Discussed in this essay:

Where’d You Get Those? New York City’s Sneaker Culture 1960–1987. Tenth Anniversary Edition, by Bobbito Garcia. Testify Books. 280 pages. $40.

Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture, by Elizabeth Semmelhack. Rizzoli. 256 pages. $45.

Sneakerheadz, directed by David T. Friendly and Mick Partridge. Friendly Films/Jump Films, 2015. 70 minutes.

Say you were a city kid growing up in America. Say you wanted to show off your grace and speed, your skills and creativity, your vision and stroke and raw power. You wanted to break laws and defy gravity.…