As we start off a new year it’s time to look back at all the amazing sneakers that came out. Some we hated, some we loved, and some we hated to love. A lot of companies had a great year, better than most thought but you can't deny their impact on the game.
1. New Balance
A name that 5 years ago let alone maybe 2 years ago nobody ever thought they’d be on a list for fashion, especially streetwear fashion. New Balance had an amazing year, they literally revived themselves and have top 5 silhouettes and sneaker of the year all without a major celebrity collaboration. Maybe Jack Harlow has something to do with it? Probably not but it never hurts to have someone like him on the roster promoting your brand. The New Balance 550 by itself was enough to have them in this conversation, from the classic colors they dropped to bringing back the N logo on the side of their shoes instead of the NB making it one of the must-haves in your rotation of the year. Getting several sneaker runs designed by Salahe Bembury, ex-Vice President of sneakers and men's footwear of Versace tells us New Balance can do no wrong right now. To go from irrelevant to having your shoe sold out every time organically is a feat no other name on the list this year had to do and did it as gracefully and quietly as New Balance.
2. Adidas
You cant talk sneakers without mentioning Adidas and that's because of who Kanye West is. The Yeezy slide had everyone in a literal chokehold this year, it was one of the only slides that could be considered sneaker of the year with how many people had to have a pair along with the foamrunner or known as the Yeezy croc. Yeezy kept on dropping new silhouettes like the 450 that everyone seemed to hate, but sells out immediately every time and is slowly starting to be copied by other large fashion companies. You cannot talk about Adidas without speaking on the other powerhouse in Ivy Park. Each drop for Ivy Park is a literal movie and sells out within minutes every time and leaves Twitter in a frenzy. The Ultraboost x Ivy Park will always be a crowd favorite, giving the fans new colorways of the iconic silhouette as we all saw the great potential Ultraboost had then just dropped. Ultimately Adidas has kept its foot on the gas and hasn't let up at all, while these may be considered as collaborations they all seem to come organically. You can tell Beyonce and Kanye West both have much invested creative expression in their lines and every time they drop the world stops.
3. Nike
While I may have had some choice words for Nike, it still doesn't change the monster of a giant they are in the sneaker game. Silhouette of the year undoubtedly goes to the Nike Dunk low. Nike always finds the sneaker the crowd loves and sticks with it, last year was the Jordan 1 and this year was the Dunk low. If you don't believe me, Virgil created 50 different off-white Dunk lows that should tell you everything. Cool grey 11’s will be deemed top 10 sneakers of the year in almost everyone's, along with probably 5 other Nike sneakers so there's no way to take away their impact. They've also had an amazing year for the ladies and all their collaborations. If your foot was bigger than a 10.5 then you weren't able to capitalize on the amazing colorways they released this year. Nike is just like year 19 Lebron, people may say they’re losing their explosiveness and that first step but their down years are a lot of companies' dream peak years.
4. Puma
Now I know what you're thinking but hear me out Puma has had a pretty good year for themselves. They should thank J. Cole for that, the RS-DREAMER 2 sneaker is what made it cool to wear puma again. Actually, Rihanna originally did and we know anything she touches turns to gold, the creepers and slides she made had the shoe game in a frenzy with how quick Puma was selling out. Puma also did the impossible and took away rising NBA star Lamelo Ball from the BBB brand and got him a deal. His new signature line just dropped and sold out within minutes, they also plan to release the second pair very soon due to the type of the first release. Now, none of these will be considered in the top anything for sneakers of 2021, but they’re headed in the right direction of getting people to wear their sneakers.
5. Reebok
This may seem left field and this spot may be up for debate but Reebok made the list for a good reason. The main reason is because of Cardi B. Cardi B’s new Reebok collaboration put them back on the map. Cardi is a superstar in her own right, but it's not easy to make general consensus appreciate a sneaker itself. Especially as Reebok hasn't been known to push the culture forward since maybe their collaboration with Shaq. The sneaker has a great silhouette and good colorways that we can see coming back into 2022. Allen Iverson’s sneaker is the reason the lights and the bills are paid over at Reebok. They continue to drop retroes of all the Iversons to bring back the hype from the ’00s. Whether or not it has transcended to a younger audience is a question for another time but is still one of their best sellers of 2021. The masterful Master P has also just bought Reebok and that's exciting news for 2022 and the future of Reebok. Hopefully, we'll have a lot more names and sneakers from Reebok next year that’ll support their names being on this list.
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