The inhabitants of Silicon Valley are not exactly known for haute couture.

It's a land where jeans, T-shirts, and hoodies reign supreme, and where sneakers are the footwear of choice.

But don't let the pedestrian fashion item fool you. These sneakers can be as rare and as status-defining as the fine watches adorning the wrists of Wall Street bankers or the designer handbags clutched by elite art dealers.

For many of the Valley's technorati, the right pair of kicks is a trademark accessory carefully selected to convey a mix of power and nonchalance, creativity and exclusivity.

With help from the team at the sneaker marketplace Flight Club, Business Insider compiled some of the most fashionable, expensive, and downright wild sneakers worn by tech founders and CEOs. The Flight Club team helped confirm the brands and styles and provided expert commentary and analysis.

We did our best to find photos of female tech executives wearing sneakers, but our search didn't yield many results. Women like Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer wore low heels, flats, or loafers, which says something about how much freedom women have to dress down in the corporate world.

If you dream of becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg, lacing up a pair of these sneakers probably won't get you very far. But at least you'll look the part.

Check it out:

SEE ALSO: Inside the crazy-successful, controversial life of billionaire Uber CEO Travis Kalanick

Mark Zuckerberg: Nike Flyknit Lunar 3 in Wolf Grey

Since Nike's Flyknit franchise was introduced in 2012, Flight Club says it has seen resale values in "the hundreds, and some well over a thousand."

The Wolf Grey sneakers favored by Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, aren't currently sold in stores, but you can find them on eBay.

Price:$150

Satya Nadella: Lanvin Suede & Patent Leather Low-Top Sneaker

When the Microsoft CEO took the helm in 2014, it quickly became clear he was stylish. So it's no surprise he opts for a more fashion-forward take on sneakers, with a pair from the French high-end brand Lanvin. Even sneaker lovers on Reddit have inquired about Nadella's kicks.

Price:$495

If you want the best views of Chicago and aren't afraid of heights, head on over to the John Hancock Center. On the 94th floor observation deck a special attraction called TILT will lean you out over the city at about 1,000 feet. While it might make your palms sweat, you'll be perfectly safe. Here's what it's like.

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Movpak is a new product that combines a backpack with a remote-operated skateboard, including a built-in speaker, USB port, and tracker.

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The start of a new school year is a big deal, no matter where you're from.

Whenever the first day of the school year is, it elicits a lot of feelings — and not just from parents and students.

To find out just how teachers feel at the start of a new school year, Business Insider asked them to weigh in, and more than 50 teachers responded. 

Most of the answers included some variation of "excited" or "nervous," and some expanded on their mixed feelings about the arrival of their new students.

We've anonymously included some of their answers here:

"At the start of a new school year, I feel ..."

'Excited. I can't wait to figure out what classes I get to teach.'

'Anxious. I am always nervous to meet my new students and see the new class dynamics. I can't really prepare until I know my students and how they interact together.'

'Excited! It's sort of like Christmas — it's fun to start unwrapping each child's personality and figuring out how to help them learn and grow.'

The Panyaden International School in Chiang Mai, Thailand is made entirely out of earth and bamboo. The school uses Buddhist values in their curriculum and instills a respect for nature. One of their buildings is a massive sports hall with over 2,500 sq ft of open space made only with natural materials. 

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Young Americans may have fallen out of love with yoga pants.

The dominant apparel trend of athleisure seems to have reached its peak in the second quarter of 2017.

Athleisure is the trend of buying athletic apparel for its unique properties — sweat-wicking, stretch, comfort — without necessarily intending to use it to work out.

Athleisure has been huge for the last several years. According to The NPD Group, US activewear apparel sales totaled $45.9 billion in 2016, up 11% from 2015 and far outperforming the traditional apparel sector overall.

Though athletic brands Lululemon, Under Armour, and Nike initiated the trend, other retailers such as Gap, J.Crew, and Forever 21 jumped on the bandwagon in hopes of boosting sales. When we ventured out to the streets of New York City earlier this year, nearly everyone we saw was dressed in athleisure, citing the trend's comfort and versatility as the reasons they loved it. 

