For Mr Tupara and his friends, sneakers are more than something comfy to wear.
He was brought up at Ratana Pa and got a bachelor degree at the Wanganui School of Design, graduating in 2001. It was sneaker design that inspired him to major in fashion.
Since then he has spent 10 years working in telecommunications but kept sneakers and fashion as passionate hobbies.
He, Isaac Li and Bevan Wong are Sole Merchants Ltd. They design and sell shoes, sweatshirts, T-shirts and light jackets. Mr Li was wearing a black and white Sole Merchants T-shirt to the exhibition.
"I wear a suit to work Monday to Friday. I can't wait till the weekend to put on something I love," he said.
Mr Tupara said he did about six exhibitions a year around New Zealand. His collection of sneakers topped 200, years ago, and he buys 40 to 50 pairs a year. He will queue for hours outside stores in order to buy new releases, and has one pair he says is worth $10,000.
His favourite shoe from the exhibition is an early one that still has the Nike branding and started his interest in fashion.
Mr Butters' favourite is a shoe based around the colours of famous basketball player Michael Jordan's Laney High School in the US.
"He struggled to make the basketball team. He worked hard and ended up being the greatest of all time," Mr Butters said.
Mr Li's favourite are shoes designed by children at New York's Doernbecher Children's Hospital. The shoes are manufactured and sold, and the profits go to the hospital.
"It's not just about something that looks good and stylish. It's an amazing cause," he said.
New Zealand's sneaker subculture has a number of online forums. Mr Tupara's Sole Central on Facebook is the biggest, with 7500 members.
