The Normalization of the Wild Sneaker-Loafer
Let's go back in time to January during Paris Fashion Week's menswear presentations. Close your eyes and relive Junya Watanabe MAN's Fall/Winter 2024 runway show and the parade of reworked Canadian tuxes and deconstructed Carhartt uniforms. And then suddenly, in walks that New Balance shoe.
Is it a loafer? Wait, but it has a sneaker's sole? 'Twas the questions running through sneakerheads' minds, I assume. Junya Watanabe's New Balance shoe turned out to be both. It's a sneaker-loafer (or "snloafer"...I'm still working on the nickname).
Junya Watanabe's New Balance 1906L — the "L" stands for loafer, obviously — came to us as a marriage of New Balance's hot, techy 1906 runner and, well, a pleasantly preppy penny loafer.
Junya Watanabe's New Balance 1906 loafer naturally took over the internet, as expected with any oddity shoe these days (Big Red Boots, anyone?). Some loathed the fusion steppers, while others were ready to purchase the pairs right off the runway (Junya Watanabe's New Balance 1906Ls are expected in the fall season).
Later, it was revealed that New Balance had bigger plans for the 1906L beyond the Junya Watanabe team-up. Indeed, the sneaker-loafer has since appeared in some general release colorways, including bright neon and silver versions. Why, there's even a velvety suede pair ready for those unwilling to give up their Y2K dad shoes for dinner at 8.
New Balance's 1906 loafer may seem like the beginning of the sneaker-loafer movement, but the wild concept has been around for a while.
PUMA recently teamed up with fashion label Palomo Spain, where the two delivered — you guessed it — a sneaker-loafer! The pair dished out their Nitefox loafer — part PUMA trail sneaker, part dress shoe — in 2022 and again in 2024. But with the current buzz engulfing sneaker-loafers, more eyes are on PUMA's Nitefox loafers than ever.
Cottweiler cooked up a so-called "sneafer" with Reebok in 2018. Dubbed "Driving Shoes," the stocky Reebok sneaker-loafer debuted with the stacked, grippy sole of a performance sneaker and the top of a fuzzy formal shoe.
I always have trouble driving in heels to a dressy event. Can someone make some sneaker heels, please? Oh, wait...
In addition to Converse's All-Star loafer, there was also GmbH's ASICS Gel-Chappal shoe from 2020, a buttery slipper carrying the same GEL-infused soles as ASICS' trendy sneakers.
But before then — I'm talking way before the 2000s — Nike had the Vagabond. Hailing from the 80s Nike collection, the stocky Vagabond loafer was hard to miss. It features Nike Air and a Waffle-molded bottom, all wrapped in a beefy loafer design.
Again, New Balance's 1906L isn't the first sneaker-loafer, as you can see. However, New Balance's effort undoubtedly helped open the door wider for the shoe's normalization in sneaker culture.
'Cause like it or not, these NBs will probably be everywhere when they drop.
