It looks like there's a bit of rebound after years of big and rather big sneakers. Sneakers have been refined, streamlined and, in a nutshell, become skinny.
“We had a shift. I think it was in the fall of 2023. There we saw more sambas on the street. “People started getting tired with those big bubbles and old sneakers.”
The recent runway was flooded with aerodynamic and damped versions of collapsed sneakers like Prada slippers with resilient foot openings ($975) that dry out Vannote suede sneakers ($475) that referenced 1970s running shoes. While Ganni offers Little Ballerina Lace-Up ($495), Maison Marguilla has released a flat, creek liff ($820) in its own popular replica style. Miu Miu, The Cool Cool Girl brand, recently released The Lowrofile Plume ($895), an elegant attendee to slim sneakers, Canon.
This sylph-like silhouette features a larger sportswear brand. Puma brought the Classic Speed Cat, introduced in 1999 from his retirement last summer, and Adidas revived its Sberto Taekwondo and Tokyo models. Nike is bringing back a total of 90 III this spring and summer with a futuristic feel and off-quilter race. In late January, designer Jaque Mass sent out horizontally sloping moon shoes, a track sneaker introduced in 1972. In addition to a smaller, more refined look, these styles often have a smooth, tapered profile that resembles a bullet. Or, as GQ recently named it, “tourpedo sneakers.”
“It really benefits a big brand that was long enough to wear shoes from the times like the 1960s and 1970s,” said Brendan Dunn, who led sneaker coverage at the complex and named the samba's popularity as a catalyst for the current movement. “One of the interesting things happening with sneaker consumption right now is the rise of brands like Hoka, gaining market share from Big Brands. When you think about the slim sneaker trends, I'm not thinking about it or Hoka can't take part in it.
In line with the cyclical nature of fashion, these shoes can be seen as a pendulum swing away from what came before, best illustrated by Balenciaga's influential triple S sneakers. The shoe features its built-in sole, creating Brawnier Footwear enthusiasts, leading to the popularity of “Dad Sneakers” from brands such as New Balance and Asics. In its exploration of newness, the brand is currently rebutting its thin design. (Balenciaga is noteworthy, it continues to focus on its larger approach.)
These footwear offerings are also a response to the changes in cuts in ready-made clothing, the apparel that dominates the loose clothing silhouettes seen especially in the rise of more fulfilling and relaxed cut pants. “Skinny pants and jeans are gone,” Barashi said. “And you can style these with wider pants and bell bottoms.
Wide-leg pants have gained so much traction that they've penetrated the formal wear category, as demonstrated by flashy dressers such as Colman Domingo, Omar Apollo and Robert Downey Jr. at last week's Academy Awards ceremony.
“There's this inverse correlation between the shape of the shoes and the shape of the pants we wear,” Dan said. “I look back at eight years ago when all the rappers wore skinny jeans and a huge Balenciaga sweatshirt. Now it's the opposite of a slim, low silhouette and huge pants.”
Furthermore, these shoes are built on the already crowded overlap between sports and fashion. They utilize activities such as martial arts, rock climbing, wrestling and even the enduring popularity of ballet slippers.
“All of these adjacent Golpcore shoes, or low pro shoes, put us in this zone,” Dan said. “I'm thinking of something like the popularity of the Salomon XT-6. This isn't necessarily in this same zone, but it sets us and bridges the gap between chunky shoes and this.”
These sneakers also faintly remind me of popular shoes from the Y2K era. This is now a dramatic pre-internet time, as we continue to cast spells on younger generations.
“I remember the Prada America's Cup. Everyone wanted those sneakers,” Barashi said of the brand's futuristic patented leather and technical mesh sneakers featured in 1997. “And there was this thin profile.”
Torven Schumacher, who oversees Adidas Originals, the company's fashion and lifestyle division, said that once the company noticed the popularity of samba and gazelle styles, it began searching for new models to revive from the archives. Eventually it landed in Tokyo and Taekwondo.
“The latter was designed for martial arts athletes in the 2000s, but you can quickly imagine it on the runway or on the streets of the city,” Schumacher wrote in an email. Still, Schumacher writes that perhaps the most persuasive reason to wear slim shoes, regardless of the cultural factors that lead us to this moment, is, “both styles and functionality, there's an easy feeling with these low-profile styles.”
