Chris Robinson, also known as SB Collector, is a famous and probably one of the biggest sneakers collectors in the world. His passion for fashion developed at an early stage when he was just a kid. Now, he has a successful business and his collections are made of over 3000 pairs. How he got here?
Chris has an incredible story to share. As a child, he did not afford of having a pair of Nikes, no matter how much he wanted this. His childhood was not always perfect, and often people used to treat him poorly.
“One of the most influential turning points in my life was as a child I was sitting in front of the local convenience store when I threw a rock into the street as a brand new Chevy Tahoe was passing by. The driver stopped, rolled down his window, cursed at me, and told me “This car cost $45,000 and you will never be able to afford something like this.” As I cried on my way home, I set goals to make sure I would prove that man wrong…”
When he was 14 Chris bought his very first pair of sneakers and since then he started his collection. Indeed, this did not happen overnight. It took a lot of hard work, connections, and determination. Not only once, Chris had to stay in long lines to get what he wanted. Now, first thing in the morning, he checks the market on various platforms such as eBay and the Nike website for samples.
Chris Robinson had the dream of having his own sneaker store and in 2011 his dream comes true. Very soon, he will celebrate a decade of success and hard work. Although he got what he wanted, Chris Robinson is determined to never stop dreaming. He has big ambitions such as growing his business to hit £5M revenue and to sign his own design with Nike.
In his collection, Chris has some masterpieces and rarities such as Off Spray and Joker Dunks, What the Doernbecher, Entourage, and the laser-engraved Pigeon Dunks. Recently Chris picked up a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers (Virgil Collabs) at a retail of $9.2k that light up in sync and can be controlled by your phone. There’s only 28 pairs out there. Lil Uzi and Kim Kardashian have them.
For sure, you will understand that collecting sneakers is a big game. Sometimes Chris has to wait a year to get the right pair and the revenue involved is not just a few bucks. The beautiful part is that Chris is using his passion to help others as well.
“I am fortunate enough to be able to donate to multiple charities through sneakers, I have purchased 3 pairs of the Nike Air Mags and donated over $15,000 to Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation, as well as $11,000 to Doerbecher Children’s Hospital after purchasing one pair of the What the Doernbecher Nike Dunk in an eBay charity auction. We run numerous clothing/shoe drives throughout the year in-store to help out our local communities.”
To see more about his collection, follow Chris on Instagram @sbcollector and you will understand that we don’t talk just about sneakers, we talk about art itself.
