Loathe them or live in them, trainers have become a modern wardrobe staple, even for those who have never seen the inside of a gym, or run a lap in their entire lives. Provenance notwithstanding, new sneaker styles appear every week, thanks to a drop culture that runs like fast fashion, to feed the sneaker lust, keeping sneakerheads in a permanent state of anticipation, and sneaker makers in healthy profit. In this supply overdrive, trainer trends bubble up on social media and then pop back into oblivion faster than you can say “Jools Lebron who?”. For the discerning grownups in the room, the trick is knowing which trends are important to adopt and which are too micro to even matter. First up, do note that retro styles are making a triumphant return, proving that what goes around in your youth can come around endlessly — just like those questionable first romances.
Perhaps triggered by Luca Guadagnino’s summer hit Challengers, which featured vintage tennis shoes, retro trainers remain very much in the forecourt of fashion. Vibrant colourways that pair perfectly with everything from dad jeans to tailored trousers is another angle on the nostalgia trend. Optimistic brights and man-child pastels channel the 1990s, a fashion decade which saw the pops of neon, pastel and metallics which are revived at the fall’s menswear collections at Loewe, Issey Miyake Homme, and Louis Vuitton. Bright colours spark joy, quite literally — seeing brightly coloured shoe can trigger the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is associated with feelings of pleasure, reward, and happiness.