This past week, Adidas and Balenciaga teamed up for two new colorways of their Triple S collab. Adidas and Balenciaga are two leaders in their respective lanes. Balenciaga is one of the biggest fashion brands in the world while Adidas is a leader in sportwear. It shouldn’t be surprising that these two would want to team up, especially given the fact that Yeezy is already working alongside Balenciaga.
With this collaboration fresh in our minds, now is a good time to revisit some of the best designer sneaker collabs of all time. These kinds of collaborations are fairly new when it comes to the world of sneakers, and sneakerheads and fashion lovers are typically divided on the subject, however, some brands have done a perfect job of bringing high fashion aesthetics to iconic sneaker silhouettes.
From Prada to Comme Des Garcons, here’s our top five.
5. Nike Air Fear Of God 1
Image via Nike
Jerry Lorenzo is one of the best designers in streetwear and fashion right now. His Fear of God brand has achieved a lot despite not being a legacy imprint like Dior or Prada. As it stands, Lorenzo is working with the likes of Adidas, however, his work with Nike helped secure him as one of the biggest names in the fashion world. His best silhouette to come out of his work with Nike was undoubtedly the Nike Air Fear Of God 1. This shoe blended the lines of performance basketball and fashion as the shoe was actually worn on the court by the likes of PJ Tucker.
4. Prada x Adidas Superstar
Image via Adidas
One of Adidas’ most popular and iconic shoes is the Superstar. Aside from the Stan Smith, no other Adidas shoe is as recognizable as this one. Having said that, the Superstar is the best canvas for a collaboration. You really don’t have to do a lot to this shoe to make it pop. On the Adidas Superstar x Prada collab, Prada keeps things completely simple by adding their logo to the side of the shoe. They also maintain the classic white and black Superstar colorway, which adds another layer to this collaboration. Sometimes, only a logo is necessary to make something elevated.
3. Dior x Air Jordan 1 High
Image via Stadium Goods
By now, everyone knows about the Dior x Air Jordan 1 collaboration. This shoe dropped just a couple of years ago and it has already made a massive impact on the sneaker world. It dropped in both a high top and a low top, although the high top is the one that everyone gravitates towards. Unlike the Prada collab, Dior takes some very interesting creative liberties with this shoe. As you can see, Dior is written all over the Nike swoosh and it is also written inside of the Wings logo. The white and grey colorway also helps make this shoe impeccably clean and as far as designer collabs go, this will forever be remembered by sneakerheads and high fashion gurus.
2. CDG x Converse Chuck 70
Image via Converse
The Comme Des Garcons Chuck 70 is just perfect in every single way. It’s a shoe that is very simple as it takes the Chuck 70 silhouette that we all know and love and adds the CDG heart logo to it all. This look is absolutely gorgeous and it is something that works with all sorts of outfits. Over the years, this shoe has remained in heavy rotation and it’s something that CDG and Converse continue to sell. At this point, it is a general release sneaker because people love it so much. One could even make the argument that it is just as much of a staple as the regular old Chuck Taylor. Having said that, it is clear that this is one designer collab that people will be coming back to for years to come.
1. Off-White x Nike “The Ten”
Image via Nike
Virgil Abloh’s magnum opus is his “The Ten” collab with Nike. This was his first collection with the Beaverton brand and in the end, it launched him into the superstar that would eventually go on to work at Louis Vuitton. Virgil has since passed away but his legacy with Off-White, Nike, and LV still lives on. “The Ten” is a reminder of Virgil’s genius when it comes to stripped-back, DIY design. He took 10 iconic silhouettes and turned them into something that sneakerheads had never seen before. From the zip ties to the writing on the midsole and laces, Virgil took sneaker design and completely flipped it on its head. The original 10 pieces will forever live on as iconic pieces of sneaker history and without Virgil, we wouldn’t have half of the themes or motifs we have today.
Let us know which designer sneaker collab is your favorite in the comments.