This is part of an Arts Access series called “Home is where the art is,” which gives an inside look into the art that North Texans treasure in their homes.
Jesse Acosta and Alejandra Zendejas love the smell of new sneakers.
Over the years, the couple has collected about 300 pairs of their “babies” that they keep in a dedicated room of their Oak Cliff home, where they each have their own wall of shoes. The most expensive pair are Acosta’s Jordan 1 and Travis Scott collaboration sneakers that go for about $2,000 per pair.
There’s also the light-up Air Jordan 2 J Balvins, the Nike x Olivia Kim Betty Boop collab sneakers, the DB Dunk Low x Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Dunky and the Air Jordan 1 High OG Spider-man Across the Spiderverse, just to name a few.
Since she was a little girl, Zendejas inherited her love of sneakers from her older sister and has grown her collection since middle school. It was that passion that reignited Acosta’s own when the couple met in 2017.
“She kind of reminded me of the love for shoes that I had as a kid. Now that I'm an adult, I took treating yourself a little too seriously,” he said with a laugh.
But the couple has also taken the time to share their love of sneakers with the community. They launched the nonprofit Pasos for Oak Cliff in 2020, which gives away hundreds of sneakers in sneaker drives each year. The organization also offers scholarships and an educational program in the summer where students study math and literacy, and can take a class on filmmaking, graphic design or sneaker design.
Acosta, who now runs the nonprofit full-time, said sneakers are more than just shoes.
“I think, at the end of the day, a new pair of shoes for a kid is confidence and a way to express themselves but also to build community and to relate to each other.”
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Can you describe your sneaker collection?
AZ: I think we both really like the Nike Air Jordan 1, specifically the highs, some lows, but for sure mainly Nikes.
I think for me, I started out really appreciating the Air Force Ones. So I kind of went out of that for a while and started doing more like Jordans, but now that I'm older, I think I'm back to appreciating the Air Force Ones a lot.
JA: I think for me the Jordan 1 would be the one that I like the most. I don't wear it as much as I used to just because I'm a little older now. They're a little tight on the ankle.
I like my freedom on my feet, so I've been gravitating to Jordan 3s. Every now and then I'll wear other brands like New Balances, Adidas every blue moon. But I think at the end of the day, just growing up here in Oak Cliff, like Nikes or Jordans were the ones to go to. They were the ones that people were going to be looking at your feet for and seeing what you were wearing.
Where did you get your sneaker collection from?
AZ: Mainly online and even Foot Locker and other sneaker stores like Center and Sneaker Politics, which are local.
Sneaker Politics and Center are local sneaker stores that also provide raffle entries so you can enter for a chance to buy the shoes. So you're still paying that premium price that's now like $160 on average but you pretty much have to wait in line. Otherwise you have to buy them and resell.
JA: We do get most of our shoes from retail. But I think within the last few years, it was a lot of resale, which they do get super expensive. They can go for like two times, three times, four times, sometimes up to five times the retail price they go for.
Where is your sneaker collection in your home and why did you place it there?
AZ: Our sneaker room is literally in its own room.
I always thought, “Oh when I get older I'm going to have a whole room for my shoes, and I'm gonna have enough space for my shoes.” It's your kid and you think of the dream room for them, so something like this is what I always wanted.
JA: When we were looking for a house, we knew we needed a room just for shoes. Because for me, before we got married and started living together, I was with my parents and my shoes were everywhere so I felt bad about that, too. I’m like, we need somewhere to put them in, so as soon as we had the opportunity to buy a house the first thing that went up was her wall. So we're working on my side, we'll get there eventually, but at least she has her shelves.
I would add we have cameras in this room – we have to keep eyes on our babies.
How does having your sneaker collection make you feel?
AZ: I guess, in one word, it would be happy. I know I always remember when I was still living at home and I was trying to get ready. I would tell my mom I don't know what to wear because I don't know what shoes I'm going to wear yet and I'm like, it depends on the shoes, and he's like that, too.
JA: Having all the shoes that I have, it just makes me feel like I am satisfying the kid in me. When I get a new pair of shoes, I get excited about them and getting to wear them for the first time. And it also brings that reminder because we also run a nonprofit in which we help kids in need with brand new shoes. I can imagine how it might make a kid feel when they get a pair of new shoes, so it just brings me a lot of joy.
How does your sneaker collection represent home for you?
AZ: I think now my shoe collection really represents home because of the childhood memories that I have, but also the ones that I wish I could have had. I hope young girls now see these women-designed sneakers and hopefully they become [shoe designers], too.
JA: I think every time I walk in here it's just that kid in me goes back to when I couldn't have [a pair of sneakers], and now I have it as an adult.
Especially when there's shoes that come out many many years later and there's shoes that came out when I was a kid that I couldn't buy but now they're coming out as an adult and I can get them. Also the reminder of what sneakers have done to me in the terms of just being able to help others that need support with that in the community.
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