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| These days Tausha Sanders is Houston to the core, but she was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska — a city that’s far from being considered influential in sneaker culture and fashion in general. Yet that’s where she began to develop her affinity for streetwear and, eventually, sneakers. | | I rock what kicks I want to rock, and I think Nebraska taught me that. I’m going to wear what I like, and I’m going to be prideful about it. - Tausha Sanders | | Sanders reminisces about how her hometown’s most popular companies for footwear were K-Swiss, Phat Farm and Tommy Hilfiger. She admits that’s a much different upbringing from many of her fellow sneakerheads, and she remains proud of that difference. “I’m humble because of Nebraska, I’m real because of Nebraska,” says Sanders, who studied fashion marketing at The Art Institutes International in Kansas City. “I rock what kicks I want to rock, and I think Nebraska taught me that. I’m going to wear what I like, and I’m going to be prideful about it.” Growing up, Sanders chose to wear Nike basketball sneakers on the court, and Adidas and K-Swiss walking the school halls. She points to the true beginning of her love for sneakers as the moment when she bought a pair of Nike SB Dunks from a skate shop around the time she graduated from high school. That makes Sanders a late bloomer for someone who now says, “I wake up and breathe sneakers.” In the summer of 2015, Sanders made the fateful move to Houston for a new role as social media manager with Sneaker Summit, which puts on sneaker community events where fans gather to discuss, display, sell and trade shoes. Sanders found kinship in a city where she sees similarities with her Nebraska hometown. “I feel like Houston is a big city, but still has a small-town feel. Houston is often overlooked when it comes to the sneaker scene. Sometimes we get clumped in with Chicago or New Orleans.” |
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| In 2016, Sanders was given the opportunity to help launch the Sneaker Summit Storefront in Houston. That experience pushed her even further toward the front line of dealing directly with sneakerheads and curating a physical space for them. Not only was it eye-opening to learn firsthand the process of building something from the ground up in the sneaker industry, but it also showed her how the community failed to cater to the women who were loyal to the culture. “I would go to these sneaker shows and there’s nothing for us,” says Sanders, who launched the women-focused SneakHer Summit with Wendy Franklin in 2018. “It was more of a side gig to help with the females who love kicks here. So to see it come up to five years in February, it’s been great.” | | I’m surrounded by women who get it, who support us, who understand us, who really want to see us win. We’re not gatekeepers, we want everyone in there. We want all the women in there. We want to turn every woman into a sneakerhead. - Tausha Sanders | | In 2020, SneakHer Summit rebranded as Her Grails, with “grails” referring to a nickname sneakerheads use for their most coveted pairs of sneakers — either ones in their collection or ones they yearn to get their hands on. A majority of Her Grails events are in Houston and have women-only invitation lists. Their only regular coed events are anniversary events in February and Graceful Laces, an annual fall charity event that raises money to provide sneakers and socks for children in the Houston area. Her Grails partnered with the Houston Rockets during this past Black History Month for a pregame celebration inside the Toyota Center, as well as an Air Jordan-sponsored suite where 15 women who love their kicks could enjoy the game together. “We curate and create an experience where women can have fun, feel comfortable, talk kicks, have some real good girl time, dance, and it just be a blast. And that’s an amazing feeling.” Sanders says it’s also not unusual for Her Grails to go beyond shoes and provide makeup and manicures during their events. “I’m surrounded by women who get it, who support us, who understand us, who really want to see us win. We’re not gatekeepers, we want everyone in there. We want all the women in there. We want to turn every woman into a sneakerhead.” |
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| Sanders makes it clear that she won’t ever wait in long lines or stress over online raffles for sneakers. She does it the old-fashioned way and shops retail — but that doesn’t mean she won’t find other ways to go the extra mile for her passion. She considers herself lucky to fit into women’s, men’s and kids’ sizes for sneakers, and even knows how her sizes vary by brand. “My closet has like three, four different sizes,” she explains, noting that it’s a good position to be in because it not only lowers the chances a store won’t have a size that fits, but she also sometimes saves money buying kids’ sneakers. | | I don’t want people to ever think it’s a material thing. I love a good story behind the shoe. I love female-designed shoes. I love Black people designing shoes. - Tausha Sanders | | Sanders says there are many things outsiders don’t understand about the people who would go through so much for a pair of shoes, and that it’s much deeper than just what people see on her feet. “I don’t want people to ever think it’s a material thing. I love a good story behind the shoe. I love female-designed shoes. I love Black people designing shoes. People probably judge us and say we’re spending all of this money on shoes, but people collect for a lot of reasons. I really do enjoy the culture.” Sanders also takes pride in the fact that Her Grails has helped create business opportunities for writers, publishers and other female entrepreneurs in complementary roles within the Houston sneaker and streetwear communities. She points to that impact as a big reason why the Nebraska-born transplant and her adopted city support each other so passionately. “Houston is a very community-based, supportive city. So I think they want to embrace anybody who’s helping their community, helping their city look cool. So I think they saw that and that I was doing it authentically.” Follow @houseofsneakerfiends and @taushaquan on Instagram, and be on the lookout for Tausha in episode 5 of Sneaker Fiends. New episodes of Sneaker Fiends drop each Thursday on YouTube. |
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What city that’s not normally considered a fashion hot spot has a surprisingly vibrant sneaker scene? | | SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS HERE |
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EPISODE 3 NOW STREAMING! Featuring Genevieve Channelle & Keia Kodama | | WATCH HERE |
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