By Malachi Briscoe, Guest Columnist
Editor’s Note: The Gettysburgian hosts guest columnists from the Fashion Initiative organization at Gettysburg College. The opinions published in this section are those of the individual writers and are in no way representative of the views of The Gettysburgian staff, The Gettysburgian or Gettysburg College.
Sean Wotherspoon, born on March 3, 1990 in Richmond, Virginia, possessed a love for fashion at a very early age. At the age of 23, he was cofounder of the now very popular store Round Two in his hometown. It was initially a vintage sneaker store but has grown to sell clothing too. In a few years, the business grew rapidly, and Wotherspoon quickly expanded to LA, New York, Miami and Chicago. He is widely renowned in the world of fashion, more specifically in the sneaker realm. Wotherspoon possesses a variety of rare sneakers, often being given the title “sneakerhead.” Unsurprisingly, Wotherspoon also is a sneaker designer and has worked with many household companies like Nike and Adidas. Collaborations like these have allowed Wotherspoon to amass a following of 1.1 million followers on Instagram.
Wotherspoon is most famously known for a pair of Nike Air Max 97/1s in 2018, which came into fruition when he won the Nike Air Max Vote Forward that year. The shoe was an immediate hit, and once it hit the market, its resale value skyrocketed. Years later, the shoe is still worth between $1500 and $2000. The colors, material and overall design was distinguished, and people fell in love with its unique expressions. This kick started his career in designing, which led to the popularization of his store and the conduction of interviews from all fronts (people, social media influencers and companies). Wotherspoon has had a hand in sneaker designing since.
Wotherspoon’s most recent collaboration was with Adidas Originals, featuring their gazelle indoor sneakers. He designed 3 sneakers: “Green Hemp,” “Kaleidoscopic Lens” and “Mylo.” Two of the shoes feature a natural hemp upper as suggested in one of the names, and the “Kaleidoscopic Lens” features a floral design. Like the aforementioned Air Maxes, the character in his designs proved to be extremely distinctive.
In a meeting with UK based fashion community Basement Approved, Wotherspoon explains what he looks for in a collaborator: “…someone that’s going to give me some freedom to push boundaries. I like when a brand just seems like they’re open to listening; I like seeing change happen in the moment, and I want it to be fun. I look for the chance to tell an organic story that’s authentic to me, so I try to have some kind of connection to the brand.”
The maintenance of self-expression in Wotherspoons shoes is abundantly clear and has undoubtedly contributed to his widespread popularity.
With the growth of Round Two, Wotherspoon has also been able to create clothing; as said by Wotherspoon in the about page of the Round Two website, “We are focused on constructing new articles of clothing and other products, while paying homage to the vintage pieces that inspire us. Almost everything Round Two creates takes inspiration from something out of our extensive vintage archive.”
Wotherspoon has had an everlasting impact on the sneaker community and will likely continue to do so. With his creativity, he has been able to achieve hallmark sneakers, and we can not wait to see what he produces next.
Sean Wotherspoon (Photo Courtesy of Genya/Hypebeast)
