Cars, Chics and Kicks roll out in Soleslam '13

video by Cris Cayanan

MANILA, Philippines -- The sneaker community in the country created a buzz over the weekend with the Soleslam Manila and Automax Car Show. 

One Esplanade in Pasay City rocked with swag as the men's bling blings were in full display. 

The 3-in-1 trade show featured customized cars, hot chics and rare kicks that made men's eyes popped wide and holed up their pockets. 

Already on its third year, the first and only sneaker trade convention in the country leveled up one notch higher by partnering with Autobots Autoworks in what they dubbed as "When Two Worlds Collide".

"Yung mga gusto ng mga lalake at ngayon kinahihiligan na rin ng mga babae which is yung car, shoes at bonus sa mga guys mga chics ay nandito lahat," said Autobots Autoworks Randy Ronald Lao, the chief organizer of the Automax Car Show. "My good friend Antonio Aguirre, Jr. owns Soleslam Manila and we've decided last year to make the two worlds collide."

The two-day affair was a smashing success with thousands of sneakerheads including celebrities and car enthusiasts packing the venue. Among those spotted in the event were rapper Gloc-9, actor and former Gwapings member Eric Fructuso and PBA player Paul Artadi, who had his own booth (Pimp Kicks).

The sneakerheads came in droves rocking their swag kicks and style.  Most of them came looking for steals (bargained priced sneakers), heats (hot, rare sneakers) and grails (most desired sneakers) while others took the chance to score apparel and accessories to match their kicks. Camera lights flashed like a bang over the custom-detailed toys for the big boys and the hot ladies in the house that included the FHM Vixens and international bombshells Genevieve Chanelle and Jeri Lee.

With the advent of social media hyping up every releases by the world's biggest sneaker brands -- Nike, Jordan and Adidas among others -- and stalking celebrities who rocked them for fashion's sake, the sneaker game experienced exponential growth prompting the shoe companies to come up with all the colorways you can imagine and bring back the old school shoes (retro Jordan's, Penny's, Grant Hill's, Iverson's and the likes). Gone are the days when sneakers are just plain basketball shoes in black and white colors. It has gone up to the point when the sole bares one's soul.   

But with the shoe companies limiting their releases to a number that does not meet the ever growing market's demands, resellers and sneaker traders were born reinforcing the need for sneaker trade shows such as the Soleslam Manila.  

For Aguirre, who started up only collecting sneakers two years ago and now owns a collection totaling to almost a thousand pairs, the Soleslam concept was inspired by his love for the kicks and passion to spread the [sneaker] game that came into fruition after attending Dunk Xchange (DXC), a sneaker convention in the US. Since then, DXC has been one of Soleslam Manila's partners. 

"It all started as an eyeball of sorts for sneakerheads to talk about their shoes, trade, buy and sell their sneakers. We started out in 2011 and we just got bigger and bigger every year. This year's concept was inspired by men's means of transportation -- shoes by walking and cars by traveling," Aguirre told Philstar.com. 

The Soleslam and Automax Car Show promised to be back for two wilder, crazier and bigger events before 2013 ends.