What’s Everyone Wearing: The New Age of Runners

From dress shoes to Jordan’s, runners are the must have sneaker for the foreseeable future. For those of you who may not know, runners are essentially running shoes with a lifestyle twist. Since the birth of the Nike Roshe Run, the appeal of a sleeker, lighter, and more comfortable sneaker has only grown. Besides Nike developing multiple runner models, other brands are following suit and developing their own, as well as “retro”-ing their old runner models. A couple of these popular models include the Adidas Boost line and the recent collaboration with Kanye West, titled the Yeezy’s.

Louie Tayag, Adidas employee and  EVCC student said, “People are moving on from the bulky and big style of basketball shoes. I like [runners] because they have a low top, athletic and clean look.” The push towards a sleek and athletic silhouette goes from the top to the bottom with slim cut tops, skinny jeans, joggers, and now the shoes must match that visual as well. The days of oversized clothes and bulky shoes have passed and the fitted look is the new trend that looks like it’s here to stay for quite a while.

Since 2013, runners have been on the rise as Jordan Brand has slowly lost some of their consumers to the casual sneaker. Looking at the numbers, it looks as if Jordan and other basketball shoes, (Lebron’s, Kobe’s, Rose’s, etc.) haven’t lost much appeal because they are still making impressive sales. However, up until this last year it was almost unprecedented for Jordan’s to sit on shelves, and that is exactly what is happening as Roshe’s and Boost’s are becoming harder to find. These runners are being treated throughout the sneaker community in a similar way as we’ve seen Jordans being treated over the last decade. This “hype” has made the release of runners big events and new colorways are talked about between sneaker enthusiasts.

Besides the silhouette of the shoe the practicality of runners is another alluring quality. “It’s a go-to thing. Easy to put on and they’re very comfy, especially if you’re going to be up for long hours. [Runners] are just very light, not too heavy, and they’re stylish” said Dom Dacoco, Sneakerhead and recent EvCC graduate. With running shoe technology implemented into the sneaker, they are made to be comfortable for long periods of time and implement great shock absorption. This is one of the reasons this trend is spreading farther than admirers of sneakers, is because of the actual comfort of runners on an everyday basis.

Especially with a younger demographic setting the trend, price becomes a big factor when deciding on the popularity of styles. When you can get a really nice pair of runners around $100 and a nice pair of Jordan’s in the high 200’s the choice becomes a little clearer. “I could get something else with that instead of just one [shoe]. I like to understand the shoe, the history, everything, but with the price I just can’t do that,” said Louie.