TOP 10 SNEAKERS OF 2019

HYPEBEAST's selection of the 10 best sneakers of 2019, with three honorable mentions. HYPEBEAST Features - Go in-depth and learn more about the culture. [HYPEBEAST]( [Features]( November 29, 2019 [TOP 10 SNEAKERS OF 2019]( HYPEBEAST's selection of the 10 best sneakers of 2019, with three honorable mentions. HEISON HO | HYPEBEAST Not surprisingly, everyone wants to be a sneakerhead nowadays. Sneaker collecting — once a niche habit, the domain of forum-dwelling history buffs and in-the-know street style mavens — has been thrust into the mainstream and turned into a big-money business with plenty of glamour. 2019 was the best example of this yet: StockX was valued at over a billion dollars; Farfetch acquired Stadium Goods for $250 million USD; even Foot Locker got into the aftermarket, investing $100 million USD in GOAT Group, the parent company of GOAT and Flight Club. The money wasn’t the only thing that was big this year: the changes at the top of many companies were seismic. Longtime Nike CEO Mark Parker stepped down amid a scandal that enveloped the brand’s Oregon Project, the world’s most elite track team. Executive board member of adidas Eric Liedtke, the man responsible for the brand’s partnerships with Kanye West and Beyonce left his position. Even Under Armour’s founder and CEO, Kevin Plank, announced that he’ll be transitioning to a new role as executive chairman and brand chief come 2020. Amidst this occasionally volatile cocktail of dollars and decisions, the releases shined just as bright as ever — maybe more so. Collaborators, from musical artists to designers, used their sway and influence to create truly unique products. Old favorites got new spins, and new silhouettes changed the game. In short, it was anything and everything a sneakerhead could ask for. To pay homage to this smorgasbord of styles, HYPEBEAST has selected the 10 best sneakers of 2019, with three honorable mentions. Lace up, step out and let’s get started: it’s bound to be an interesting, and no doubt controversial, walk back through a watershed year. adidas x Reebok Instapump Fury BOOST They say there’s nothing new under the sun, and that often rings true when it comes to collaborative sneakers. Once a rare and special occurrence, collaborations are now seemingly released on a daily basis, but adidas and Reebok’s Instapump Fury BOOST was a true first in every sense of the word, and by virtue of that, one of the year’s most singular silhouettes. A much more advanced version of the brand-to-brand partnerships first started by the use of Nike Lunarlon foam in Cole Haan dress shoes or the Converse Chuck Taylor 2, the adidas x Reebok Instapump Fury BOOST is the confluence of two of the world’s biggest sneaker brands and their most influential tech. Although both may be under the same corporate umbrella, this doesn’t dull the impact. The design bridges both decades and history-defining advancements in technology by melding together the Pump fit system and BOOST cushioning, not to mention adding both brands’ signature marks side-by-side on the midfoot. It’s rare that you see a new avenue of collaboration in today’s occasionally saturated market, but this is just that: the combination of one footwear juggernaut’s most recognizable silhouette with another’s most-lauded cushioning system. Air Jordan 1 SB “LA to Chicago” Thanks to renewed interest caused by the cyclical nature of sneaker collecting and co-signs from the likes of Travis Scott and Virgil Abloh, Nike SB enjoyed the beginning of a renaissance in 2019, one of the foremost proprietors of which was the Air Jordan 1 SB “LA to Chicago.” Since its original release in 1985, the AJ1 has been embraced by basketball players and skateboarders alike, so this in-brand collaboration nodded to that juxtaposition with both design and details. Featuring the wear-away detailing first popularized by Lance Mountain, the shoe’s Los Angeles Lakers-style gold and purple outer layer strips away with wear, giving way to a Chicago Bulls-esque mix of red and black on its base layer. Nodding to both the nexus of skateboarding and the city that made Michael Jordan an icon, the Air Jordan 1 SB “LA to Chicago” managed to encompass two key pieces of footwear history, while presenting a rich take on one of the most popular silhouettes in the world of sneakers today, certainly no small feat. Awake NY x ASICS GEL-Kayano 5 360 How does a footwear brand acknowledge and amplify its past while still pushing towards its future? This is a difficult, ever-evolving question, and ASICS answered it in compelling fashion this year with the hybrid GEL-Kayano 5 360 silhouette. Mixing an OG GEL-Kayano 5 upper with a modern, full-length GEL-Quantum 360 midsole, the Kayano 5 360 presented the perfect blend of old and new. The shoe’s appeal was aided by a duo of thoughtful collaborations with Angelo Baque’s buzzy Awake NY: one of which acknowledged Baque’s hometown of Queens and the famous Unisphere in Flushing Meadow Park with its silver and green colorway; the other of which nodded to Parisian nights with a glistening gold and black mixture. The co-created effort opened the door for in-line and special releases alike, ranging from remakes of classic colorways to rugged, GORE-TEX equipped styles, perfect for the winter months. 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