Maybe We Are Ready For A Post Sneaker World

Sneakers are always going to be hot --but let's make room for other things too

May 17, 2023

Loafers for men | Penny, Tassel Loafers | Barker Shoes USA | Tagged "Shoe Type_Penny Loafer"

I cannot find the earliest known reference to the phenomenon known as the "post sneaker world," but I can surmise it was in 2019 or early 2020 on the Throwing Fits podcast. Jimmy and Larry from the TF pod have been preaching about what life after sneakers will look like for a long time to their vast listenership. As of right now, the podcast is the 9th highest charting show on the US fashion and beauty charts and 27th on the Spotify arts chart, so the message has certainly gotten around.

I originally resented this rejection of sneaker culture because it came from - for lack of a better word - a place of player-hating. The hosts of the show are former sneakerheads themselves who felt like the hobby was being gentrified and they began to speak out against it, telling their listeners, most of whom are teenage and young adult men, to opt for loafers over Jordan 1s. I don't believe that you should resent something because you don't like the clientele, but I understand how that can be the case. I try my hardest not to turn my back on things because a few select people are making them appear in bas taste. Sure there are things that the clientele makes annoying, but I won't let hypebeast teenagers ruin New Balance 550s just yet.

My biggest critique of the "post sneaker world," is the idea that sneakers will always be cool. There are sneakers that have reached complete and total ubiquity - white Vans, Air Force 1s, Stan Smiths, etc. Sneaker culture is still a big part of fashion, even if it isn't as big as it was a few years back when it was impossible to win a raffle on the SNKRS app. These days, resell prices have leveled out and it’s not as impossible to buy hype sneakers as it was during the heyday of the sneaker drop craze.

You will still see new tech bros sporting the latest Air Jordans, Yeezy’s, or Off-white Nikes/dunks in an attempt to appear cool, but the mainstream fashion enthusiasts have moved on to other types of footwear. The most recent example of this would be the Birkenstock Boston, which reached a fever pitch during the peak days of quarantine. The minimal, tasteful clog became the go-to shoe for sitting around the house, running off to the bodega to grab snacks, and taking fit pics in. You couldn’t find a pair of these anywhere. Luckily, I purchased a pair just before Covid really took off and didn’t have a problem grabbing some, but I know people that were searching for months just to be able to get them.

There is still a world where sneakers are very cool, I just am not in it anymore. I don’t like the idea that people turn to other types of shoes, as a means of “growing up” or wanting to move to the next phase of fashion as if sneaker culture is inherently juvenile, but I do think there is value and having a diverse shoe closet. I have been wearing more and more leather, black shoes, and they just make me feel good. I have a pair of Dr. Martens 1461 derbies that I purchased four or five years ago that didn’t get much where before because I had yet to break them in, but I’ve been wearing them so much that they now fit my foot like a glove, they feel sturdy almost indestructible. I can step through stone with these babies on. I’ve also been wearing a ton of Clark’s Wallabies, but let’s be real who is in these days? I think you can take the same concept from sneakers and take them into any other facet of footwear. You can collect loafers like their Jordans because there are just so many styles and colors and silhouettes to choose from. You can really grab a pair for every day of the week, any occasion.

Sneakers are far from over. I still wear all of the sneakers that I have in my closet on a regular basis. Sneakers are still the most comfortable shoes, even if I wear my ALD garden clogs around the house and run errands. Sneakers will always be part of the sartorial DNA in society, but I do think it is important to have a whole slate of footwear that you can turn to for any occasion.

You can start with the basics and then go for some more advanced Styles. Here’s a quick list of ideas that you can go for: