>> yeah. >> reporter: unlike wallen, 21- year-old chris vasquez, who's also from brooklyn, keeps most of his more modest, 100-pair sneaker collection stored away in his closet. >> i mean, if you just look at the way these sneakers look and the box that they came in, this is more than a shoe; it's art. so, i think, if you wore them, you kind of, like... you kinda destroy them. i mean, you wouldn't wear a painting, would you? >> reporter: no. >> yeah. >> reporter: if both vasquez and wallen, who consider themselve"" sneakerheads," needed any validation their collections are art, they need to look no further than this exhibit at the brooklyn museum. the story begins in the mid- 1800s, when the tire company goodyear invented the vulcanized rubber-sole. the fact that we are in an exhibit dedicated to sneaker culture, what does that say about the industry and where it's headed? >> i mean, it's a double-edged sword. >> reporter: jian deleon is the deputy style editor at complex magazine, which covers urban fashion and hip hop culture. >> this culture that was once for a certain group of insi