White sneakers and their significance
Attending a family party? White trainers. Pub? White trainers. Smart casual dress code in the office? White trainers. An unspoken yet astronomically quick-growing trend dating back many years now appears to be when in doubt, pick a pair of white trainers, or at least have the primary colour of your informal footwear of choice be white. Maybe it’s the clean and crisp aesthetic or the fact you’ll do very well to find an outfit they don’t go with, a pair of white trainers, or 12, are the foundation of every collector’s rotation and often their most used. But why?
Below are four pairs that deserve to be highlighted for their popularity, where it has stemmed from, and why individually they are so significant.
Air Force 1 Low
White Air Force 1s deserve their own section of this story for their sheer significance in the entire world of sneaker culture and could have a story all for their selves. Right now, however, I’ll just discuss their place in British culture, primarily due to the fact everybody I know has previously owned a pair. In Great Britain at least I could walk through any town or city centre and easily see over 10 pairs in a very quick time. They’re quickly becoming worn as much as jeans, in a vast majority of settings and a variety of physical conditions.
Although they’re crisp and clean when fresh out of the box, it unfortunately doesn’t take long for white Air Forces, or any colour, to show signs they are older than they are. You can expect crease marks very quickly and that fresh white colour to change by small amounts fairly soon after. If not looked after but cleaning and addressing the creases, it is very common for a box-fresh pair to become your beaters very soon.
On the topic of beaters, a term coined by the British sneakerheads for a pair of shoes you’re not afraid to ‘beat-up’ and destroy by using them in various scenarios, the Air Force one is probably used the most for that purpose, despite their price. I think this could be the result of a general lack of knowledge about how to maintain a pair of white trainers. It however is more likely to be the impact of the shoe’s popularity and all their owner’s desire to fit into the crowd. Everybody wears the Air Force 1s for all occasions simply because that’s what everyone does. Included in the term ‘all occasions’ includes those activities where your shoes will get dirty. If some individuals with influence over their peers suddenly decided the Air Force 1 was a formal shoe, it wouldn’t take long before a generation stopped having ‘beaters’ altogether. That’s how culturally significant the white Air Force 1 is.
Despite being first released in 1990, the sheer amount of white Air Force 1s seen on a daily basis is staggering. According to court documents, Nike claims to sell 10 million pairs of white Air Forces per year and a price that increases each year as a result. I personally can remember paying £80 for my pair in a size 12 in 2021 whereas the same pair right now would cost me £109.99
Nike Air Force 1 Low ‘Off-white’
I’m not always sure if some shoe collaborations are the best idea, some of them can be a terrible clash of styles resulting in a shoe that is only successful due to the size of both parties, therefore serving the purpose of being a cash grab. These however I will argue are perfect, and for many of us with less knowledge of luxury clothing brands are one of the only products that we know the late Virgil Abloh, the founder of Off-White, and his legacy for. Despite never owning these (I don’t think they would leave the box) the Off-White Air Force 1 will forever be a pair significant to me as their release in 2017 first sparked my interest in sneakers and drove me to want to build my own collection one day.
When they first released, the Air Force 1 Low ‘off-white’ cost £150 and sold out instantly through a combination of the aesthetics, hype and anticipation that was built through the idea that Virgil Abloh was getting his hands on the already globally successful Air Force 1. It was temporarily the shoe of choice for all celebrities and influencers, and no doubt now sits in all of their private collections. As time has gone by, trends have developed as fast as they’re dismissed to a point where you’ll rarely see this shoe displayed on social media despite how ground-breaking it was. Unfortunately for the rest of us, as is the case in most instances, the resell price does not decrease as the demand does. Right now, on StockX, the Nike Air Force 1 Low ‘Off-White’ will cost you between £1500 — £5300.
Adidas Samba
So far in 2024 I have had the privilege of visiting Milan and Toulouse and I can comfortably say I’ve never seen that amount of white Adidas Samba’s with back stripes. They are clearly the shoe of choice for young people in Europe and serve the role that the Air Force 1 does in the UK, but to a classier degree of course. Similarly, the Air Force 1, Samba’s have enough history and are involved in so much culture that they could have their own article. As for the right now, however, it was interesting to see just how many young people in Italy and France choose to wear the white sambas, and more specifically why they were doing so.
As I previously stated, the Air Force 1 is essentially worn for every occasion it can be by young people in the UK. Without discussing it, of course, we have picked the basic white Air Force 1 as our favourite, stuck with it, and the popularity has increased at a steady rate ever since. It seems those of the same age in mainland Europe have taken the exact same approach in terms of 1 pair for all purposes, only they have chosen a canvas pair from a German company as opposed to our leather American choice. Is it because of the Samba’s German heritage? I doubt Is it because the canvas is significantly lighter. Are Air Forces less accessible in mainland Europe? It could be a combination of all three. It could have nothing to do with any of that. Short story long, if you want to fit in while exploring mainland Europe, you need a pair of white Adidas Sambas.
Nike Cortez OG
While they are rarely seen worn these days, the Nike Cortez OG is one of the most significant white trainers of all time, all thanks to Forest Gump and his ability to run. Back in 1994 when the film first came out it was an entirely different world for sneakers. Jenny Curran’s (played by Robin White) gift choice of gift to Forest Gump (Tom Hanks) catapulted the Cortez into the centre of 90s pop culture, where it could be seen on every street, primarily in American cities, as the film itself grew into an all-time classic.
These days the film and the sneaker go hand-in-hand and are sadly talked about far more than they’re worn. Due to their unfortunate decline in popularity, you can now own a pair of Cortez’s for £62 from the Nike website, there’s no danger of them selling out any time soon. More interestingly however, if you would like to own the original pair worn by Forest Gump as he ran until he got a little tired, they cost their last owner $57,000 the last time they went to auction
