Stuttgart collector Danijel Balasević: From the Kehrwoche to the sneaker paradise - Stuttgart - Stuttgarter Nachrichten

Stuttgart - It's a chunky black shoe with air cushions and a big "Air" writing on it. The Nike Air More Uptempo. For the Stuttgart sneakers collector Danijel Balasević one of his most important shoes ever. US basketball player Scottie Pippen wore such a pair of shoes in many of his most successful games in the 1990s.

"In the past, he was usually just called Pippen," says Balasević. In the meantime, the history of the shoe is also part of his. Danijel Balasević's parents were born in Yugoslavia in the 1940s and came to Germany as guest workers. They found little to gain from his enthusiasm for expensive sneakers. The family didn't have much money, says the 36-year-old. But at the time he really wanted to be one of those wearing the “Pippen”. "I did the Kehrwoche for the neighbors and delivered the newspaper," he says. At the age of 17, he used the money to buy the shoe from a shop around the corner. "It was 285 DM back then," says the man from Stuttgart.

At one point Balasević owned 700 pairs of shoes

The 36-year-old, who belongs to the collector scene in the southwest, now has many shoes that are worth far more. Some of them are currently on display in the House of History in Stuttgart. They are part of the special exhibition “Greed” until mid-September. A short time later he started working for the shoe chain Footlocker. Then the collecting really started. "At my peak, I had 700 pairs of shoes," he says. Today he still has about 350 pairs. "It's about having," says Balasević about the enthusiasm for collecting. He also sees sneakers as an inseparable part of basketball and hip-hop. That, too, is what makes him so attractive.

Some of the shoes are really rare

The word art often comes up in conversations with him. Many of the sneakers have special colors, an unusual design or, for example, special embroidery. Some of the shoes are also only available a few times around the world. One of his special pieces is a shoe from the Asics brand. For the "Bread & Butter Berlin”, a fashion fair for streetware, the label has brought out an extra shoe. A small Berlin bear and three "B"s are embroidered with golden thread on the cream-colored sneaker. As Balasević explains, this sample, i.e. the manufactured prototypes, should only exist three times in the whole world. Above all, such sample shoes have a particularly high value. The couple is now worth around 2,000 euros, the collector estimates.

Other shoes have more historical value - such as an Adidas running shoe that probably dates from the 1970s. "I bought it from an elderly lady at the flea market for 3.50 euros," he says.

Each shoe has its own story

Balasević's passion for collecting sneakers didn't just bring him into possession of many special shoes. In the scene he made many contacts and even found friends. Anyone who wanted to collect sneakers around the 00s had to travel to various cities, such as Amsterdam or Berlin, and spend the night in front of a shoe shop in order to be one of the first to open in the morning. "Now more is happening online," says Balasević.

The Stuttgarter keeps his collection on a long wall shelf in his bedroom. The shoes should not get too much light or get dusty. Balasević not only likes to collect sneakers, he almost always wears them himself. He even wore a lilac-colored Adidas Campus at his wedding. However, the 36-year-old does not wear the very rare collector's items on the street. Some are too valuable, with others the plastic has become brittle over the years. He probably wouldn't get far with that, says Danijel Balasević.

1.8 million for a pair of shoes

For some people, buying and selling sneakers has become a real gold mine. Rare sneakers are traded for thousands of euros. A new record was only broken in the spring of this year. The auction house Sotheby's auctioned US rapper Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy 1 for $1.8 million. It was a prototype that the rapper is said to have worn himself during performances.

Balasević estimates that his own collection is worth around 100,000 euros today. And although buying sneakers is inevitably about money, Balasević emphasizes that what matters most to him is the shoes themselves and their history. Even if the value of his Pippen shoe has only increased marginally so far, it is still one of the most important sneakers in his collection.

The House of History in Stuttgart is showing the special exhibition “Greed” as part of a trilogy until September 19th.