The Best Sneakers of 2023

We understand if you’ve had your fill of the Chicago colorway, which made a roaring comeback as recently as last December with the blockbuster Lost and Found drop. But the combination of the classic white, black and red with a streak of silver feels inspired, and seeing it play out on a Dunk rather than a Jordan 1 low—a twist that’s equal parts novel and familiar—makes the complete package feel like a breath of fresh air. In the wake of the Panda’s global takeover, the Chicago Split Dunk feels like the next big thing.

When hypebeasts hit the court, they now have a proper shoe to hoop in. That’s the promise of Fear of God’s first collaboration with Adidas, which has resulted in the sleek, impressively minimalist Athletics 1, a basketball shoe made in the image of Jerry Lorenzo’s singular design philosophy. Three years in the making—and breathlessly anticipated since its announcement in 2020—Fear of God’s debut basketball sneaker fulfills expectations and then some, channeling the Adidas Predator in a package that’s distinctly Lorenzo’s own. Essential? We’d say so.

Bulgarian designer Kiko Kostadinov might be the art world’s favorite fashion name, and Otto 958, the amorphous, hard-to-define project Kostadinov runs in tandem with Los Angeles art gallery Moran Moran, is the art world's new calling card du jour. Enter the Gel-Flexkee Pro, a cutting-edge football sneaker inspired by a defunct skateboarding shoe from the early 2000s, and a shoe so absurdly coveted by both sneaker collectors and art-world scenesters that it’s been virtually impossible to track down since its October release. Watch this space in 2024.

A distinctive hybrid that combines the Nike Air Magma and the Nike Air Footscape, the Magmascape takes creative cues from its two already extremely unique-looking sneaker inspirations to create an unholy, sui generis synthesis. The sturdy winterized exterior and cleated rubber sole make this first and foremost a performance boot ideal for trail running and hiking. The oblique side lacing system, however, is pure Sacai panache, making this highly original collaboration street-ready at the same time.

Danish designer Cecilie Bahnsen is known for her quirky, delightfully effete approach to Scandi minimalism, a distinct aesthetic that's steadily garnered plaudits stateside. Bahsen’s collaboration with Asics boasts all the hallmarks of her approach to ready-to-wear, yielding an updated spin on the GT-2160 that feels new and thrillingly disorienting. The flower-embossed straps subvert the silhouette's sporty pedigree—and in the process, make a straightforward running sneaker freaky again.

There’s a lot to love about Danish fashion brand Ganni's playful, upbeat approach to affordable luxury, which combines chic pop-art panache with simple, high-quality construction. This year’s collab with New Balance is a great example of their philosophy: the limited edition three-piece capsule takes the reliable bones of New Balance silhouettes and gives them a whimsical redesign, retaining many of the sturdy technical details while adding flourishes entirely their own.

Los Angeles-based brand The Elder Statesman has staked its reputation on ultra-premium cashmere, churning out the type of groovy, eyebrow-raising knits beloved by celebrities en route to Erewhon. So it makes a funny kind of sense that they’d collaborate with UGG on a vibrant, super-comfortable shoe that transforms the notoriously cozy booties into something wildly fashion-forward. A luxury UGG probably shouldn’t work, but man, it really does.

Nike’s simple, well-designed Vomero 5, long overlooked as anything but a sturdy runner, has recently emerged as a surprise streetwear hit, with secondary market sales increasing more than 5000% over last year, according to StockX’s recent quarterly report. It’s of a piece with a widespread running-shoe revival that shows a deep-seated taste for comfort and reliable engineering—and with a look as clean as this model, we’re not entirely sure why the Vomero 5 was ever left by the wayside.

Considering the monumental hype—not to mention astronomical rates on the secondary market—surrounding the release of the Dior Jordan back in 2020, it was surely only a matter of time before another designer label joined forces with a streetwear brand to produce the next must-have luxury sneaker. Fittingly, it turned out to be Tiffany & Co., a perfect partnership that resulted in a collaboration more subtle than anybody expected: the Tiffany Air Forces, which channeled the spirit of one of the most beloved Dunks of all time with its understated touch of signature aquamarine.

Earlier this fall, Italy’s One Block Down, a jack-of-all-trades clothing label, e-comm platform, and cheery fashion world rabble-rouser, partnered with Japanese sports brand Mizuno reimagine its Wave Runner 10, a modest running shoe renowned for its subtle engineering. And what a reimagining it turned out to be, elevating a simple technical sneaker to the level of cutting-edge streetwear glory with a futuristic design that incorporates licking flames and sleek, metallic-looking detailing. It feels like a collaboration beamed in early from the future, in the best way possible.