But signals abound that athleisure could be on the way out.

Quo Vadis Capital founder and president John Zolidis told Bloomberg that the athleisure fashion trend came to a "screeching halt" at the beginning of 2017.

UBS analysts said that as the "athleisure cycle moves past its peak," denim has started to make a comeback. They cited product experts and fashion magazines as evidence of denim's resurgence. 

This spells trouble for retailers who have made big investments in athleisure.

Lululemon, who was a major propagator of the trend earlier in the decade, just had its highest rate of product going on sale in the last four years, according to Credit Suisse. The bank said that the brand has reached "maturity," and that athletic apparel growth is decelerating.

Sports retailers Dick's Sporting Goods and Foot Locker both saw big second-quarter misses that sent stocks tumbling.

Not everyone agrees that athleisure is dying, however.

NPD sports industry analyst Matt Powell notes that though the trend is suffering, so is all of retail apparel. In terms of sales, the gap between sportswear and the rest of the apparel industry is still as wide as it ever was — they're just both shifting downward.

"There is no indication that the athleisure customer is spending their money on other footwear and apparel," Powell wrote.

Instead, Powell says that since so many brands rushed to cash in on the trend, the dollars are being spread thin for retailers. That has created a bubble in retail apparel, which is now "bursting."

Powell says athleisure won't die, but it is "very sick."

SEE ALSO: Google and Walmart are joining forces to take on Amazon

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Floyd Mayweather's upcoming fight against Conor McGregor could pocket him up to $400 million, according to Forbes. His current net worth is upwards of $340 million. Here's how he makes and spends that cash.

This video was originally posted on July 19, 2017.

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In 2015, Conor McGregor knocked Jose Aldo out in 13 seconds, which meant he made as much as $622,000 per second according to Forbes. Since then, he's amassed millions of dollars. Here's how McGregor makes and spends all that cash.

This video was originally posted on August 2, 2017.

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In 2016, United Airlines announced that it will completely overhaul its international and long-haul domestic business class experience.

At the heart of this undertaking is the introduction of its brand new Polaris Business Class. For United, Polaris is much more than some new seats and a new menu. It's a comprehensive rethinking of the airline's premium cabin passenger experience. 

What does that mean? It means everything a customer paying the big bucks to fly United experiences at the airport and on the plane had to be reevaluated. 

For instance, United keyed in on their passengers' need for rest on long distance flights. After all, customers, especially those in business class, are often traveling for work and showing up at their destination refreshed is a must. 

That starts with a series of brand new Polaris lounges complete day beds where passengers can grab a quick nap and showers where they can freshen up. 

On board, Polaris Business Class features brand new private lie-flat seats with aisle access. At night, the new seats convert into a six-foot-six-inch long bed complete with bedding, pajamas, and slippers all from Saks Fifth Avenue. 

And then there's a new amenity kit with just about anything the passenger would need to look and feel good on board the flight.

Here's a closer look at United's new Polaris Business Class amenity kits. 

SEE ALSO: Delta has fancy new amenity kits for its premium cabin — here's what's inside

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Step on board one of United's new Boeing 777-300ER jet and...

... Make your way to the new Polaris Business Class seat. Waiting for you there will be your own Polaris amenity kit.

United's Polaris international amenity kits come in either white or black Saks Fifth Avenue toiletry cases.

The world's busiest airports see anywhere from 55 to 100 million passengers pass through in a year.

When you deal with even a fraction of these busy travellers from around the world on a daily basis, you can expect to encounter some bizarre human behavior.

As one flight attendant told Business Insider, you really get to see it all: "Never say never. Weirdness will always outdo itself if you challenge it."

Still, there are some things that would stun even the most seasoned airline employee.

