Emilia: The Indian audience is now very aware of what’s happening globally. People are developing their own taste. There are many local brands and streetwear labels popping up. There’s cultural crossover and mixing, and new identities are emerging.
Abhineet: When we started, sneakerheads were the most enthusiastic because it didn’t exist here. But sneakerheads always existed; they just had other ways of getting what they wanted. Now they can buy here.
Anand: Even now, that mentality exists. If a shoe is desirable, even if it releases here, people still enter multiple raffles globally. That hustle mentality won’t go away. And it’s not just sneakers, it’s art and collectibles. There’s the Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami, he said his art was weird and sneakerheads were the only community that took him in. For me, it was basketball. For Abhineet and Emilia, it was art, culture, music.
Abhineet: That’s the essence of VegNonVeg. If you’re a misfit, chances are you’ll fit in here because you love sneakers.
Emilia & Abhineet: It’s about authenticity and having a different voice from the mainstream. Five years ago, hype culture had taken over, but the new generation is much more expressive.
Anand: That hype phase isolated our core customer. They’d been in this for long and were getting drowned. We tried to protect them. Now the hype has gone down but those people still exist, and they keep coming back.
