Sneakers news and archive

P448 unveils new concept store designed by Woody Yao

Italian luxury sneaker brand P448 has unveiled a new retail store concept in Shanghai, China, designed by acclaimed designer Woody Yao to invite “curiosity and discovery”. Located in Shanghai iapm Mall, the flagship store design has been exclusively conceived and designed by Yao, and embeds the P448 form language into every touchpoint, offering...

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Business

Marubeni acquires the Jacobson Group, owner of Gola

Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation, which operates across various business sectors, including lifestyle, food, agriculture, chemicals, and energy, has acquired UK-based footwear brand owner Jacobson Group Limited, which owns heritage British trainer brand Gola, as it looks to form a lifestyle brand business platform. The acquisition...

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Business

Helen Kirkum to close studio at the end of 2025

British footwear and accessories designer Helen Kirkum, who became known for her pioneering approach to sustainable footwear by creating bespoke shoes from old trainers, has announced she is closing her studio at the end of the year. In a social media post, Kirkum said: “After eight years, Helen Kirkum Studio is coming to a close at the end of...

Fashion

StockX 2025 Trends: Asics remains market leader, football jerseys and coveted collabs dominate

The latest quarterly trend report by resale platform StockX has seen Asics retain the position of leading brand in the market. In ‘Big Facts: 2025 Trends’, which covers data over the quarter July 1 to September 30, as well as for the year to October, StockX said Asics’ growth continued, with quarterly sales for the footwear brand growing 45...

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Fashion |Interview

Community over commerce: Crepe City's creative director on the transformation of sneaker culture

Crepe City is taking place in Cologne for the first time this week. Following its German debut in Berlin, the British sneaker and streetwear event is now moving to the Rhine to bring the local scene back together. Connull Drummond, who has been involved with Crepe City since 2019 and has been its creative director for three years, reveals why...

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Fashion |Interview

The unexpected challenge sneaker design students face today: "They need to know so much"

When Wilson Smith III, former Design Director at Nike Footwear, left the sportswear giant in January 2025 after an impressive 41-year tenure, he was struck with an immediate and unexpected realization: "How do I present myself or connect myself to the world now?" During his four-decade career at Nike, the company's PR and communications team had...

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Fashion |Interview

Wilson Smith & Tate Kuerbis, and the rise of sneakers as cultural currency

Close your eyes and try to picture this scene. It’s 1986, at Nike head office in Washington County, Oregon and architect Wilson Smith III, who has been working with Nike as a showroom, store and corporate office designer has just been asked if he can come to the back room for a talk. “I went in expecting the worst,” he recalls to FashionUnited...

Fashion

London Sneaker School launches a footwear design platform

London Sneaker School, which has taught more than 200 people the art of shoemaking, is launching a new footwear platform designed to enable creators and communities to bring their ideas to life. The ‘Kickback’ platform aims to empower anyone to design a shoe, launch it and sell it, as the educational institution looks to continue its commitment...

Fashion |In Pictures

Allbirds launches the world’s first polycotton recycled sneaker

US footwear brand Allbirds has unveiled a new collection that “remixes trash into treasure” with the first-ever footwear made from textile-to-textile recycled materials from polycotton waste. The sneakers have been developed in partnership with Blumaka, a leader in converting recycled foam into world-class footwear products, and Circ, an...

Fashion |In Pictures

Zendaya unveils first co-created footwear with On

Actress Zendaya has debuted her first-ever co-designed shoe with Swiss premium sportswear brand On, with which she has been a brand partner since June 2024. Zendaya enlisted her longtime stylist, Law Roach, in the design project with On to reimagine the running brand’s Cloudzone silhouette with a “bold update”. Her sneaker, named the ‘Cloudzone...

Fashion

Hoka and MAAP collaborate on hybrid running and cycling shoe

Hoka has joined forces with Australian cycling brand Maap to create a shoe that blends running, cycling and lifestyle. The two brands have developed a shoe based on Hoka’s ‘Tecton X 2’ sole. It features a carbon fibre plate to enable dynamic running on different surfaces, the US footwear and apparel supplier Deckers Brands announced on Tuesday....

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Fashion |Interview

Sustainable sneakers: Materials, production, and the future of footwear

The footwear sector, including sneakers, is incorporating sustainability initiatives, as these products are now a constant in fashion collections and are increasingly worn for various occasions. Sneakers are the focus of research and experimental projects by material producers for sustainable, recyclable, or partially recyclable components....