Here are some of the most trying work conditions airline workers including flight attendants, gate agents, ticket agents, and other airport customer service reps have been subjected to:

SEE ALSO: Flight attendants share 25 things they wish passengers would stop doing — and one you can probably get away with

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Galley yoga

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"Yoga people trying to use our galley as their personal studio" is one of the weirdest things a flight attendant with four years of experience told Business Insider they've seen.

Strange announcement requests

A flight attendant with three years of experience told Business Insider that she's gotten her fair share of strange announcement requests.

"One gentleman was angry, and he asked me if I could make an announcement over the PA. When I asked him what he wanted me to announce, he said, 'Somebody in this vicinity is passing gas, and I need them to stop,'" she said.

Another passenger asked her to make an announcement asking a neighboring passenger to give up the armrest.

Celebrity encounters

"The weirdest thing was hosting Michael Jackson in our employee break room so he didn't have to sit in the terminal," an anonymous airline customer service agent told Business Insider.

Every year since 2007, a tent city has risen over a remote swath of desert outside Cape Town, South Africa. Thousands of people descend for the weeklong gathering, complete with crazy costumes, art installations, and all-night parties. The pop-up city disappears in seven days.

Sound familiar? It's Africa's version of the famous Burning Man festival.

Founded in 2007, AfrikaBurn is a regional event sanctioned by the organizers of Burning Man. It's similar to the annual counterculture gathering in Black Rock Desert, Nevada, but with more nudity and smaller crowds. Some have described the festival as what Burning Man was like 10 years ago, before it became a cultural phenomenon.

These photos give us a glimpse of what it's like to attend AfrikaBurn.

SEE ALSO: 30,000 people descended on Oregon for a festival that's like Burning Man for eclipse-chasers — here are the photos

Welcome to AfrikaBurn — Africa's version of Burning Man.

The festival draws over 13,000 people annually, making it the largest outpost of 130 regional Burning Man events around the world and the biggest arts festival in Africa.

Source: Africa News

By comparison, the original Burning Man festival in Nevada is attended by 70,000 people.

Because AfrikaBurn is more intimate than its counterpart in the states, some people say it's "like Burning Man, but better." Burners travel from around the world for the event.

Source: BuzzFeed

Martina is the newest restaurant from the creators of Shake Shack.

But instead of slinging burgers, this New York City restaurant from Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group is serving up hot and fresh pizza with a rustic Italian touch.

Many people are wondering if Martina could be the next Shake Shack-style chain to take over the world. Like Shake Shack, Martina is designed to marry high-quality food with fast food-esque speed and lower prices. And, with the growth of fast-casual chains like Blaze and MOD Pizza, the US seems hungry for pizza that goes beyond what delivery chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut are serving. 

Chef Nick Anderer — who has experience at two other USHG restaurants under his belt — says he hopes to bring elements of fine dining to a fast-casual atmosphere at Martina. The restaurant is intended to be a more low-key sibling to Marta, another USHG restaurant, and while plans for additional locations haven't been announced, Anderer told Eater it's not out of the question. 

In an effort to see if Martina could follow in Shake Shack's lofty footsteps, we decided to visit the pizzeria ourselves:

SEE ALSO: We tried fried chicken sandwiches from every major fast-food chain — and the winner surprised us

We strolled up to Martina with hopeful hearts and empty stomachs. Honestly, we weren't sure what to expect. What does "fine casual" — Anderer's categorization of the restaurant — even mean?

As soon as we walked in, we were struck by how different the restaurant is from its fast-casual competitors. Instead of sleek stainless steel and light woods, Martina has an Italian café vibe. We were instantly transported to a quaint Roman restaurant — but one that can reportedly churn out 90 pizzas in an hour.

Source: Eater

We were initially overwhelmed by the menu, which is significantly broader than Shake Shack's. There were eight different kinds of pizza, two salads, and four appetizers.

• Picnik, a specialty coffee retailer based in Austin, Texas, is bringing a first-of-its-kind bottled, buttered coffee to market.

• Butter Coffee will roll out to nearly 400 Whole Foods stores nationwide in August.

• The drink taps into a Silicon Valley diet craze that has techies eating lots of fat.

