The 27 Best Sneakers of 2021 (2024)

The second James Whitner-produced joint included here was a shoe-in (sorry) to make this list the moment word of its release got out. Collaborating on a Jordan 1 would be a milestone for any brand, but for Whitner—the retail impresario behind A Ma Maniére, A.P.B., and a growing number of Social Status boutiques—it was business as usual. Not content to drop one of the hottest AJ3s in recent memory, the Whitaker Group founder turned his attention to the crown jewel of the Jordan empire, outfitting the 1 with cracked leather uppers, quilted linings, and splashes of rich burgundy. It was already a breakout year for the flourishing retail group, whose influence grows in leaps and bounds with its every forum-breaking drop, but this sneaker clinched it.

With the debut of the XT-6—a trail-ready shoe with sleek underpinnings and a sturdy silhouette—Salomon struck sneaker gold. Now its next hit is here. Earlier this month the French brand re-released the ACS Pro Advance, a style first introduced in the early aughts that's poised to dominate timelines until Salomon chefs up another smash. It's got loads of the kind of outdoors-y specs you'd expect from a brand with Salomon's pedigree, but even sans the technical details it's a stunner. (The icy silver colorway helps.) Its hulking, angular shape brings to mind Nike's criminally slept-on Vomero 5—but even boxier—while sleek metal eyelets and criss-crossing speed laces don't let you forget its performance bona fides.

When it comes to collaborations, Justin Saunders, the Montreal-based force behind JJJound, isn't concerned with dramatic overhauls. His most successful team-ups involve tweaking widely-beloved silhouettes ever so slightly—a touch of suede here, a hint of mesh there—and then letting his imprimatur do the rest. The 990s he released with New Balance earlier this year are Saunders at his pared-down best: sleek and understated, they're exactly the kind of sneaker you'd expect to see on the creative director types that flock to his wares.

Whenever Nike drops a limited-edition pair of Foams things are bound to get a little crazy. The polarizing silhouette inspires just as much fervor among its supporters as it does ridicule among its detractors. But the collaborative Foamposites Comme des Garçons first debuted during its fall show are a clear smash, swapping out the silhouette's instantly recognizable ridged uppers in favor of curves inspired by the geometry of Japanese zen gardens. So let this serve as a PSA to all newly-converted Foam zealouts: now's the time to claim lifelong fan status before it's too late.

Salehe Bembury is the hottest solo act in the sneaker world right now. After leaving the top footwear gig at Versace to strike out on his own, the designer's carved out a lane for himself via a slew of collaborations, none more simpatico than this year's team-up with Crocs. For his first foray into the realm of sneaker-ish clogs, Bembury tricked out the brand's signature perforated silhouette with distinctive concave ridges and nifty removable heel straps. The result was a shoe that doesn't look like any other on the market (and now resells for more than almost any other too), a worthy capstone to a massive year for both parties.

Initially designed for Prada's Luna Rossa sailing team, the America's Cup caught on quickly with landlubbers too, becoming a mainstay of late-'90s hip-hop culture and a sleeper grail among diehard sneaker fans. Its re-release this year—in the materials and colorway that first made it a hit—marks a watershed moment for the burgeoning Y2K resurgence. It's a rare shoe that looks equally at home on the feet of Prada fiends like A$AP Nast and brand-agnostic retirees who wear whatever the sales clerk puts in front of them, but such is the power of the brand's most popular sneaker. May we never have to go this long without it again.

Vivienne Westwood lent her finely-honed eye to a number of lesser-known Asics silhouettes this year, but none as delightfully weird as the Gel-Kayano 26. To revamp the style, the pioneering British firebrand took inspiration from shoes she first sent down the runway in the early '80s, yielding a sneaker that feels as thrillingly transgressive—and endlessly memeable—as any of her best punk-ish designs.

First teased in Aimé Leon Dore's Fall/Winter lookbook way back in September, the latest New Balance to benefit from the ALD effect is one eagle-eyed followers weren't sure would ever see the light of day. After setting off a flurry of speculation in subreddits and comment sections months before its release, the collaborative 993 surprise-dropped the first week of November in two colorways. Both are worthy of inclusion here, but it's the "Beef & Broccoli" version that got the most mouths watering online, capping off a whirlwind year for the Teddy Santis-helmed brand that included a formal solidification of his relationship with New Balance and the type of timeline dominance labels double ALD's age would sacrifice a posse of interns for.

