The Girlification of the Sneakerhead Industry
The decline of the "shrink it in pink" approach, the continuation of balletcore in sneaker form, and the leaders of the girly sneaker market.
I grew up with the idea that you should never pay full price for anything. So why was I checking StockX multiple times a day last year, monitoring the price of the Cecilie Bahnsen Asics GT-2160 sneakers and ultimately paying almost double the original price for them? (Don’t worry, my two lovely friends covered half of it as my birthday gift) The same me who used to make fun of the boys in high school for being sneakerheads, was now setting multiple alarms trying (but failing) to cop the Sandy Liang Salomons.
When did these feminine, embellished with bows and ribbon sneakers become the new it-shoe that girls were willing to pay ridiculous resale prices for like they're Taylor Swift The Eras Tour tickets?
The sneaker industry has always been big, with USD 79.2 billion of revenue generated in 2023, and traditionally catered towards the male audience. However, the rate of growth in the industry year over year since the 2020 pandemic has slowed down considerably. We see other shoe styles, such as loafers and boots, trending more and more in men's fashion. Consequently, large household sneaker brands like Nike and Adidas have seen a loss of popularity in the market, which is reflected in some of their longtime popular shoes losing substantial value. "[The] Panda Dunks, for example, which often sold for as much as $350 on resale sites in 2021, are now only going for an average of $183, a 48 percent decline even as it remains one of the most talked about shoes on social media" (Malachosky). Could this be a reason why the sneaker market is looking to appeal more to the female audience through cool it-girl designer collaborations with sneaker brands like Asics and Salomons?
The recent popularity of these girly-style sneakers also fulfills a need in the women's sneakers market. I'm not a sneakerhead myself, but I always found myself liking the men's sneaker designs more than the women's. Often, big brands like Nike and Adidas take the men's sneaker design, shrink it, paint it in a "girly" color and sell it to their women customers (known as the "shrink it in pink" mentality in product design). I think companies have started to notice that approach doesn't cut it anymore. We want more; we want products that are well-thought out and designed with us in mind. As sneakers have become an everyday shoe, and the priority for comfort has increased as a result of the pandemic, us girls want cute comfortable sneakers that will match our long, poofy skirts and girlcore aesthetics. To quote Demi Lovato in their 2008 single "La La Land", "who says I can't wear my Converse with my dress?"; in 2024, I think it would be "who says I can't wear my Sandy Liang Salomons with my dress?"
Speaking of, the Sandy Liang x Salomon collab was the first instance where I started to notice the sneaker hype within the girlies fashion space. The day of the drop was tense, with it being sold out within 30 seconds, mostly by bot buyers. They were then immediately posted on StockX for triple its original price. Several people went to TikTok to express their disappointment and frustration over the situation, some going to extremes, blaming the Sandy Liang staff for not filtering out the bots. But even I understood, as a non-sneakerhead, that bots are just part of the sneaker drop experience (similar to the excruciating concert ticket buying experience nowadays).
Another sneaker brand that has really taken the opportunity to market to the fashion girls is Asics. Their partnership with Cecilie Bahnsen has spanned over several seasons and they don't show any signs of stopping (which is great for the fashion girls but not so great for my bank account). Models were seen sporting the newest Cecilie Bahnsen Asics collab sneakers at the FW 2024 show. Flower appliques were adorned all over Asic's Gel Terrain sneakers, referencing back to Bahnsen's use of flower motifs in her clothing. Other notable Asics collaborations include Shushu/tong and most recently, Heaven by Marc Jacobs x Kiko Kostadinov.
Compared to many other sneaker collabs where they just slap on a designer logo or change the colorway, Asics sneaker collaborations put in a lot of thought into the design of the shoes, adding specific motifs/characteristics of the featured designer as 3D embellishments. Some collabs go as far as reconstructing Asic's already existing style of sneaker to fit the aesthetic of the brand. For example, the Cecilie Bahnsen GT-2160 sneakers upgraded Asic's original GT-2160 design by adding a thick velcro strap across the shoe and making it more of a mary-jane style.
The Shushu/tong x Asics sneaker features giant frills in both a black and blue gingham colorway which fits the frilly/ruffle designs of Shushu/tong. And the Heaven by Marc Jacobs x Kiko Kostadinov x Asics collab features more of a ballet flat style sneaker, a new design for Asics, appealing to all the balletcore girls. Asic's creativity and open mindedness to stray away from its traditional sneaker styles gives them an advantage over the Nike/Adidas sneaker leaders in the market.
One part of sneakerhead culture I'm curious to see if it will translate to this new fashion niche is the collection/preservation nature aspect of it. Many sneakerheads buy certain sneakers with the intention of never actually wearing them; instead they keep them in pristine condition in their original shoeboxes or display them as décor in their room as to not decrease the value of the shoe. I personally don't see this happening but perhaps if the girly sneaker market becomes big enough, we will start seeing the fashion girls with a full shoe rack of unworn, pristine Cecilie Bahnsen Asics.
I'm excited to see what future designer sneaker collabs there will be. What's a collab you would like to see come to fruition? For me, I'm manifesting a Chopova Lowena x Asics collab. We've already seen a lot of girly designs, so I think it's time to see an edgier brand come out with a sneaker collab. Chopova Lowena already draws inspiration from sportswear in their clothing, making it a perfect match. Incorporating Chopova Lowena's punk/grunge aesthetic, loud plaid patterns and metal hardware details would make for an incredible sneaker that I would 100% pay the insane resale price for.
Sources/References:
https://www.elle.com/fashion/trend-reports/a44803025/hyper-femme-sneaker-trend-2023/
https://www.gearpatrol.com/style/shoes-boots/a42432652/sneaker-industry-2023/
https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/asics-cecilie-bahnsen-fw24/
https://www.sir.advancedleadership.harvard.edu/articles/shrink-it-and-pink-it-gender-bias-product-design
would LOVE to see a chopova sneaker collab some day! manifesting right there with you