"How do you take your coffee: with milk, sugar, or butter?"

You won't hear baristas asking that question in San Francisco coffee shops just yet — but a growing number of tech workers are drinking coffee with butter for a unique kind of jolt. They say the creamy blend gives them a boost in energy and productivity, among other perks.

Picnik, a specialty coffee retailer based in Austin, Texas, is capitalizing on the trend by introducing a bottled version of its "butter coffee" to Whole Foods stores nationwide, starting in August. The drink comes in three flavors: Mocha Latte, Cappuccino, and Dirty Chai.

In 2013, when Naomi Seifter, founder and CEO of Picnik, first started serving buttered coffee out of a shipping container she had converted into a coffee kiosk, she got a lot of questions.

"I had to stand behind the counter every day and say, 'I know this sounds scary and it seems super weird, but just give it a shot,'" Seifter told Business Insider.

For the first year, she gave free upgrades on black coffee so customers could try it. Back then, the coffee was blended with a Cadbury Egg-like truffle of butter. Over time, buttered coffee became a bestseller.

Seifter has since changed up the recipe to include whey protein, MCT oil (a high-fat concentrate derived from coconut oil), and grass-fed butter — no blender required.

"But how does it taste?"

First, I tried the most plain flavor: Cappuccino. It only has one gram of sugar.

It tasted like watered down coffee. I preferred my regular iced coffee.

A few days later, I tried the Mocha Latte — the sweetest flavor thanks to a dose of organic maple syrup. It has 21 grams of sugar, which makes it off-limits for anyone watching their sugar intake. The drink tasted more like Nesquik chocolate milk than coffee, and I downed a bottle in minutes. It was delicious. But I don't know that it made me any more alert or focused.

Some people working in Silicon Valley take their coffee with butter as a way to inject more fat into their diet. A recent diet craze,known as the ketogenic diet, has techies cutting carbs and filling up on fat as a way to improve focus and avoid sugar crashes. Studies suggest a high-fat diet may alsopromote weight loss, dull hunger, and stave off age-related diseases.

Picnik's iteration of buttered coffee might be more indulgence than weight-loss secret.

The science behind buttered coffee is spotty, and it has drawnpublicskepticism from doctors. There are no studies showing this combination of ingredients is safe, and eating too much saturated fat could present risks for people with elevated cholesterol levels.

There's also no evidence that a pat of butter in your coffee achieves the same effect as a diet made up of 80% healthy fats. A bottle of Picnik's flavored, buttered coffee contains 21 grams of sugar, which is nearly a day's allowance of carbohydrates on the ketogenic diet.

But for some, that's all right.I tried the keto diet for two monthslast spring and fending off cravings was the hardest part. A sugary drink that packs in the benefits of fat might be a worthwhile "cheat."

Picnik isn't the first to tap the buttered coffee market. Dave Asprey, a cloud computing executive turned biohacking guru, has built a multimillion-dollar empire around his ideas — the most famous of which is Bulletproof Coffee.

Made with grass-fed butter and a proprietary "Brain Octane" oil,Bulletproof Coffee claims to give drinkersa "mental edge," satiate hunger for hours, and promote weight loss. The company, which sells the Bulletproof ingredients online, said it sold 48 million "cups of coffee" in 2016.

Picnik's Butter Coffee arrives in nearly 400 Whole Foods stores in August. It sells for $4.99.

SEE ALSO: How the CEO of Bulletproof Coffee turned buttered coffee into a multimillion-dollar empire

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Students are heading back in droves to college campuses around the country this month.

One major perk about returning for your second year is trading in the dorms for off-campus living. But while that may feel freeing — no more curfew! — renting an apartment or house that's convenient to class and your favorite dining halls won't come cheap in some areas.

HomeUnion, a real-estate investment management firm, recently released a list of the college towns with the highest off-campus rents. Looking at US colleges with enrollment above 15,000, they analyzed the median rent within a two-mile radius of campus and compared it to the metro area's market-rate rent.

