Retro sneakers blend classic designs with modern updates, offering timeless style and nostalgic appeal. Photo: Larroude
Fashion obeys the laws of physics just like the natural world, and there is no better example than the fact that what goes up must come down.
This is true for hemlines and volumes, and it has proved true for sneakers.
They became so ridiculously oversize thanks to the Balenciaga Triple S, which, in 2017, made monstrous footwear seem like the hottest thing since fur-lined slides, that there was nowhere to go except down.
Indeed, back in March, The New York Times carried an article declaring the end of the giant sneaker and the return of retro style: the slim-line kicks introduced in the middle of the last century that were being reissued and rediscovered by a new generation.
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The truth, however, is that the recent sneaker cycle probably started at least five years ago, when Grace Wales Bonner, the cult-y designer of a namesake brand and the new Hermes menswear designer, tried her hand at reinventing the Samba, introduced in 1949.
Fashion insiders got overexcited, it sold out, and Adidas understood that it had a potential hit on its hands.
Before you could say “midcentury”, Adidas started releasing the shoe in various limited-edition colour combinations (nothing spurs consumption like the word “limited”).
Samba fever probably hit its peak in 2022, when searches for the shoe rose 350%, according to the shopping platform Lyst – at least until Rishi Sunak, the former British prime minister, was photographed wearing his Sambas in Downing Street, almost immediately harshing the vibe.
Still, the Samba success opened the door for other brands to dip into their own archives, (re)producing hits like the Nike Cortez (first released in 1972), the Nike Zoom Vomero 5 (introduced in 2010), the Puma Speedcat (original release, 1999) and the Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 (introduced in, yes, 1966).
Brands like Larroude have introduced their own versions of retro-inspired sneakers (see the Stella, a slim-line style in suede and velvet).
When I asked Marina Larroude, the company’s co-founder, why she went the old-fashioned route, she said she wanted a shoe with “the polish of a loafer but the ease and comfort of a sneaker”.
She wanted women to be able to more easily wear it with “a pair of jeans, tailored pants, a miniskirt or a blazer, and it would blend right in without screaming ‘comfort-athleisure shoe’" (or “fashion victim”, which is where the oversize kick thing was going).
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The rise of the retro sneaker is also connected to the return of wider pants and longer skirts, which pair well with slim shoes.
Big pants and big clunkers tend to look shlumpy, and skinny jeans and skinny sneaks can make your legs look like bowling pins. The goal should be balance in shoe and garment silhouettes, as in all things.
Will the retro sneaker moment last? Larroude said she introduced the Stella last January and that it has been selling out every month since then.
At this point, she considers it a basic part of the line, like an ankle boot or an ankle-strap platform.
And while that doesn’t necessarily mean that retro will continue to sit atop the sneaker trend curve – it’s probably already past its recent prime, it is possible that the retro style has become the straight-leg jean of the sneaker world: a perennial option, no matter what the current trend. – ©2025 The New York Times Company/Vanessa Friedman
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
