If you do a city commute, as I do, you’ll notice the same trainer trends popping up time and time again. The Adidas Samba, obviously, in every single colourway imaginable. The Nike Shox (a shoe I have affectionately dubbed the anti-Samba). The Puma Speedcat (a newer addition to the morning bus). All of the sporty, logo-stamped New Balance trainers. You get the idea. It’s fun to follow trainer trends – it’s one of my favourite pastimes – but sometimes it can feel a bit like everyone’s reading from the same manual.
Enter: the “anti-trend” trainer, which can hold a lot of stylistic power. I’m talking about when someone steps out in a culty or unexpected trainer that you’ve barely seen anywhere else. Katie Holmes is a pro at this (she was recently spotted in a pair of Autry Medalist Low Whites, an all-American brand favoured by sneakerheads and unfamiliar to many others). Bella Hadid is also a bit of an anti-trend trainer aficionado (she starts trends. You can thank her for everyone running around in maroon Adidas SL 72s this summer). And we know that EmRata loves a mad sneaker (earlier this year, she broke out the Brain Dead X Oakley Team Flesh, a frankly deranged pair of trainers that look as though they belong in a 1980s alien sci-fi flick. Dakota Johnson, too, has been known to opt for whatever the opposite of an it-shoe is. These are personal style-y trainers that stand out in this era of copy-and-paste street style and office daywear clones.
XNY/Star Max
An “anti-trend” trainer can also, I think, be a trainer that offers a unique spin on a current craze. I recently saw someone at a party in these Eytys trainers that look a bit like Sambas but, crucially, aren’t Sambas. The same goes for these gummy-soled Acne Studios sneakers. Or even, you know, a zingy pair of yellow Golas that aren’t the classic Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 that everyone loves. In essence, the secret to an anti-trend trainer is something that says: I am aware of the trends, but I don’t care to follow them (see: Bella Hadid busting out these gorpy Nike Air X Comme des Garçon Foamposite trainers. When’s the last time you saw a pair of those?)
When trainer trends are dime a dozen, and it feels like everyone’s stomping around in the same 15 types on rotation, the anti-trend trainer can feel like a splash of cold water on a hot day: appealing, impactful and cool as hell.
