Is obsession for sneakers coming to an end? Such is the assumption made by Vanessa Friedman, a New York Times fashion expert, in her article “The Season of Peak Sneaker Silliness”. Going straight to the point, she harshly criticizes some sneaker models presented during the latest fashion shows, which are considered to be “appalling”; that’s why such fashion-obsession is supposedly about to come to an end. “Did we get to the peak sneaker silliness? – wonder Friedman –. All brands believe they must have a sneaker in their own footwear collection; hence, such pression urges them to design and create continuously new models, which are bound to be crazy, astonishing and, sometimes, ugly”. For the records, she is not the only one to think so. Neil Clifford, chief executive officer of Kurt Geiger, a British retailer, points out: “I made a bet with Sebastian Manes, sales and merchandising manager at Selfridges: in my opinion, we did get to the top of the trend, and we are about to get back now. Every time me meet we wonder if the sneakers we have are enough and we assume we should buy some more perhaps”. He carries on: “Things are changing more and more quickly. Personally, I think that our attire will turn formal again, by wearing elegant heeled shoes. In my opinion, in 2018 the booming sneaker business will get to its peak season, then a slowdown is due to begin”. Likewise, Beth Goldstein, accessory and footwear specialist at NPD analyst institute, thinks that sneaker sales are going to “decline”. Yet, according to Josh Luber, co-founder and managing director of StockX, a retail platform specialised in sneakers, such fashion trend will still go on for a long time. Let’s wait till 2019, then we’ll see who’s right or wrong.
“That’s far too much”: the New York Times and some insiders predict the end of sneaker obsession
