THE 20 BEST SNEAKER BRANDS YOU CAN BUY IN 2021

Sneakers are now en vogue, with the best sneaker brands constantly innovating new and stylish footwear. Attitudes have shifted in unforeseen ways and what was once the scruffy outlier is now the footwear gold standard.

NIKE

Nike really did go back to the future and produced Marty McFly’s self-lacing sneakers. But this is just one instance when the brand seemingly reached through a tear in spacetime and brought us something directly from the future, making it the biggest trendsetter in sneakers and a reliable barometer for what’s around the corner.

More than that, Nike knows how to create products that live up to their considerable hype. It has more icons in its back catalog than any other sneaker brand. Air Max, Air Force 1 and Air Jordan are all sneaker dynasties in their own right, and go back further and you’ll find even more classic retro sneakers like the Cortez and the Blazer.

Still the most recognizable. Still the most wanted. Still the ones to beat.

The transition from running track to runway has been a slow and gradual one, but in recent years it has reached a crescendo; a crescendo that looks set to blare on indefinitely. This is thanks in no small part to a number of key designers and best sneaker brands who have been pushing the footwear to its limits in every conceivable direction.

Some have created white leather kicks that look right at home with tailoring. Others are inventing technology that might as well have come straight out of a lab at Area 51 (or just Back to the Future). Meanwhile, there are those who have elevated the sneaker from its utilitarian roots to the absolute pinnacle of high fashion it is today.

Here we take a look at the most influential sneaker brands in the world right now and what they’re doing to help elevate the world’s favorite footwear.

ADIDAS

The ongoing technological arms race between the world’s sneaker brands big hitters has produced some of the boldest innovations in footwear. Luckily for us, it doesn’t show any sign of letting up.

Ask any sneakerhead on the street who’s in pole position, and they’ll tell you it’s Nike. However, with featherlight materials and mind-bending sole technology, it could be easily argued that good old three-stripes is maneuvering for an overtake. Established in 1949, Adidas has become a global phenomenon led by science.

There are the beloved classics — the Superstar, Stan Smith and Gazelle all come to mind — and they’re not going away, but in recent years the brand’s R&D lab has become the sneaker world’s Q branch. Forget the Yeezy collab, it was the Ultra Boost that changed the game, and most recently, the German sports giant has been experimenting with 3D printing as a production method for groundbreaking webbed sole units. Don’t take your eyes off them for a second.

CONVERSE

It’s incredible (and slightly terrifying) to think about how much the world has evolved in the last 100 years. Commercial flight, television, mobile phones and the internet are just a few of the inventions that have revolutionised the way we live.

With that in mind, it’s a real triumph of design when something introduced a century ago is still being used globally today.

Converse’s famous high-top, the Chuck Taylor All Star, is one such item. Born in 1917, the iconic basketball shoe has remained 99.9 per cent unchanged and is now the best selling shoe in the US, UK and far beyond. Yes, this sneaker brand has other excellent shoes, like the Run Star Motion and the Chuck 70s, but this is arguably the most iconic sneaker ever made. And what’s more, it’s for everyone.