sneakers ever. hip-hop has been what has pushed sneaker culture, streetwear culture, and fashion in particular, in terms of rap, you always want to one-up, you want your style, you want your stagger, and i think it went hand in hand. reporter: the man that may be most responsible from taking the sneaker from shoe to status symbol is michael jordan. nearly four decades after debuting on the hardwood of chicago, his namesake shoes remain constant top sellers. does mj have a favorite shoe? that s like you asking which one of my kids are my favorite kids? if i had to pick a favorite shoe, i would say the 11s are the shoe that i think took it from the basketball court to the fashion world. when boyz ii men wore the 11s at the grammies with a tuxedo, that s when i think we crossed over reporter: the more recent jump in sales is driven in part by women. now gaining equality and a voice in the industry. when they had men designing for women, men thought, well, we ll just make it small