It’s 6:13 A.M. on Friday, December 3, and there are few good reasons to be out of bed, standing on chilly Lafayette Street. But a brand-new pair of Nikes is apparently one of them. Outside the skate store Supreme, 30 sneakerheads have queued up for the chance to buy Nike’s newest limited-edition shoe, a collaborative effort called the “Delta Force SB Supreme” that retails for $138 and is available in teal, gold, or white, with a reflective tongue. Supreme won’t open till 11:30, but some kids have been here since 10 P.M. the night before, waiting to buy shoes for themselves or for eBay (where they could fetch $300). They trade sneaker-collector horror stories, like the one about “some kid getting jacked in the subway after the [Nike] Espo release by two kids in ski masks.” Then, at 10:30, Supreme opens early and the register is bombarded. Some kids buy three pairs, the maximum, some one. Ten minutes in, one boy asks for a size 11.5—“Sold out”—then for a 12. “Sold out!” “Damn,” he exclaims, “I came all this way for nothing.”

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Sky Gellatly
• Table of Contents: Dec 20, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!