Running Shoes Have Never Looked Better
Running long ago made the leap from sport to culture. More people are participating in 5Ks than ever before. Running clubs have evolved from extracurricular to the place where you might just meet the love of your life. And running shoes are looking far too fly for a casual five-mile. Performance shoes are the new lifestyle sneaker.
Initially, running shoes were polarized. You either took the red pill (fugly functional footwear) or the blue pill (retro shoes that lacked modern tech). Now, there’s no need to choose. Today’s sneakers look as good as they feel.
Like many things, the craze kicked off with the global COVID-19 pandemic, which placed the world on lockdown. With gyms closed, running became a way to not only stay active but a reason to get out of the house (and avoid other people). This newfound running fandom helped transition the activity from pastime to passion, boosting technical clothes and sneakers in the process.
As interest swelled in the early 2020s, the demand for real-deal usefulness shifted the sportswear crown from titans to newcomers. HOKA and On, founded in 2009 and 2010, respectively, leapt ahead of forebears like Nike. HOKA, the king of chunky runners, really took off around 2023 and went on to have an even better 2024 as its silhouettes crossed over to all-day, all-purpose footwear. On, meanwhile, leveraged cosigns — and financial backing — from ambassadors like Roger Federer and Zendaya, alongside the love of dads worldwide, to a well-received 2021 IPO reflective of a strong cultural presence.
The popularity of both brands had a trickle-down effect. While bigger companies were scrambling to define the new “cool” shoe, younger and smaller sportswear brands began developing technical sneakers so suave that they would inevitably be worn day-to-day. Satisfy and District Vision were already making actually nice running gear before they started working with giants like adidas and New Balance. Satisfy also rolled out its own in-house sneaker, TheROCKER, which aligned stylistically with the trail-centric but still tasteful shoes proposed by other indies like norda and NNormal.
Soon enough, big-name designers and retailers hopped on the trend. A Ma Maniére and Melitta Baumeister issued artful, luxe versions of Nike’s HOKA-sized Pegasus Premium model. Marni puffed up its own monochromatic HOKA Bondi B3LS sneakers. GANNI splashed New Balance’s ultra-thick Fresh Foam Trainer with metallic silver. The On sneakers designed with Post Archive Faction and LOEWE flew off shelves. It all eventually led to Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton men’s creative director and all-around famous guy, building a series of highly engineered running sneakers with adidas as part of his Humanrace label’s ongoing partnership, peaking with $1,000 “concept” sneakers.
The throughline here wasn’t merely performance shoes getting the collaborative touch, but performance shoes becoming genuinely stylish. Even outside of the collaborative models, Nike’s new Pegasus silhouette, New Balance’s Ellipse, and adidas’ EVO SL chunkster are smash hits that sell as briskly as any limited-edition iteration. It’s just that fashion’s involvement in the realm of high-performance footwear marked an important shift in the running shoe craze. It was symbolic of the fact that today’s high-tech sneakers are simply stylish. The war of style versus speed is over. These new runners have both.
adidas ADIZERO EVO SL EXO or Adios Pro 4
Nike Pegasus Premium
HOKA Skyward X 2 or Challenger 8
Salomon Orava or Nueva Advanced
ASICS NOVABLAST 6 (in triple black)
Highsnobiety x Saucony ProGrid Paramount
On Cloudmonster Void (in triple black)
Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10
APL Veil
New Balance Ellipse
