The trainer from everyday item to lifestyle object: A symbolic theory analysis

Sport and sporting symbols are everywhere in our society. Trainers have become an integral part of everyday life, and functional footwear has become an identity-forming fashion accessory. The central question now is how and why this change has taken place. The author begins by examining selected phenomena that represent trainers in the 21st century. Based on this, she looks at the influence of trainers on people's identity formation, as well as cultural scientist Hartmut Böhme's modern understanding of fetishism. The connection between commodity criticism and trainers is presented through the approaches of philosophers Wolfgang Fritz Haug and Theodor W. Adorno and applied to trainers. Trainers are also examined as a cultural symbol in our society. Key theories in this regard come from ethnologist Clifford Geertz and philosopher and mathematician Alfred North White.