Steven Deneve is, in many ways, your typical member of Gen Z; he loves technology, fashion, and, above all, a sneakerhead. But unlike many young members of his generation, he does not just wear the shoes. Steven is part of a community for trading the foot apparel that can be highly lucrative. While in his first year of school at the University of Toulon in 2015, Steven built his passion for footwear into a side hustle, taking full advantage of the marketing skills he was learning during the day. He started with a single pair of shoes, only taking them out of the box to be photoed for sale.
The Shoe Trade
When first released, Yeezys and other desirable footwear can cost as little as $200, but because of their scarcity, a single pair of Yeezys can fetch over US $4,000 on the resale market.
In 2015 Steven was jumping into this specialized market at just the right time; he realized that there are two groups to target.
- Those that were buying and reselling shoes just like he was.
- People who were were buying his pairs to wear or collect.
If you think this business just involves trades between a few kids in the back ally, you would be sorely mistaken. This industry has all grown up, Instagram is the place for finding the new hot product, and now there are even computer programs running complex algorithms such as Cybersole, Ganesh, and others used by collectors and traders to determine the best products to buy at what time; they are as complicated as any stock for forex financial trading bot.
Positioning
From his dorm, Steven Deneve positioned himself in the influencer space to ensure his own success in the business. He built the business, “MyChoose” (a play on “my shoes”) @my_choose_mc, now based in Monaco, mainly through his Instagram following, building a network of fellow professional traders and shoe fans.
There are two issues with the sneaker trade, knowing what is going to be hot and knowing how to spot fakes. If you can solve that riddle and you have access to the right shoes for the right price, you can be successful in sneakers. Deneve built @my_choose_mc into a resource for both key segments providing information on the best shoes with the most potential for value and, with it, how to confirm you are buying the real thing. With ads for his inventory of shoes available using Monaco for a backdrop, he could target both groups and gain the influencer moniker while building his own business having trusted products for sale.
Moving Forward
Shoes are not the end for Steven Deneve; he is now expanding his fashion influencer business into semiprecious stones with his brand for young professionals called “Bstrade.” The same people willing to pay high prices for sneakers want to have some bling to sparkle along with them.
Deneve has already dipped his foot into his next venture, which he is so far tight-lipped about, only saying that “it is going to be really big” and has something to do with crypto trading.
Whatever Steven Deneve does, this young entrepreneur always throws his will behind it to ensure success.
