Former Phillipine First Lady Imelda Marcos was known for her love of shoes, boasting more than 3,000 pairs, but a local shoe aficionado is well on his way to that rarefied air.
Humboldt Park's Rosario owns 600 pairs of sneakers -- all Nike -- and most of them rare.
He told Cafe Magazine that he developed a taste for fly footwear when he was a kid, but it grew into an obsession over the past eight years, sometimes hopping on a plane to pick up the latest and greatest.
"I've also gone to New York, Vegas -- stayed out in the rain, snow, cold," he says. "If you want something that's limited, you have to go the extra mile to get it."
Rosario has turned his obsession into a business by opening Born with Soul (2092 N Milwaukee Ave), a "cuts and kicks" boutique in Logan Square that offers haircuts, and of course, sells shoes. Not to mention the ones from his own collection that aren't for sale.
"Most of the shoes we got here, you wouldn't find at a FootLocker," Rosario says. "[It's] almost like a shoe museum."
Log on to Cafe Magazine to read more about this Sole Man.
