If wearing ripped jeans doesn’t set off a tirade of abuse and corny jokes at any family event, what would your grandparents think of the latest designer trend of ‘ugly trainers’. With brands such as Balenciaga and Gucci sending pre-muddied, distressed sports trainers fit for your school’s lost property bucket down their catwalks, is it time we reconsider blind brand loyalty?
Balenciaga’s sold out ‘Triple S’ trainers retail at £595, and appear to be a perfect combination between a pair of soiled hiking boots and your dad’s oldest pair of gym trainers. Yet despite looking like they should also come smelling of old socks, causing mass amusement and mock online, the model is continually sold out, fetching almost double their retail value on reselling sites.
Yet it is also brand of the moment Gucci that has similarly cashed in on the ‘Dad’ nomcore trend with their ‘Ryton’ trainer. Their chunky, scuffed, yellowing trainers are yet another example amongst the likes of Lanvin, Raf Simons and Yeezy to cash in on the moment.
The hefty looking runners mimic what you might slip on to take the bins out, and in the process, thousands of Dads in wide leg jeans and stained t-shirts have unwittingly become fashion’s latest dystopian muse, being resold to fashion followers at £675. But what makes these luxury models any more desirable than the likes of the notorious Lonsdale scuffed trainers found in every local sports direct or the unbranded Primark trainer?
The popularity of these ‘ugly trainers’ is just further evidence to show how designer fashion has become a world of ironic references and deep-set brand loyalties, whilst also moving toward a much more daring and individual aesthetic. If Fallowfield is anything to go by, the muddy trainer trend is something which is here to stay, and appears the catwalks of Paris have been similarly inspired by the mass of muddy reeboks found on every magic bus.
Whatever the outcry, these bold, extreme models don’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon.
