Over time, his interest grew to include other brands and his collection now stands at around 300 pairs. “I loved collecting Air Force 1s because even though they were made for basketball, they look great off court as well. Plus, seeing rappers like Dr Dre and Nelly rock Air Forces made them my go-to shoe. As I grew older, I started buying different brands such as New Balance and Converse.”
As Tan got more involved in sneaker culture, unique and rare pairs became the draw. The avid collector’s enthusiasm has rubbed off on his family and his dad now has an impressive collection too.
His passion for sneakers inspired him to organise an annual gathering of sneakerheads called Sole Superior with business partner, Jonathan Fong. The annual event has been held since 2013 but took a hiatus during the pandemic. “(It’s) a sneaker gathering for sneaker nerds like me so we come together we talk we discuss. we hang out and we shop or even trade sneakers all in one location once a year every year,” said Tan.