Sneakers

Yuniya Kawamura is Professor of Sociology at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, USA. She is the author of The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion (Berg, 2004), Fashion-ology (Berg, 2005), Doing Research in Fashion and Dress (Berg, 2011), and Fashioning Japanese Subcultures (Berg, 2012).

• Introduction: Placing Sneakers within Sociology Chapter 1: Academic Research on FootwearChapter 2: Sneakers as a Subculture: From Underground to Upperground Chapter 3: Sneakers as a Symbol of Manhood: Wearing Masculinity on Their FeetChapter 4: Sneakers as Fashion: Reclaiming Masculine Adornment Chapter 5: The Sneaker Subculture from Durkheimian PerspectivesConclusion: Future Directions and Possibilities in Footwear Studies NotesBibliographyIndex

Finally, a book on sneakers for fashion scholars! No single item of clothing has played a larger role in American youth cultural history, and Kawamura does a brilliant job of recounting that history, contextualizing sneakers within the post-subcultural moment, and placing them in tension with larger debates in fashion studies.