In Hyde Park in the ’80s, Yohance Lacour and his friends were sneakerheads, though back then the objects of their obsession were just called gym shoes. “I’ve always had an eye for what’s fly,” says Lacour. That eye followed him along a complicated path: journalism, theater, drug trafficking, and, in 2008, a decade-long prison sentence. Behind bars, he discovered leatherworking through a hobby craft program. With no instructors, Lacour learned by watching other inmates and studying fashion magazines that circulated through the yard, reverse-engineering luxury bags before designing his own geometric styles. Footwear, though, remained his fixation. After his release, he studied at the Chicago School of Shoemaking and Leather Arts and began refining minimalist sneakers — clean high-tops and low-tops defined by unusual textures and colorways. Today, he has his own label, YJLacour, with sneakers handcrafted in Portugal and bags made locally. “Each [shoe] has a story and social justice angle,” he says. That includes his first, the aptly named Redemption, which confirms that what’s fly can also have meaning. yjlacour.com