In the most expensive places, students pay anywhere from 21% to 85% above market rate to rent housing within two miles of campus. That's a blow to anyone's budget, especially for those living in an already pricey market. Consider California's Bay Area, Orange County, or Los Angeles — students of select colleges in those areas can expect to pay above $4,000 a month for housing close to campus.

"To minimize living expenses, students in high-rent areas like the Bay Area, Boston and Washington, D.C., can rent properties further than two miles from campus or choose to have roommates in a rental home," said Steve Hovland, director of research for HomeUnion.

"But if these options are still too expensive for them, and debt burden is a major concern, students can choose to attend universities in Sunbelt markets," he said. Indeed, the least expensive markets for off-campus renters are in Florida and Texas, according to HomeUnion.

Below, find out where college students are paying far above market price to live off campus.

SEE ALSO: There's a smart way to save for college — and hardly any families are using it

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20. University of Massachusetts, Boston

Location: South End - Boston, Massachusetts

Median rent: $3,127

Percent above market rate: 21.2%

19. Ohio State University

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Median rent: $1,649

Percent above market rate: 23%

18. Boston University

Location: Back Bay - Boston, Massachusetts

Median rent: $3,198

Percent above market rate: 24%

• USC Village was completed in August 2017 and cost a whopping $700 million.
• The village has a number of retailers including Trader Joe's, Target, and Starbucks, and is open to the public as well as students.
• The development is the biggest in the history of South LA.

The University of Southern California unveiled an enormous addition to its campus last week with its completed $700 million "USC Village."

The biggest development in the history of South Los Angeles, USC Village created residential living space for students and a retail center for both the USC community and the public.

The process, from conception to completion was slow, William Marsh, USC director of capital construction development, told Business Insider. While the school started thinking about the project in the early 2000's, it wasn't formally approved by the city until 2012.

In part, that may have been a function of the unique partnership the development forges. The village connects USC to the surrounding LA area, and to a community whose demographics largely collide with its own.

Students at USC are richer and more racially and ethnically diverse than the surrounding area. By contrast, nearly 90% of residents in South LA are Hispanic or African American, according to the 2010 census. The median household income in South LA is about $30,000, a stark contrast to a school whose annual tuition tops $50,000.

That contrast, and gating around the school for student security, has created what some in the community describe as "fortress" of isolation. The USC Village appears an attempt to bridge some of the distance between the two communities.

Business Insider received a tour of the newly completed village. Read on below to see how USC spent its $700 million.

SEE ALSO: 29 kids attend a school behind barbed wire on the border of North Korea — once called 'the scariest place on earth'

USC students moved back to campus on August 16. The USC Village houses 2,500 of these students, about 500 of which are incoming freshman.

The $700 million investment, funded entirely by USC, includes six buildings on 15 acres. The residential colleges will have dorms, work spaces, gyms, and laundry rooms.

Construction of the village supported 5,600 construction jobs and created nearly 800 permanent jobs. The development has been seen as a public-private partnership that benefits the school and bolsters the surrounding community.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of pure, ice-cold hydration. Some of us get our water for free from the tap. The rest pay for it — at the cost of roughly $100 billion a year.

At that steep a price tag, you might assume buying the bottled stuff would be worth it. In most cases, you'd be wrong.

For the vast majority of Americans, a glass from the tap and a glass from the bottle are virtually identical as far as their health and nutritional quality are concerned. In some cases, publicly-sourced tap may actually be safer since it is usually tested more frequently.

There are exceptions, however — people living near private wells do not enjoy the same rigorous testing as those whose water comes from public sources, and some public sources are not properly screened, as was recently seen in Flint, Michigan.

But if you don't get your water from a private well, there are plenty of reasons to stop shelling out for bottled water. Read on to find out all the things you didn't know about your drinking water.

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The first documented case of bottled water being sold was in Boston in the 1760s, when a company called Jackson's Spa bottled and sold mineral water for "therapeutic" uses. Companies in Saratoga Springs and Albany also appear to have packaged and sold water.

