Man Helped His Wife Identify Sneakers Worn by Ada Apa Dengan Cinta's Titular Character - TheSmartLocal Indonesia - Travel, Lifestyle, Culture & Language Guide

Man identified iconic pink sneakers in Ada Apa Dengan Cinta

Movies are known to start fashion trends, especially when we see our on-screen faves rock a cool shirt or shoes. Some of us would even go to great lengths to track down specific fashion items, and won’t stop until they’re finally in our hands.

Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What’s Up With Love?) is a 2002 Indonesian coming-of-age movie that blew up in the 2000s, and still remains influential. The titular character, played by Dian Sastrowardoyo, wore pink sneakers that Twitter user @radtherandom identified – 18 years on – and bought for his wife who’d been eyeing them for a long time.

The mystery of Cinta’s pink sneakers

Posted on Dian Satrowardoyo’s Instagram on 11th June 2015
Image credit: @therealdiansastr

On 11th June 2015, actress Dian Sastrowardoyo posted a throwback photo of herself and her co-stars on the set of Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? The caption read “Remember this pic? *sepatu ninja udh mulai in lagi” (*ninja shoes are on again)”, followed by a row of cheeky emojis.

The photo was a smooth teaser to the sequel of the 2002 hit, which was released a year later in 2016.

These “ninja shoes” that Dian was referring to were a hot trend at the time, and the hot pink version her character wore were a scene-stealer. Considering that most Indonesian state high schools require students to wear black shoes, the daring color choice almost symbolized rebellion – even though they were just in a movie.

Finally identified after 18 years

Cinta's pink ninja sneakers - Original tweet
Image adapted from: @radtherandom

Fast forward to 2020, and Twitter user @radtherandom posted a cropped version of the original post next to several images of the iconic pink “ninja shoes.”

In the post, he wrote: “wife been trying to identify and buy this particular sneaker for 18 YEARS since AADC came out and last night i finally found it.” That the post was retweeted 1,000 times and got 3,500 likes at the time of writing proves the film’s lasting influence.

The shoes that @radtherandom’s wife spent almost two decades looking for turned out to be the Nike Air Kukini WMNS 2001/2002. Cinta’s shoes led to a man proving his cinta to his wife. So guys, take note.

Fellow Twitter users respond to the discovery

Image adapted from: @radtherandom

@xpokcayx replied to the tweet, noting that the character Cinta had been a sneaker enthusiast before it became a thing among modern-day hypebeasts.

Image adapted from: @radtherandom

Echoing @xpokcayx’s appreciation for Cinta’s taste in shoes, @iknoifckdup also praised the character’s fashion sense.

Image adapted from: @radtherandom

Meanwhile @ezra, who used to play for their school’s basketball team and wore the same “ninja shoes” in yellow, replied with photos. They also noted how comfy the sneakers were.

Image adapted from: @radtherandom

@radtherandom’s wife was probably not the only one trying to find the sneakers, as @uranusretrogrd thanked him in capital letters.

Going down memory lane

The Twitter post seemed to trigger the memories of those who came of age when Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? became popular. Fashion trends often return in cycles, but the case of the pink ninja shoes prove that impactful movies can have a lasting effect on people – to the point that they’d go through all the trouble of tracking down shoes seen on screen for almost 20 years.