The 10 Flyest Sneakers Dropping This Fall
Nike x Off-White Zoom Terra Kiger 5
What do you do after you deconstruct Nike's ten most iconic silhouettes? If you're Virgil Abloh, you hit the track, pulling vibes from some of the world's fastest runners—like Caster Semenya—for his next Off-White collab with the Swoosh. And sure, your pair will look cool on Instagram, but they're built for more than that: Abloh wants you to train in them, too.
Gucci Ultrapace
When Alessandro Michele introduced heavy hiking boot-sneaker hybrids into the Gucci universe, he turned gorp-core into a full-scale fashion revolution. Now he's run a just-add-leg-warmers sneaker from the '80s through his baroque, maximalist playhouse. With four different Gucci logos, the result is the perfect pair of kicks for the sport that is fashion.
Louis Vuitton Trainer Sneaker
Virgil Abloh's first sneaker silhouette for Louis Vuitton is as rock-solid as the house's famed luggage. It takes six hours of stitching to make each shoe out of 106 different components. (In Italy, natch.) But Abloh's not precious about how to use them: He gave an early pair to Palace skater Lucien Clarke, who proceeded to thrash them around the world. Clarke's verdict? “They work so well skating,” he told GQ.
Marni Banana Sock Boot
Inspired by—no joke—Disney cartoons, Marni's Francesco Risso finds the fantastical in well-worn menswear staples. Take the sneaker sock (or “snocker”): Risso's new creation “evokes an amplified banana,” he says, proving that the freshest footwear can come from anywhere—even the grocery store.
Salomon S/Lab XT-6
The Salomon XT-6 was designed for elite trail junkies who run ultramarathons in the Alps. But when the Salomon team swapped out the racing colors for versions in yellow, blue, green, orange, and pink, the XT-6 was ready for the harsh terrain of LAX—and the likes of Rihanna and Pusha T. “The work has already been done,” says JP Lalonde, who heads up the French brand's Advanced program. “It's just a matter of changing the cultural filter on the shoe.”
Alyx Knit Boot and Converse x Ambush Chuck 70
“One of the elements of luxury is that things last a long time,” says Alyx designer Matthew Williams, who worked with the sole legends at Vibram on a custom, apocalypse-ready unit for his slip-on boots. Similarly, Ambush's Yoon Ahn drew on Converse's “bunny boot,” designed during the Korean War for ultra-cold conditions, for the Japanese brand's white-hot Chucks collab.
Prada Cloudbust Thunder
What if one of the best-loved new sneakers in recent high-fashion history was…strapped to a table and zapped by lightning à la Frankenstein's monster? That's what Miuccia Prada had in mind when developing the juiced-up next generation of her Cloudbust, which has grown bolt-like treads and an injected-rubber upper. The next hit chunky sneaker: It's alive!
Junya Watanabe x New Balance 1500 and Veja x Rick Owens
“I'm personally a big fan of New Balance,” says Japanese fashion legend Junya Watanabe, who spent several years calling up the brand, seeking to collaborate. It paid off: like his other heritage collaborations, Watanabe’s New Balance line is a tasteful elevation of a classic silhouette we all know and love. Rick Owens has left his own monster truck-sized mark on the sneaker lexicon, but this season he debuted a slim runner with sustainable Parisian footwear brand Veja. After their runway debut, he explained the new direction thusly: “The idea of responsibility, well, I love that. I love promoting that message. I’m not saying I’m good at it, I’m just saying that’s what we need to move forward.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the August 2019 issue with the title "Giant Steps."
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographs by Tyrell Hampton
Styled by Matthew Henson
Originally Appeared on GQ
