Do you remember getting new shoes for school, and your mom made you walk across the store to see how they looked on your feet? If you answered “yes,” then many of us had a similar childhood. More interesting than that, however, is a new technology that will allow you to take that fashion stroll from the comfort of your home to determine if the shoe you want is the right choice. Amazon announced that shoppers in the United States and Canada will have access to its new Virtual Try-On feature for shoes, which will be available for iPhone users. The company, founded by Jeff Bezos, already allowed its users to participate in the try-before-you-buy program for Amazon Prime members. If a person was interested in specific pieces of clothing, they could use the program to try it on and send it back if it wasn’t a good fit. Building on this program, the augmented reality (AR) technology will allow buyers to try on shoes they like without ever leaving their homes. “Amazon Fashion’s goal is to...

The inception of Rares, a fintech startup, came with the purpose of turning sneakerheads from once just collectors to investors. Having a love for kicks himself, former athlete Gerome Sapp took his insight of them being alternative assets and created a platform that gives back to the Black community by providing accessibility to the collectible sneaker space — leading them to build wealth off of being the pioneers of the culture — as previously reported by AfroTech. Now, the social investing platform is creating even more room for sneaker enthusiasts to lock down wins in the market. On April 5, Rares announced the addition of secondary market trading, according to a press release shared with AfroTech. “Secondary trading has always been part of the product roadmap for Rares,” Sapp told AfroTech. “We want to provide use rs an opportunity to trade shares after sneakers IPOs are sold out, increasing the liquidity of the asset. Every day, sneakers continue to appreciate in value year...