In April, 2020, two men were arrested in Miami for the murder of 18-year-old Andrea Camps Lacayo, a high school student just weeks before her graduation. They shot her and her boyfriend, who survived, for their Adidas Yeezys—sneakers designed by Kanye West that can sell for between $200 and $1500. Sadly, kids being killed for their shoes is nothing new. The trend dates back to the first Nike Air Jordan released in 1985. The silhouette of Michael Jordan, legs spread, soaring with a basketball, made the shoes instantly desirable for millions of fans. One person described the logo as “an almost angelic symbol: Sport mixed with divinity.” Damien Cave, an editor for Rolling Stone, said Air Jordans evoke “something larger than athletics, and perhaps life itself.”
