Sneakers are no longer worn to exercise, and following the huge sportswear trend of late 2017 is the retro trainer trend. With influences from the 90’s being huge this year on the fashion scene, it is not surprising that the designs people are looking for with their trainers are vintage. The 90’s shoes were characterised by bold, vibrant colours, chunky soles and daring patterns– platform trainers being some of the most popular. Recently brands have copied these past trends, including well-known brands such as Adidas and Nike.
The Sportswear trend is huge right now, and not just at the gym either. Big designer names have been putting their sportswear lines on the biggest runways, including at fashion weeks all across the globe. Of course, the trainer trend had to follow the trend of the sports leggings and sports bras. The trainers are a lot easier to style also and so provide an easy way to style the sportswear trend, as of course the trainers can be worn with any outfit and are a welcome rest from boots, flats, and other uncomfortable foot attire.
Designers such as Balenciaga and Gucci released their take on the ‘retro’ trainers and they are nostalgic-looking with the designs being filtered through to the high street and allowing access to much cheaper ‘retro’ trainers. Especially as the Balenciaga triple S trainers retail for around £600, it is unsurprising that high street brands quickly jumped onto this trend. The Gucci Rhyton printed leather trainers are quite similar to the Balenciaga version, yet at even more of a cost, retailing closer to the £700 mark rather than £600. They feature the large block sole with the trademark Gucci logo and colours running across the bottom. These trainers are often styled with the famous Gucci gym socks pulled up to where pants finish for the ultimate ‘gym’ look, which is so on trend right now.
Nike Air Max ’95 LX’s definitely demonstrate the retro trend, they have the extremely chunky sole, they come in all colours including vibrant colours and also muted tones and feature designs from the 90’s. They are much more accessible than the high- end versions and are quite similar in design. You can buy them from any major shoe shop such as Size?, Office and also many places sell them online. On ASOS the shoe retails for £135 which whilst still being on the expensive side for a pair of trainers, remain a lot cheaper than the luxury brand versions.
As you can tell, the retro trainer trend is huge, not just with designers, even some high street shops have started sporting the trend- like H&M. It won’t be long till the retro trainers are in every high street shop, especially as the trend has proved to be so big since the start of the year.