I’m an actual real life dad now and what I look for in a pair of shoes changed at the exact same time my daughter took her first breath.
What used to be an extensive checklist of suedes and exclusive premium materials has switched to "easily-wipeable" and "grippy" at number one and two respectively.
The shoes I now wear on my feet aren’t just for show or clout (Depop sale incoming), they need to be functional too, functional in the sense of being able to kick dirty nappies into open bins from short distances and having the ability put my foot in front of my dog whenever he tries to lick my daughter’s face.
All this calls for a pair of Bumper Hike Low sneakers, the latest footwear offering from Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson’s eponymous label for Spring/Summer 2023.
Retailing at $675 (approximately the same price as 2934 nappies based on the $0.23 average price of Pampers in the US), JW Anderson’s Bumper Hikes arrive in three iterations of blue, silver, and black, each of which sits atop a chunky and ultra-grippy rubber outsole.
Decorated with the brand’s epochal motif at the rear of the chunky underfoot unit, each sneaker houses classic lace-up fastening and tubular detailing to create an interesting juxtaposition of wild and, quite frankly, normal.
JW Anderson’s footwear has been the brand’s highlight of late, with its Wellipets collaboration one of the highlights from last season’s Milan Fashion Week.
While the Bumper Hike Lows might not have the same shock value as a Wellipets frog slip-on, they’re easily as wipeable, which is really all I’m looking for nowadays.
