Treat your feet to the coolest kicks through SS25.
One of the more welcome developments in fashion, with roots that stretch way back into the 1980s, is the rise and rise of the trainer over the past four decades. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that sneaker trends exist in their own orbit – which is to say that there is a subset of enthusiasts who may not know their Christopher Kane from their Sarah Burton, but who do know and hotly anticipate every new release from major and cult sneaker brands alike.
We are all for it. It pleases us greatly to see, for example, a bride slipping a pair of plimsols to say I do in, thus being able to dance the night away and swerving the routinely hideous shoes that weddings seem to necessitate. We love the fact that in most circles it is no longer regarded as sloppy to wear them to work or to a party. In a sartorial landscape where, despite it being 2025, Schiaparelli is sending its models down runways in impossibly tiny corsets, we say thank god for the trainer.
The reason that they are no longer solely for doing sports in is that many now come with serious design credentials – and these are the ones we’re most eagerly coveting in in 2025.
Collabs
As anyone who obsessively binged
Amandaland will know, it’s all about the collab right now. The trainer world has always been partial to a partnership, and they’re looking ultra cool in 2025. From Caroline Hu x Adidas Samba (Hu was a finalist for the ultra-prestigious LVMH Young Designer Award) and her silken ruffle take on the classic to Miu Miu X New Balance’s sneaker-meets-loafer look, we are here for these partnerships.
Animal Print
Leopard print never goes out of style: it just resurfaces again and again, periodically surfing the crest of the fashion wave. This season it’s firmly in when it comes to trainers – with other faux hide variations thrown in for good measure too, from cow print to zebra.
Classic Football Trainers
This year marks the women’s Euros and, whether we actually have any intention of kicking a ball or not, we intend to show our support – through our footwear. With that and the much-anticipated return of Oasis on tour, we can expect nineties Britpop style to rear its head once more (for some of us, it never truly went away). Now where’s that bucket hat?
The No-Lace Look
Thought Velcro was just for the under-eights? Think again. There is a profusion of fashion-forward trainers that dodge pesky laces and opt instead for the slip on, the aforementioned Velcro, or, indeed, the buckle. (The Adidas Taekwondo shoe is taking us right back to the late nineties.)
The Hybrid
Ugly trainers are always a story in the sneaker landscape, and this year it’s all about the blurring of lines between shoe types. Whether it’s Cecilie Bahsen’s trainer-stye Mary-Janes or the aforementioned loafer take on the trainer (or snoafer), these are the ones with which to bamboozle the less fashion forward.
