Flight Club Feature on NYTimes.com
April 13, 2006
[via NYTimes.com]
MY deeply hip stepson sounded vaguely amused that I was planning to check out Flight Club, the sneaker resale boutique in NoHo. Who knows what they’ll make of you, he said, his voice stopping on the “you” with just a bit too much force. The emphasis made me realize that he thinks I’m a total loser.
There are pros and cons to having stepchildren. One of the cons is that you get to relive all the terrifying insecurities of high school over and over and over again. It’s one thing if your own progeny think you’re uncool: you’re the parent; you’re supposed to be uncool. But we stepparents have only our status as potentially cool people to warm us at night.
Thus humbled, I walked into Flight Club several days ago. I was not the coolest person in the store. Then again, the people who frequent Flight Club are sneaker freaks, mostly men who are addicted to buying limited-edition vintage athletic footwear. They speak in highly technical language, tossing around terms like “tongue graphic” and “toe boxes” with the gravity of men discussing tractor engines or team sports.
