My Senior Thesis is based on sneakers and the industry behind it. If you know nothing about the market for sneakers, here’s a quick summary. Nike, Adidas, Off-White, and many other brands have been, for decades releasing some of the rarest and most limited shoes of our time. The low stock number is what makes the shoe worth getting, and the chance of it tripling in value. For Instance, there are about 300 million in the United States. The younger half look up to these athletes and celebrities for fashion advice. Once that celebrity wears a shoe with a stock of only 8000 worldwide the demand for them goes up. In an attempt to recreate their outfits, the price people are willing to pay skyrockets to crazy numbers. Of course, not everyone can afford to pay 3000 for a pair of Jordan’s so they find an alternative. That’s where the counterfeit industry comes in.
If you don’t mind wearing fakes then continue to purchase them, but the problem lies when people try to sell unauthentic shoes as real pairs to make some quick money. By doing that business owners suffer the most. The amount of time and effort that goes into acquiring these pairs is actually insane, and for someone to come and sell a business a fake is a low blow. BUT that’s where I come in. My project is called SOLECHECK. The purpose of this thesis project is to provide a case that can help authenticate the shoe. Using technology such as the 3d printer, I plan to create a sneaker box that has multiple functionalities. It can serve as a showcase or as its main purpose, a UV lightbox. The UV light can spot the discrepancies between the two pairs.
Right now the main problem is the corona virus. Not being able to be in school creates a minor setback but once I have everything in order I plan to meet up with professor Kuiphoff to work on the container. Being home doesn’t help one bit, to be honest. I have a crazy amount of responsibilities, but within the next few weeks, I plan to have a prototype that brings my ideas to life. I also plan to manage my time differently. Running a business requires me to make long drives, legit checks tons of shoes, and constantly be on the phone 7 days a week. So in order to focus more on other things I plan on relying more on my business partner so I can provide better updates to my thesis.