If there's any designer who can make the once-maligned Air Jordan 2 feel radically cool again, it's the late, great Virigil Abloh. The groundbreaking, Italian-made style often plays second fiddle to the legendary silhouette that preceeded it (and more than a few of the Jordans that came after it) but if Abloh's cosign is any hint its revival is imminent. Since the Off-White collaboration debuted, prices for regular old 2s have been climbing steadily upwards, as clear an indication as any that the designer's alchemical touch has worked its magic yet again. When vintage Js are selling for record prices and even mids are in high demand, the AJ2 no longer needs to justify its place on this list. By this time in 2023, the only thing odd about the 2 might be how long it took us to wake up to its appeal.

It was a wild year for the prototype shoe. Seemingly every brand worth its weight in virtual raffle tickets dropped a version of the silhouette, but none stirred up more interest online—and generated more sales IRL—than the Foam Runner, a blob-like perforated slip-on crafted from a blend of specially-harvested algae and cushy EVA. Kanye's strangehold over the music industry might be loosening, but the Foam Runner's, ahem, runwaway success is a testament to his influence in the footwear space, and proof that wherever he goes the sneaker-loving masses—and the brands that cater to them—are likely to follow.

Unless you've been living under a rock with, like, really bad WiFi, you've probably found yourself lusting after a pair of sneakers with Travis Scott's fingerprints on 'em. Over the last few years, the musician turned reluctant "branding" maestro has been responsible for some of the most widely coveted shoes on the market, and that's not by mistake—the man manipulates hype with the seasoned dexterity of a hotshot broker exploiting a nanosecond-long glitch in the trading algorithm. Over the summer, his Cactus Jack imprint linked with Fragment Design's Hiroshi Fujiwara to rejigger the Air Jordan 1, in low top and high top form. The latter silhouette inspired more chatter online (and ever-more ridiculous resale prices), but it's the former that looks the cleanest done up in Fragment's signature shades of blue and black.

By any measure, it's been a banner year for the Adidas Forum Low, the old-school basketball shoe the Three Stripes relaunched in earnest in 2020. Bad Bunny might've been responsible for the buzziest take on the style to date (for now, at least—Prada is rumored to have its own interpretation on the way) but for our money the one released in February is the version worth tracking down. Done up in premium leather with hits of chalky white suede, it's a low-key spin on a silhouette that somehow manages to look delightfully retro and remarkably of-the-moment all at once.

What do you get when you combine the prowess of the dadliest shoe brand on the market with the cultural pedigree of the first name in denim? A sneaker near-destined to appeal to a very particular group of enthusiasts. The real surprise, then, might be how widely adored New Balance's team-up with Levi's has become since its release in September. Turns out, when two beloved mainstays of modern menswear combine forces to rework a sneaker silhouette that's already a favorite, the results intrigue more than the diehard selvage crowd. You don't have to be a purist to geek out over the materials on display here, and you definitely don't need to be a dad to appreciate the shoe's absorbent cushioning or comfort-oriented design.

The most beguiling silhouette to come out of the Yeezy universe this year was the 450, a startlingly futuristic shoe that wraps knit uppers in a bizarre sole that looks like an alien symbiote yanked straight out of the MCU. In its unabashed weirdness, the 450 reinforces Kanye's commitment to popularizing wacky silhouettes that have an uncanny tendency to become the new mainstream. For proof, check this list come 2022—we have nagging suspicion they'll be a bunch of inclusions that look a whole lot like it.

To celebrate the Tokyo Olympics, cult-loved designer Kiko Kostadinov worked with Asics to debut a brand new silhouette—solidifying the duo's partnership as one of the most interesting in the sneaker space in the process. As per usual, these are shoes designed with Kostadinov's most devoted fans in mind, but even for those new to the Bulgarian's deeply-thoughtful, utilitarian-leaning wares it's hard to deny their appeal. They might not come with the same name recognition as some of their flashier counterparts, but they'll imbue your fits with the strength of an Olympian every time you wear 'em.

When new Balance brought back the 2002R late last year, public opinion wasn't exactly divided; the shoe was an immediate hit. Since then, nearly every iteration NB's released has been met with the same level of widespread adulation, a rare enough occurrence in the sneaker world (and, uh anywhere else) that its continued success still feel like the result of a surprisingly positive group effort. The trio of styles the Boston-based sneaker brand dropped in August are some of its best yet, each outfitted with textural suede panels overlaid with unfinished edges and flashes of exposed foam. All three colorways are worth a second glance, but the shade of grey New Balance dubbed "Rain Cloud" might make for the most compelling of the bunch.

After a long delay, A Ma Maniére's much buzzed about tie-up with Jordan Brand finally saw a wide release in early June via Nike's SNKRS app. And, boy: The wait was worth it. The Atlanta-based shop run by James Whitner remixed the Jordan 3, already one of the best silhouettes in the brand's arsenal, by adding luxe tumbled leather, key hits of suede, and retro-inspired yellowed midsoles. (FYI: These were only released in women's sizing, so go up accordingly before you buy.)