The original Air Jordan 12 from 1996 is a dark-horse favorite among retro Jordan fans, and for good reason. With its oversized tumbled leather upper and heavily cushioned midsole, the Tinker Hatfield-designed classic is a dream to wear both on and off the court—no doubt part of why Jordan himself has always had an affinity for the silhouette. The long-overdue return of the red and white Cherry colorway, last seen in 2009, is cause for sneakerhead celebration, and one of the few must-cop retro Jordan releases to hit a distinctly oversaturated market this year.

Leave it to Grace Wales Bonner to single-handedly make the Adidas Samba interesting again at the precise moment that it felt the most played-out, a testament to the designer’s gift for tapping straight into—and helping to define—the zeitgeist. The elevated, leopard-spotted iteration of the iconic training shoe, the best of the recent four-piece Samba collection, felt like an instant classic when it dropped in November, walking a fine line between irresistibly nostalgic and utterly unfamiliar —an intersection Bonner knows better than almost anybody else.

Clean—that’s the watchword for this vintage-inspired sneaker from Noah and Puma, which has burrowed into the athletic shoe brand’s archives to excavate the classic Puma Wimbledon. A staple on the pro tennis circuit in the '70s and '80s, the Wimbledon was clearly overdue for a comeback, as this simple, streamlined collaboration handily proves. With its low silhouette and crisp white leather upper, it’s a pared-down design that’s as close as anybody’s come to the platonic ideal of a tennis sneaker—one so crisp that it’s equally suited to wearing off the court.

Body of Work, the brainchild of Toronto-based designers Brittney MacKinnon and Dwayne Vatcher, might not enjoy much name recognition in the sneaker space, but their first-ever shoe collaboration immediately anointed the brand as one to watch. A few months ago, the Canadian slow-fashion enthusiasts teamed up with San Antonio Shoemakers, the legendary American footwear imprint, to riff on the brand's flagship Journey Mesh silhouette, a cushy lifestyle sneaker that remains catnip for the geriatric set. Hand-made in America and constructed from Italian suede and full-grain leather, they might be the only kicks on this list your grandpa would consider jacking from your closet—and in 2023, that's just about the highest compliment we can pay 'em.

Fresh off an acclaimed new album, Travis Scott is back in the limelight—and he’s enjoying a moment in the footwear world again, too. Scott’s ongoing collaboration with Jordan Brand has produced some of the most in-demand sneakers on the market, with resale prices hitting the stratosphere even by the already high standards set by the brand. This year’s low-top Jordan 1 “Olive” is one of the duo's best (and most tasteful) offerings yet, taking their original mocha colorway one step further with a deep splash a green on the signature reverse swoosh.

A three-piece capsule collection inspired by the Hype Williams film of the same name, the “Belly” collab between Joe FreshGoods and New Balance captures some of the slick neo-noir excitement of the cult classic, paying tribute to its vivid aesthetic with sneakers in white, black, and blue that reference specific scenes from the film. From fresh white pigskin to jet-black leather, the construction and the detailing feels very much in line with the movie’s beautifully stylized aesthetic, a fitting celebration of a film that’s finally getting its critical due.

The market for retro Jordan 4s has cooled slightly since its not-too-distant heyday, but the Jordan 4 Thunder made clear that this is a silhouette that can still bring the heat when done right. The bold contrast of bright yellow on deep black looks as clean now as it did when it launched back in 2006, and the premium nubuck used on the uppers gives the whole thing an impressively luxe feel. It’s not surprising that this colorway has become a fan-favorite over the last two decades, and we’re thrilled to see it make a comeback.

Founded in Venice Beach in 2013 by Chris “Spanto” Pinup, the Los Angeles-based streetwear brand Born x Raised is revered for its deep connections to the city and the local flavor of its output. That spirit is on full display throughout its high-profile collaboration with Nike, the “One Block at a Time” SB Dunk, which remixes the classic low skater silhouette with an emphasis on LA street culture. From its embroidered heel and toecap detailing to its winking use of Dodgers blue, it’s a statement sneaker that exudes California cool.

Sometimes the secret to reimagining a classic shoe is to hew as closely to the original design as possible. It’s the thoughtful details and little touches that elevate this Club C 85 model from Reebok and German sneaker retailer Solebox: the premium leather upper, off-white midsole, and terry cloth lining scream vintage '80s style, while pastel green detailing and the side-embossed logo add just a subtle hit of branding to distinguish this collab from the OG. It’s a delicate approach to a shoe that needed no major overhaul.

Last year, Brain Dead took a romp through Oakley's archives and came back with something entirely unexpected: a hulking, trail-ready sneaker known as the Chop Saw. The LA brand’s decision to shirk Oakley’s backlog of gleaming wraparound shades was a flex, sure, but a year after Brain Dead and the Oakley Factory team revived those neoprene kicks, it still feels like the right call. In 2023, the two brands linked up yet again to lop the back off the Chop Saw, turning one of the coolest sneakers on the market into one of the coolest mules on the market. Aprés hiking vibes have never looked so freaky.

