Peak geek sneaks
Dorky, thick-soled ‘dad shoes’ the latest fashion obsession
IF you want to look fresh, try raiding your father’s closet.
“Dad shoes” — those thick-soled, aggressively awkward sneakers beloved by Jerry Seinfeld circa 1994 — are currently fashion’s hottest musthave accessory. And celebrities can’t get enough of them.
Just this past month, Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Jaden Smith have all sported new clunky tennis shoesoes by brands like Yeezy andd Louis Vuitton. Chance the Rapper donned a pair while host-host ing “Saturday Night Live” in November, while modeldel Bella Hadid wore some veryry dadlike Nikes during a recentt dinner with her own dad.
“We’re in the dad-sneaker neaker peak at the moment,” says YuMing Wu, cofounder ofof the traveling industry footwear otwear event Sneaker Con, which takes place in New York Cityty on Dec. 16 and 17.
Andrew Raisman, founder of the app Copdate, whichch allows users to buy highly coveted oveted kicks without waitingg in line, believes the trend originated ginated with the Yeezy “Powerphase,” an all-white, defiantlyy un-un cool sneaker releasedd by rapper-designer Kanye ye West back in March.
“It’s like Kanye went nt into the Adidas archive ve and was like, ‘Find the weirdest, most generic ic shoe and let me make e it a hype sneaker,’ ” Raisman says.
Apparently, Kanye waswas onto something. In September, mber, Balenciaga launched a $850 multicolored dad sneaker,aker, the “Triple S,” which Wu says go for $1,500 on resale sites. Luxury labels like Céline and Gucci have shown old-fogeylike kicks on their spring and resort 2018 runways, while street-style stars attended September’s Fashion Week sporting ungainly sneakers with fabulous, fancy frocks. In response, sportier brands like Fila and Sketchers have re-released their own vintage geeky designs.
“They’re the antithesis of the kind of slick, technical shoes that had dominated the sneaker world for a long time,” says Raisman, adding that unattractive footwear is just part of the current trend.
“A 15-year-old kid and a 50-year-old man dress the same now,” he says, citing the oversize drab trenchcoats, bland $800 hoodies and Soviet-inspired threads by the influential design collective Vetements.
Not that Raisman covets any dad kicks for himself.
“I guess they’re comfortable, they look pretty sturdy, and they make you look two inches taller,” he says. “But from a purely aesthetic perspective, they’re nothing great to look at.”