The Most Surprising Things in Sneakers This Year

Nigo x Nike Ads Were Better Than the Shoes

I remember earlier this year we were debating what was going to be more anticipated, Nigo x Nike or the Futura x Nike SB Dunk. I think we all know which ended up being bigger. But that’s because the Futura Dunks were infinitely better shoes. But the Nigo x Nike had everything going for it. It was Nigo’s first time working with Nike, after he built much of his legacy knocking off Nike’s Air Force 1 design for his brand A Bathing Ape’s Bapesta sneaker. When word came out that he was doing an Air Force 3, there was some disappointment. Especially when people saw the shoes. But the biggest surprise of all was the marketing for the project. Each colorway of the shoe received its own video. The first pairs, which are reminiscent of old Bape colorways, had an anime music video that featured a song with Young Thug. The second wave of releases had an ‘80s toy commercial video referencing Planet of the Apes. Both were great. Way better than the shoes. If the shoes had been half as good as the marketing, they might have made a year-end list, and not this one.

Wu-Tang x Nike Dunk Highs Coming Back

One of the ultimate sneaker grails came back this year. And it was sort of out of nowhere. 1999’s Wu Tang Dunk, a promo product from 25 years ago and Nike’s first artist collaboration, got a retro. And it sort of came out of nowhere. There had been rumblings for a few years that maybe Nike would retro the sneaker. They even tried in 2016. But it never came to fruition.

After RZA saw the shoes selling for an insane amount in Japan at StockX, he decided it was time. We didn’t get much of a heads up that the shoes were coming back. Nike just posted the sneakers as a teaser on a Sunday in June. Boom. They were officially confirmed as coming back. The reception was OK—not what you’d expect from such an important shoe. Maybe the color was wrong on them, darker than the originals. But Dunks don’t have heat right now. And pretty much every big hype sneaker from earlier in the 2020s is dead, if we’re being honest.

Reselling Basically Being Dead

It’s been a long time coming, but sneaker reselling is finally dead. The “Black Cement” 3s dropped this year and are sitting on shelves. Most of the “best sneakers of the year” are hardly going for above retail. The bubble that was created after the pandemic, when stimulus checks hit, popped.

Of course, people were still spending big bucks on limited shoes before that, but it came to a height in 2020-2021. It’s been a slow downturn since. But this year, it’s almost like, why even bother trying to hit on a shoe on release day? You can probably get it whenever you want. And if you miss out, you can buy it for, like, $31 more than retail, or even under retail, on the aftermarket. The Action Bronson x New Balance 1906, Kids of Immigrants x Nike Air Sunder Max, Fututa x Nike SB Dunks, and Air Jordan 17s are amongst the few sneakers I really remember causing hysteria when they dropped this year. The same goes for anything Travis Scott does with Nike, but that’s expected. People stopped getting hype over hitting on a shoe on the SNKRS app, because it probably won’t resell for anything. There was a time when people tried to buy anything they could get on SNKRS, even if they didn’t like the shoe, just because of resale value. Those days are long gone. It’s a good thing for almost everyone involved, except those trying to make their living off flipping shoes. Some say this year in sneakers is boring, because sneakers don’t resell for a lot, and in turn aren’t viewed as valuable. Funny how the world people wanted isn’t the one they wanted all along.

ASICS Being the Top Brand

Can’t say we didn’t see it coming. But ASICS absolutely dominated 2024 on nearly every level. There were collaborations like the Kith x Marvel collection, shoes from New Zealand’s EARL, Australia’s Above the Clouds, and JJJJound and Kith and Hidden NY. All of those were well received, but where ASICS really capitalized was in the general release market. Last year saw the brand able to push the Gel-NYC shoe (which I personally think is a pretty meh shoe) as a frontrunner, but this year we saw the proliferation of the 1130, 2160, and Kayano 14 models. They were everywhere. Sure, the spread started last year, too, but this year took it to another level. The shoes moved out of their niche market and became mainstream. People were camping out for general release ASICS at big box retailers. They dominated resale shops. And you saw them on foot everywhere. I think I knew ASICS was officially big when I saw people wearing the white and black 1130s with Nike socks, meaning they had spread outside of the over-obsessive sneaker crowd. Let’s see if the brand can keep it up for 2025.

Yeezys Just Going Away

The Kanye West and Adidas saga is officially over. Both entities have agreed to go their separate ways. After much consternation and back and forth, there are officially no more Yeezys coming out. At first, people were wondering how they were going to get their hands on more Yeezys, especially 350s, when they found out Kanye West was no longer with the brand. But that quickly passed. Adidas liquidated the last of its Yeezy stock throughout 2024. Most of it sat on the brand’s site. A lot went on sale. A ton showed up at outlets. And you kind of saw people wearing less and less 350s around. It was almost like Adidas couldn’t give Yeezys away. And it makes sense: people were sensitive about anything associated with Ye. And his fans didn’t want to support Adidas because West wasn’t getting paid royalties. On top of that, the product had been rinsed into the ground over the past 10 years. And the industry had moved far past the want for sock shoes. It was altogether a losing proposition.

Anthony Edwards Having the Sneaker of the Year

I’ve written so much about this topic this year so far. What more is there to say? No one expected a performance basketball shoe to be the most talked-about sneaker this year. But Anthony Edwards and Adidas were able to capture that magic. Good looking shoe, likable player who played well, cool commercials that were bold and brave and aesthetic. It all worked. It was refreshing. It’s just what Adidas needed in a post-Yeezy world, even if it’s nowhere near the same scale as 350s.

Kids of Immigrants’ Surprise Nike Sunder Max

I don’t think anyone had Kids of Immigrants having a shoe in the Sneaker of the Year convo on their bingo card in 2024. Mainly because a lot of people weren’t even familiar with the brand. The company had been a mainstay at ComplexCon over the past few years, but hasn’t had signature hype moments. The Sunder Max was Nike’s answer to the Y2K sneaker trend. The general release pairs were popular, although not as big as those in the same trend shoes from other brands. I’d see them all over the office. But the Kids of Immigrants collaboration took the shoe to another level. If sneaker hype was dead this year, this shoe was an outlier. People were hyped on the shoes and disappointed that they missed out. I hardly saw that all year. The design was refreshing, although the purple is infinitely better than the orange, in my opinion. I think these are gonna hold up pretty well and it’s definitely a launching pad for the brand on a larger level. Let’s see what Kids of Immigrants can do next.

Supreme’s Nike Air Max DN

The Air Max DN is not it. I’m sure some people love the shoes. You see them here and there. But it’s not the groundbreaking model that Nike touted it as earlier this year. Good thing John Donahoe and that era of Nike is gone forever. Even more surprising is that Nike decided to launch the new sneaker with a Supreme collaboration, as the streetwear brand’s collabs typically focus on retros. They even did a friends and family pair. But the general release pair went as soon as it came. Saw them pop up a few times early on, but totally forget about them since that. It was a pretty dead year for Supreme overall, and these DNs definitely didn’t help the brand any.