As the Adidas Samba enters its anxiety era, the Gazelle has rapidly emerged as a leading alternative for folks looking for the next hit sneaker. The Three Stripes releases plenty of riffs on the silhouette you can nab for a pittance compared to some of its buzzier counterparts, but the limited-edition version it dropped with Blondey McCoy is worth going the extra mile to track down. In place of the typical suede uppers, McCoy swapped in ripstop and a shiny patent leather toe box, both of which help shore up the shoe for folks who land kickflips on the regular—and care a whole lot about looking cool doing it. Even if you can’t skate with an ounce of McCoy’s finesse, it represents a worthy stopgap for the Samba-sized hole in your sneaker rotation.

If 2022 was the year aughts-era running sneakers took menswear by storm, 2023 is the year they asserted themselves as the silhouette du jour in fashion at large. Few brands played a bigger role in their resurgence than Aimé Leon Dore—the downtown label helmed by Queens native Teddy Santis—whose coveted takes on New Balance's roster of throwback sneakers have become premium cool-guy currency in today’s clout-oriented sneaker market. In this case, though, the 860V2 wears its pedigree quietly, a new hallmark of Santis’ role as creative director of New Balance's Made in USA sub-line. But quiet doesn’t mean boring; the green-and-gold colorway is just about the most moodboard-friendly sneaker we’ve seen in a minute.

Indie darling Sandy Liang spent the last decade growing her range of fluffy fleece jackets into a full-blown fashion label, one that stages runway shows and collaborates with retail juggernauts like Target. Her subtle take on Salomon’s RX Moc, the daintiest silhouette in the French brand’s repertoire, marries her penchant for peppy details with Salomon’s outdoors-y bona fides, kitting out the tongue with a subtle floral print but leaving the rest of the silhouette largely untouched. Sure, the mesh uppers will help your dogs breathe trudging up the trails, but they’re also just a great opportunity to flex your kookiest socks.

If you want to know how Asics’ once-forgotten runners ushered in a craze for Y2K-drenched sneakers, look no further than the Bulgarian-born designer Kiko Kostadinov, who's been cranking out buzzy collaborations with the Japanese sportswear juggernaut since 2018. The duo's latest hit is the Gel-Quantum Zienztia, which ups the fashion quotient on the whole enterprise yet again, this time with a sleek black-and-blue upper and a low-slung, oblong shape that feels quintessentially Kiko.

If you’re wondering how bootcut jeans and bulbous skate shoes finagled their way back into the fashion consciousness, the Y2K-obsessed youngsters on TikTok have the answer. (For now, at least, the kids seem to have left puka shell necklaces where they belong—firmly in the past.) This year, no sneaker dominated the For You page quite like the Adimatic, which boasts the type of pillow-y tongue and hulking sole once ubiquitous among Sbarro-scarfing mall rats. The best version comes via the Boston boutique Bodega, which teamed up with Beams to inject the silhouette with a hint of nouveau-Ivy style.

In the era of digital releases and online raffles, the IRL sneaker drop has become something of a lost art. So leave it to the mysterious London-based streetwear whizzes at Corteiz to develop a conceit to get antsy shoppers off their couches and away from their screens. In order to score a pair of its limited-edition Air Max 95s, Corteiz introduced the "crossbar challenge," inviting customers to knock a fútbol off the top of a soccer goal from 18 yards out. If they hit metal, they’d be rewarded with the label’s take on Nike’s classic running shoe. The sneaker eventually received a wider release online, but the initial concept serves as a welcome reminder that buying sneakers can still be a blast.

Even skate kids need to escape the concrete jungle every now and then, which helps explain what, exactly, attracted the team at Dime to Merrell’s flagship shoe, a sneaker so damn practical Merrell had the temerity to name it the Mother of All Boots. At first glance, the Moab feels better suited to pitching camp than ollieing down a flight of stairs, but the cushy Vibram sole is just right for all sorts of outdoor adventures, whether you’re desperate to avoid face-planting on asphalt or dirt.

After close to 20 years languishing in Nike’s archives, the return of the ACG Watercat feels right on time. The freaky aughts-era sneaker pulls inspiration from woven leather sandals, but thanks to its quick-drying uppers and wide footbed, it skews more water shoe than huarache. If you’ve got a raucous poolside bash on the calendar, few sneakers will service you better—and annoy the “old heads” more effectively.

When it comes to sneaker collaborations, Comme des Garçons has its approach on lock. Take a classic silhouette, do it up in a monochromatic color scheme, add a logo hit on the back, and boom: another hit is born. Are the Terminators the flashiest, most innovative shoes on this list? Not really. Are they still an ultra-covetable riff on one of Nike’s all-time-great basketball sneakers? Absolutely.