Sources: GreatLakesLaw.org, FineWaters.com

Across the globe, people drink roughly 10% more bottled water every year, but Americans consume more packaged H2O overall than people in every other country in the world besides China. On a per capita basis, the US ranks #6.

Source: International Bottled Water Association, Beverage Marketing Corporation

At 12.8 billion gallons, or 39 gallons per person, Americans today drink more bottled water than milk or beer.

Source: Beverage Marketing Corporation 

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Whether it's movie stars or directors, everyone is flocking to TV and streaming lately to cash in. But the money has always been there for TV show hosts.

They are the ones who are in our living rooms on a daily basis, and since the 1950s executives have shaped TV hosts — whether they be on morning shows or late night — to have a quality that makes them almost feel like they are part of our family. And that leads to big bucks.

Variety has compiled the biggest estimated annual salaries of reality, news, and talk show hosts. There's newbies to the game like Mike Meyers, Jamie Foxx, and Megyn Kelly, and then there are the big hitters like Ryan Seacrest, Ellen DeGeneres, and Judith Sheindlin (you know here better as Judge Judy).

Here are the top 20 paid hosts:

Note: Some of these figures below include fees for producing and back-end compensation. 

SEE ALSO: 34 movies you have to see this fall — including "Justice League," "It," and "Blade Runner 2049"

Mike Myers (“The Gong Show”) - $3 million

Jamie Foxx (“Beat Shazam”) - $ 3 million

Alec Baldwin (“Match Game”) - $3 million

New York City is the most expensive and the most populated city in America.

About 3 million people work in Manhattan each day, according to a 2013 U.S. Census estimate. More than half are commuters who take public transit into the city from their homes in outer boroughs and surrounding suburbs.

The daily round-trip commute on New York and New Jersey's packed trains and subways is notoriously brutal at times — even posing potential risks to riders' long-term health.

So, why don't more people live in the city where they work? All things considered, Manhattan is just too expensive. For many people, it seems, the cost of commuting — both in dollars and patience — is dwarfed by the sheer savings of living in a nearby city, particularly for homeowners.

Business Insider compared monthly fixed expenses for residents of Manhattan and six popular commuting hubs that are accessible by underground train: the Bronx, Brooklyn,Queens, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Newark. The commute into Manhattan from each of these places clocks in under 40 minutes.

To find the total monthly cost for each place, we gathered median home prices and annual property taxes from Sperling's Best Places. We calculated the monthly mortgage payment for each assuming a 20% down payment and 4% interest on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

We added these costs together, plus the cost of either a monthly subway pass or PATH train pass (depending on whether you're in New York or New Jersey), to get the total monthly cost for a homeowner who commutes to Manhattan for work. Check out the map below for the final numbers.

It's important to note: We didn't take into account utilities, tax breaks, or maintenance fees — whether for an apartment building or a house — which can vary greatly. And while our calculations are specific to homeowners, it's safe to assume that renters would experience similar cost variations among the boroughs and suburbs.

Ultimately, our data revealed Manhattan to be the most expensive place for homeowners, with average monthly costs around $4,500, the only apparent upside being a short average commute time.

Newark and Jersey City are both generally cheaper than New York City's outer boroughs — with the exception of Hoboken, which rivals Manhattan in costliness — despite New Jersey boasting the highest property tax rate in the country.

Keep scrolling for a full breakdown of the fixed monthly costs in each place.

SEE ALSO: Appalled by 'crazy' broker fees, 2 ex-Googlers founded a site they say has saved renters over $1 million

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Manhattan: $4,531 a month

Median home price: $965,300

Monthly mortgage payment: $3,687

Annual property taxes: $8,678

Monthly subway pass: $121

Brooklyn: $2,857 a month

Median home price: $625,400

Monthly mortgage payment: $2,389

Annual property taxes: $4,165

Monthly subway pass: $121

Bronx: $1,908

Median home price: $384,700

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,469

Annual property taxes: $3,820

Monthly subway pass: $121