wear sneakers?"
It's actually been sneaker heads who have preserved the design history of the shoe, according to Salazar.
"Sports brands never really paid attention to their own history in a real way - the collectors ended up being the archivists and the font of knowledge for the big brands," she said.
Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street opens from Saturday at HOTA Gallery at Surfers Paradise Gold Coast.