In early April, Teddy Santis, the founder of Aimé Leon Dore, announced he was taking on a new position as creative director of New Balance's Made in USA program. For the Boston-based sneaker behemoth, tapping Santis seemed like a savvy move for a number of reasons—none more persuasive than the runaway success the duo have enjoyed every time they release a collaborative sneaker. The 550s the two dropped that same month hit a nerve, triggering an immediate "Add to cart" response and selling out just as fast. After setting the internet aflame yet again, the head honchos at New Balance must've cottoned on to the same thing thousands of sneaker fans figured out months earlier: When it comes to updating an old-school recipe with a little bit of modern flavor, Teddy Santis is magic in the kitchen.

Cottweiler might not be a household name yet, but this year the upstart British label delivered one of the best sneakers in the game, redoing Reebok's futuristic Zig 3D Storm Hydro silhouette in a dark palette of black and browns. The forward-looking lacing system, the discrete sock liner, the thick foam cushioning: These are sneakers you could wear to colonize Mars, or at the very least, make an outsize impression down on Earth.

The latest AJ4 to get the retro treatment pays tribute to MJ's time at UNC via a dusty blue colorway complemented by fan-favorite cement grey detailing, and you don't need to be a serious sneaker wonk or a diehard NBA fan to appreciate the design chops on display. (This release marks the first time a pair of 4s has used the now-signature blue-and-white color scheme, an homage to His Airness' alma mater and one of the more beloved combinations in sneaker culture.) File this one under further proof that making a hit sneaker in 2021 doesn't always calls for a flashy gimmick—a classic silhouette done up in a fresh new colorway more than gets the job done.

Hiroshi Fujiwara needs no introduction. The streetwear legend and his designs are often so far ahead of the curve even when he's revisiting old concepts they still seem prescient. Case in point: the Beijing-inspired Dunk High he first released under his Fragment Design imprint way back in 2010, which originally dropped as a pack of three city-inspired styles. Any time Fujiwara collaborates with Nike it's a big deal, as solid an indication as any of where the culture is headed next, and this time around is no exception. If you're the tea leaf reading type, you could argue that the newly revamped Beijing proves the Swoosh isn't easing up on the gas any time soon when it comes to the white-hot Dunk—but it doesn't take psychic powers to acknowledge these are really good-looking shoes.

If reading this is slightly painful, it's probably because you, like so many other hapless sneakerheads, missed out on the chance to buy these in real time. Anything Supreme touches tends to sell out—and fast—but that's doubly true when it comes to the brand's collaborations with a certain Portland-based sneaker operation. The Dunks the two released at the beginning of March caused a hubbub of online chatter and then sold out immediately, making for yet another worthy entry into the hallowed halls of Supreme team-ups diehard fans will be lusting after for years to come.

Over the last few years, Grace Wales Bonner has steadily built a devoted fanbase around her retro-inflected, defiantly regal ready-to-wear. Each season, the designer's tracksuits remain a standout, offering up throughtful meditiations on the nature of modern masculinity. Her ongoing collaboration with the Three Stripes leans all the way into the throwback energy of her collections, and the Adidas Samba—a sneaker already primed to be one of the biggest of the year—happens to be the perfect canvas on which to paint her vision.

To celebrate Air Max day this year, Nike brought back a 16-year-old colorway first released in collaboration with industry veteran Dave Ortiz (formerly of Zoo York and the legendary, cheekily-named sneaker boutique Dave's Quality Meats). Surprise, suprise: after all these year, the silhouette still holds up.

Beloved Chicago-based shop Notre swaps out Nike's swoosh for its singature handshake motif, bringing the momentum behind the red-hot Dunk into the new year.

Call it "The Last Dance" effect, but demand for specific retro-leaning Js (even—gasp—mids!) is at an all-time high. Enter the Neutral Grey, easily one of the most ancitipated releases the Jumpan's announced since rumors began circulating the shoe was coming early last year. Supremely clean and with just enough added details to distinguish it from the OG style that debuted in '85, Jordan's latest re-issue shows why, even among a sea of slips-ons and house shoes, it's still hard as ever to kick a sneaker habit.

After dropping a Tabi-toed take on two of its most iconic silhouettes earlier last year, the savants at Reebok linked up with the Maison that Margiela built to debut a sleek version of the classic Club C. The sneaker the duo dropped this past March superimposed Margiela's now-signature trompe-l'œil effect over one of the most timeless silhouettes in the Reebok reportoire, a left-field combination that feels both retro and completely of the moment.