Pair of Aces: Victoria Chiang
Victoria Chiang AKA WuTangChiang shares her hunt for heat in her sneaker closet!
What’s your relationship with sneakers?
My relationship with sneakers came from a lifelong love for sports. I’ve been watching sports with my dad since I was a baby. But in terms of fashion I never really implemented that into my own style until later in my life. Just growing up in a very traditional Asian household I felt like I had to look a certain way, dress a certain way, and talk a certain way so it was more traditional to just play that more feminine role. So I was always afraid to venture out of that. But on the inside I loved sportswear, I loved streetwear, and I really wanted to dabble in these new areas of style. It wasn’t until I entered college and was finally on my own for the first time, and tried out different styles, I was finally able to rock some of the sneakers I saw on the internet or on tv, and I never looked back.
Tell us about that special pair, where you had to hunt for them?
I remember one of the sneakers that I had to hunt down for the longest time were the Jordan 1 Retro Defining Moments - Celtics colorway specifically. So back then when the pack launched I was in college, still new to the sneaker game. I was a broke college kid and text books or other academic needs always came first, so I saved the search for these on eBay and whenever my size did pop up, I always had other priorities. Years later I remembered I still saved them in my watch list and eventually after I graduated I came across these in my size - five and a half for a great deal and was so excited to finally get them. I feel like it was a full circle moment so I will never let go of these. These are one of my most cherished pairs in my collection for sure.
What’s your top 3 sneaker cops?
One of my favorite pairs in my collection are the Moma off-white Nike Off-White x Air Force 1 Low '07 'MoMA. I love the meaning behind these and the impact it has made. And I feel it perfectly represents how far sneaker culture has come.The way it’s now intersected with high fashion, art and streetwear….that’s something that I would not have imagined. My teenage self would not even have dreamed all of these different verticals coming together and now it being on one sneaker it means a lot to me personally. These are one of my all-time grails!
Another pair of favorite sneakers in my collection are the New Balance 990 v3 in the classic gray. These are probably my most worn sneakers of all time! I wear them with literally anything and anywhere! I could be going to a wedding and show up in these. And I have two pairs because I wear them that much. They are really one the best sneakers of all time.
My third favorite pair of sneakers in my collection are the Nike SB Dunk Low Ben & Jerry's Chunky Dunky. First of all, I love Ben and Jerry’s. I’m a stan. I love everything they stand for and are active about, and the issues that they speak on. I’m also a huge foodie and also my style is more on the louder, more overt, more colorful side. Not only do I love the story behind these but aesthetically, they’re right up my ally.
Any tips for hunting for kicks?
So some of my tips for getting your hands on a pair of grails that you’ve been eyeing for a while. Leveraging the power of your community, your friends, your family. And asking around. I like to send alerts on eBay for what I want to cop in the future, so I'll get emails, text messages, push notifications when a new listing pops up.
So, what’s the next grail?
Another pair of sneakers I'm currently on the hunt for are Nike Kwondo's by G-Dragon that was actually just released. I’m a big G-Dragon, Big bang, K-pop fan! When a sneaker has a story and there’s someone behind it who I admire and respect, that makes me want them so much more.
