The GAT is back. Originally a ‘70s adidas West German military training shoe, the low-profile sneaker got a second lease of life in the late ‘90s when Martin Margiela devised a literal luxury replica of the style. Then, when the GAT’s spiritual successor, the adidas Samba, suddenly became the sneaker du jour, the silhouette received a third lease of life, both as an affordable daily driver and as an elevated flex peddled by luxury brands like Dior, hyped vintage military reproduction brands, and even adidas itself as it started re-focusing on the faithful once-forgotten shoe.

Now, it’s undergoing the next logical evolution: The GAT is getting weird. 

When everyone is already making subtly updated takes on this back-to-basics ‘70s sneaker, it’s about time that some bright-minded designers would start experimenting with it. Reproduction of Found isn’t the brand you’d expect to do the experimenting, though. 

The Tokyo sneaker brand normally does exactly what its name suggests, which is reproducing classic shoe styles exactly as they would’ve been found, GATs included. But the 1796SL German Military Trainer isn’t that. Instead, this sneaker rewrites history through an Italian full-grain leather upper where the GAT's signature suede “T-toe” is abruptly interrupted by a moccasin-style loafer construction. That’s right, it’s a GAT loafer.

No sneaker is safe from being loafer-ized these days. But the 1796SL German Military Trainer tells us more about the future of the GAT than the ubiquity of sneaker-loafers, because this isn’t the only GAT venturing into territory never seen before.

Kith got there early in 2024 when it strapped a Clarks Wallabee sole onto the bottom of an adidas BW Army sneaker, and things have only gotten wilder since then as sneaker retail conglomerate The Whitaker Group brought snakeskin into the mix before Frankensteining the ‘70s army sneaker together with the sole of an ‘80s indoor football boot. This lot even makes Margiela’s recent duct-taped and stapled GAT look normal.

But Korean outdoor brand FFFPOSTALSERVICE might have the wildest take yet with its second-ever sneaker, releasing next year, where all the GAT’s usual overlays and even the laces are contorted and asymmetrical. The GAT of the future is literally twisted!

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