Sole traders: why there’s a whiff of money in old trainers
London’s StockX is doing a roaring trade dealing in the booming market for rare sneakers
Sniffing strangers’ trainers for a living sounds like a bad job, but standing at his work station Matt Miller is inhaling a Nike Air Jordan shoe with the enthusiasm of a sommelier.
Mercifully, the shoe has never been worn. Miller is getting notes of leather and suede but can probably smell money too. The sought-after Nike Jordan 1s – designed by the rapper Travis Scott – are among the most coveted on StockX, a fast-growing stock exchange-style trading platform for “sneakerheads”, who collect or trade trainers and are willing to pay in excess of £1,000 for a pair.