ABOUT

Writer and Los Angeles native Christyna Pourhabib asked sneaker enthusiasts around the country the same question: What was the first pair of sneakers that made you feel fly? While for some, it was the Air Jordan XVIIs and for others it was the Reebok Answer IVs, collectively their responses tell stories about the broader culture and their relationship to it. 

The result of these encounters is The First Pair, a gorgeously illustrated consideration of the deeply personal meanings that often accompany one’s selection of sneakers. In The First Pair, sneakers become an entry point into the broader subjects of race, gender, class, and identity. The author turns the lens on herself, and shares the origins of her love of sneakers and how that relationship evolved after an accident that essentially redefined and then cemented the role that footwear would play in her life. 

It is this intimate connection with her subject that informs The First Pair. The interviews and photographs were taken in the places she calls home — Los Angeles and New York. From the Fairfax District to South Central and SoHo to Harlem, the book focuses not so much on the moguls and influencers that promote or push the culture, but the every day sneaker lovers, the heartbeat of the culture— women and men who wear, collect and give it life beyond the advertisements and commercials. 

By turns moving and funny, surprising and universal, these stories ask us to consider how objects connect us to our past, shared histories, and to the people and places around us. For both footwear obsessives and newcomers alike, The First Pair is a journey into various moments in time, guided by expertly curated images of the flyest footwear and the sneaker lovers that have graciously allowed the reader into their sacred space.