Every year, it’s the same sh*t. We keep saying that low-profile sneakers are about to be over, but we get proven wrong time and time again. The moment we think we might be moving on from the easy, sleek low-profiles, a new one drops and we stay put.
Following the renaissance of the adidas Samba in 2021 (which skyrocketed with the help of the Wales Bonner collabs), sneaker brands have been reissuing and reintroducing low-profile silhouettes from their own archives. Puma has been standing on business with the rereleases of the Speedcat and the Mostro (with a dozen collaborations including A$AP Rocky’s AWGE and Balenciaga), and, most recently, the H-Street and the Talon. “Archive for us is very important, we have a very rich history and heritage, and we have a very strong archive, and especially the late 90s and early 2000s where the Speedcat and Mostros came from, we have shoes and designs that are embedded in the current zeitgeist. It’s timeless designs,” Puma’s head of select Gregor Abenstein told us on the new H-Street launch.
Nike’s T90 made its cult return earlier this year, adidas has brought out the Taekwondo, and the adidas Wales Bonner collabs’ influence has remained relevant, bringing in new low-profile silhouettes (like the Y-3 Field reissue, teased in her new SS26 collection).
And luxury brands are following through: the Margiela Sprinter, the new LV Buttersoft, Axel Arigato’s Slow Runner and Prada, which recently re-released the 2005 Prada Montecarlo, a silhouette that’s been extinct for 20 years. After two decades, Prada’s brought it out of the archive and introduced it to a brand new audience, along with another new low-profile drop, the Collapse Re-Nylon.
Football and racing continue to be dominant aesthetics in the current culture, with people still going for that Euro-summer vibe of wearable, easy, effortless silhouettes (both in shoes and clothing). This backs up the “putting that sh*t on”, nonchalant energy that we’re all trying to channel: we’re just ordinary guys who haven’t really given much thought to our fits, bc let’s be honest, nothing is worse than looking like we’re trying rn.
In the age of constant microtrends, and very short trend cycles, it’s actually refreshing to see a wider trend remain in the zeitgeist for this long (yes, in the current fashion space four years is a long time), and shift from its position as a trend into full-on a classic staple, because we don’t see low-profiles going anywhere any time soon.
Featured image Puma©
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