Luxury Sneakers Lose Their ‘It’ Status

The designer sneakers keep coming.

Last week, Louis Vuitton unveiled the Sneakerina, a new silhouette that plays into the trend of sneakers inspired by ballet flats, while Dsquared2 released the Sprinter, a $520 take on retro running shoes. Both arrived shortly after Marni revealed a road running sneaker with Hoka and Balenciaga sent its distressed take on a Puma Speedcat sneaker down the Paris Fashion Week runway.

Luxury labels, it seems, aren’t about to give up their high-priced takes on athletic shoes — even if they aren’t nearly the standout product they used to be.

Sales of contemporary and designer sneakers at major US department stores and large off-price players decreased by 21 percent last year compared to 2023, according to market research firm Circana. They’re down 37 percent versus 2022. Beth Goldstein, Circana’s executive director and industry analyst for footwear and accessories, attributed the decline to stretched consumers and shoppers choosing functional sneakers by sportswear brands rather than designer styles.

That’s not to say designer sneakers are dead, especially in markets beyond the US. At Mytheresa, sales of luxury sneakers are stable, said Tiffany Hsu, the company’s chief buying officer, witnessing no major downturns or peaks. Vincenzo Troia, managing director for the luxury Italian e-commerce retailer Giglio.com, echoed the sentiment, saying demand has remained consistent.

But the category isn’t driving the buzz like it used to.

“A couple of years ago, every big brand had an ‘it sneaker’ that drove a massive business,” said Hsu. “In recent years, it’s become less apparent.”

Designer and luxury sneakers underwent a renaissance in the late 2010s, when countless high-end labels released sneakers as a way to connect with young shoppers and capitalise on the soaring popularity of streetwear. The shoes became the next “it” item in luxury as customers bought in, with styles like Balenciaga’s Triple S, McQueen’s Oversized sneaker and Louis Vuitton’s LV Trainer generating piles of cash for their makers. But sneaker drop fatigue, changing tastes and a slowdown among aspirational luxury buyers (who Goldstein said fuelled the category in the US with post-pandemic savings) have pushed the shoes towards the background.

At this stage, sneakers are just part of the regular repertoire of high-end brands, a steady part of the footwear lineup that still serves as a valuable entry point for shoppers — so much so that Giglio.com’s Troia believes every luxury retailer must provide a sportswear offering and that high-end brands similarly have to do the same. Sneakers make up more than 50 percent of Giglio.com’s footwear revenue, he noted.

“The line between sportswear and formalwear is blurrier compared to the past,” said Troia. “Inside this big picture, styles are evolving and adapting to the times.”

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em

Sneakers are now status items like handbags that will continue to bring a significant amount of volume, Goldstein said, but brands selling luxury and designer footwear are currently challenged by consumers valuing functional attributes beyond design.

“In the sneaker space, the value proposition isn’t really there because the athletic brands are serving as those status items right now,” said Goldstein. “They want to buy Hoka, On, Adidas, New Balance and even Nike.”

Luxury brands seem to have gotten the hint and are collaborating with the competition. Mytheresa’s Hsu said tie-ups between luxury labels and sportswear brands are performing well. Miu Miu’s collaborations with New Balance have sold out in seconds, and Loewe’s collaboration with On is currently a major component of the Spanish luxury label’s shoe business for Mytheresa.

“It’s like a functional sneaker but with a real fashion twist,” said Hsu. “Who else does sneakers best other than sneaker brands?”

Where luxury brands are still finding success with their own shoes is in more toned-down styles than the very eye-catching, logo-heavy statement styles of the past. Troia finds the luxury sneakers resonating with Giglio.com customers today are versatile low-profile styles that are “still enjoying a quiet luxury trend” in neutral or brown colours by brands such as Zegna, Saint Laurent, Brunello Cucinelli and Tod‘s. Hsu similarly highlighted Dries Van Noten’s sleek suede sneakers as a strong seller for Mytheresa.

According to retail insights company Edited, the popularity of minimalist, low-profile sneakers, spearheaded by popular sportswear sneakers such as Adidas Sambas or Puma Speedcats, is also what’s propelled luxury sneakers like the Prada Collapse, which has seen most sizes sell out on Prada’s US and UK sites. That tailwind has also helped drive the strong recent performance of high-end sneaker brand Golden Goose, which saw double-digit sales growth in 2024.

“What I see the designer market doing now is really focussing on retro shoes that aren’t really retro but look retro-esque,” said sneaker-industry consultant Matt Powell, who pointed out that designer labels have generally knocked off trending mass-market sneakers, despite making inroads in producing more original styles in recent years.

Why Collaborations and Scarcity Still Work

While the mass market has grown tired of a constant stream of sneaker collaborations, Powell said the appeal of luxury sneaker collaborations comes from the promise of their sportswear partners being able to produce styles that were originally designed as athletic footwear. Nearly all of Hoka’s collaborations, including its most recent partnership with Marni, were built off the foundation of performance-focussed running sneakers.

Collaborations also give consumers an opportunity to buy into a luxury label’s footwear offering at lower price-points, according to Edited research and analysis manager Katharine Carter. Granted that Loewe’s take on On’s Cloudtilt running sneaker costs $550, it’s still cheaper than Loewe’s $790 Ballet Runner.

The soft demand for luxury sneakers from brands’ mainline offerings, meanwhile, is evident on the secondary market. StockX said most luxury sneakers resell below their original retail price, a trend Los Angeles-based reseller Justin Reed has noticed as well. The exceptions still commanding premiums are either archival grails, such as an original pair of Rick Owens Geobaskets from the 2000s, or collaborations that were highly limited releases.

Reed said he hasn’t found anything to be particularly exciting since Louis Vuitton collaborated with Nike in 2022. Back when those were released, he sold one limited-edition pair for $60,000. These days, he generally finds himself selling more boots when it comes to luxury men’s footwear. However, he believes his customers are still eager to find another sneaker release that’s worth building a rapport with a luxury sales associate to get access to.

“It’s just getting something that not everyone else has,” said Reed. “High retails and just being repetitive with nothing fun and exciting is what’s taken things back.”