10-year collector hopes to host city’s first sneaker convention
Ceiling-high piles of shoes occupy Albert Myles Mejia’s home. Estimated at 150 pairs, his collection includes brands like Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Pumas and Reebok. Costing about $100 to $250 each pair, the total retail value of his collection is about $30,000.
“Growing up as a kid, I always travelled to the States with my parents,” Mejia said, “and buying sneakers from a different country was always my thing.” He added that he always wanted to have the sneakers that nobody else had.
Even with his whopping selection, he doesn’t wear all of his shoes– like his Nike Air
Yeezy 1 designed by Kanye West. He’s had them for about four years and they stay fresh in the shoebox.
With the hopes of expanding the sneaker community in Calgary, Mejia and three other friends created YYC SOLEmates. It’s a Facebook group where other sneaker lovers connect to share pictures and sell or exchange shoes. This is also where Mejia presents his talent on shoe restorations – a hobby he picked up since the beginning of his collection.
Quite a few of his pairs in his collection are limited editions and even more of them he patiently had to wait for.
Albert Myles Mejia (right) meets with friend and long-term client, Rupert Garcia (left) for shoe restorations. Garcia was one of the very first clients he had when he started in 2005.
Photo by Kian Sumalpong“Me and my cousin slept in front of a store for 11 hours to grab a pair of Air Jordan 1 — the very first pair Michael Jordan wore in the NBA,” he said.
The sneaker maniac started colleting at 13 years old and he hasn’t stopped since. He said he started learning more about the sneaker culture when he played basketball in junior high. He learned through reading magazines and books before the onset of his online research.
Mejia continues to work off of YYC SOLEmates to someday host the very first sneaker convention in Calgary.
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