It'll never catch on
Despite living and working in London i never got used to the trainers and work-wear combination city workers adopted in order to make their often lengthy commute more comfortable (another thing i never got used to was how big the capital is) it was obvious seeing them in their suits and tailored skirts that their running shoes weren't chosen to flatter or complement their outfit, wearing trainers with smart clothes wasn't really a “thing” back in the early noughties, trainers in fact weren't a massive thing, yes, everyone owned a pair, lots of people wore them, but they weren’t a fashion statement, By 2006 Lily Allen was pairing her Nike with ball gowns but it didn’t really catch on, then along came Isabel Marant and her wedge sneakers and our interest was spiked, trainers, but worn a little more dressed up? Im listening, but then the high street was flooded was even uglies copies than the original and the trend faded, around about the same time Valentino introduced the Rock-Runner and the studded trainer was born. Soon after Chanel featured a trainer on the catwalk, Lanvin had launched their ribbon laced pump and Just when we thought all singing-all dancing trainers were the shoe de jour, in 2015 Phoebe Philo, then Creative Director at Celine, took her runway bow wearing a pair of plain white Adidas Stan Smith, not a new style, the same version as I wore in the 90s but rereleased in 2015, and just like that the trusty Stan Smith was back in the game. Perhaps the revival of this classic paved the way for the most ironic and yet biggest sweeping trainer trend of this decade, the “dad” trainer, Balenciaga timed this perfectly with the launch of their “Triple S” in 2017 a triple decker platform trainer (complete with your shoe size stitched into the toe, something i never quite got my head around) but this extreme style wasn't for everyone and it was the dad trainer originators New Balance who gave us a more wearable version with their 530 style, which funnily enough would look pretty cool with work-wear.
