Sneaking into fashion

Long gone are the days when the trainer was confined to the sports arena. Today, it is an object of desire, fashion as much as function. Neal Heard, founder of underground fashion label White Riot and author of website sneakerfreaks.co.uk, pays tribute to the sports shoe and creates a complete compendium of trainer style in his new book, Trainers. Here, he names his six favourite sneakers of all time.

Addidas Micropacer

By 1984, everyone was used to the idea of trainers as everyday footwear. Then along came the Micro Pacer: all silver leather with blocks of colour embedded in the soles, a pocket for change or keys and, most mind-blowing of all, a microprocessor that calculated speed, distance and calorific output. Too radical and expensive for its time, the shoe was discontinued but demand for the limited edition reissue in 2000 was - and continues to be - huge.

Dunlop Greenflash

In the 1830s, John Boyd Dunlop made history when he discovered how to bond canvas to rubber. Sixty years later, his Liverpool Rubber Company created a natty little sports number known as sand shoes, so called because they were worn at the beach by Victorian holidaymakers. Its progeny, the Dunlop Green Flash (born 1933), as worn by Fred Perry when he won Wimbledon, boasted higher quality canvas, incorporated a herringbone pattern on the sole for better grip and went on to become one of the biggest selling sports shoes of all time.

Addidas Superstar

Say 'old skool' and the first thing that leaps to mind, sneaker-wise, are Adidas Superstars. Born in 1969, this classic was still, circa 2001, the biggest-ever selling shoe. Yes, it was the first low-top basketball shoe with an all-leather upper but, more incrementally, it was worn everywhere by everyone, including the local b-boys and fly girls at the advent of hip hop in late 1970s New York and later by Run DMC. To be worn with chunky laces or none at all.

Puma State

Suede, State or Clyde, this most instantly recognisable of all grand old brands was worn by Tommy Smith, prominent equal rights activist and athlete, when he made his Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics and by super sharp ladies man, Walt 'Clyde' Frazier of the New York Knicks in the 1970s. It's been credited as the first shoe of b-boyism; hip hop crews wore them constantly and when the Beastie Boys bounced on stage during their 1994 Check Your Head tour wearing blue Suedes, its position in history was sealed.

Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars

In 1917, Converse launched the legendary All Star, a hi-cut shoe designed specifically for basketball. When ex-basketball player 'Chuck' Taylor joined the company in 1921, he added cushioned heel soles and padding around the ankles. Throw in the celebrity signature and the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star was born.

Nike Air Max 95

'Back in 1995 when I first saw these shoes, I actually thought they were plain ugly, but so utterly mad that I had to buy them...' says Neal. 'Then I didn't take them off for a year!' The Nike Air Max was the first shoe to make mainstream fashion houses sit up and take note. Inspired by the human body (the clear part on the sole mimics the backbone), designer Serfio Lorenzo inserted a visible air unit at the front of the shoe then added acid bright colours, reflective panels and mesh. 'Love it or loathe it,' says Neal. 'This shoe can't be ignored.'

We asked author Neal Heard some probing questions about his not-so-secret trainer love

What do you love about trainers? There's something about the whole package, the box, the smells, the colours, the memories.

What do you look for in a trainer? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't have any known rules, my taste crosses the board and the brands. The only thing I don't like are trainers which try too hard.

How many pairs do you own? Boxed, more than 100. Not boxed, double it.

Which are your personal favourites? Adidas ZX range, Nike Air Max 1, Adidas Twister and many many more.

Who's your biggest trainer icon? The trainer lovers in the UK, the Casuals. Easily the most underground of the trainer tribes, the Casuals started in working-class areas and were linked to the terraces of local football teams. For a person, Robert Wade Smith.

Where can't you wear trainers? There are places but there shouldn't be. A sign of a bad club is one which states no trainers!

Trainers by Neal Heard, £16.99, Carlton Books