Snobette Sneaker Awards

Snobette Sneaker Awards Top 10 Sneakers 2020

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Snobette Sneaker Awards for 2020 reflects a year in which Nike and Jordan once again dominated the paint. Last year, the brand garnered eight out ten spots and it did the same this year. Notable, this is the second year in a row that Adidas hasn’t garnered a spot in the top 10.

We were excited last year to see that six of the top 10 picks involved a female designer and this year five of the top 10 were designed or co-designed by a woman: Charlotte Lee of New Balance, Chitose Abe of Sacai, Cynthia Lu of Cactus Plant Flea Market and Yoon Ahn of Ambush.

The top 10 list is pulled from our six panelists’ top five selections. At least one sneaker silhouette is pulled from each list. On that note, check out our panelists’ selections along with an interview on their links: Sophia Chang, Romy Samuel, Henny, KiCKS0L0GY, SNKR Mami and Soleil Barros.

Check out our selections below.

Honorable mention: Air Jordan 1: dark mocha: It was another massive year for the Air Jordan 1 silhouette with a level of demand so high it possible points at a peak for the popular franchise. While there were an endless stream of colorways, the mocha color story was 100 percent in step with the Earth-toned cozy fits that were a signature for the year and a nice nod to AJ1’s insanely popular Travis Scott shoe dropped in 2019.
10. Vans Lowland CC and Kids of Immigrants: white/white. Inspired by ’90s-era archival skate shoes, the Lowland CC made its debut this year in March. Vans epitomized a partnership done right through a collab with Los Angeles-based Kids with Immigrants, a brand rooted in celebrating immigrants, the working class and all historically marginalized groups. Making a statement on putting in work, each shoe was hand distressed with sandpaper and splashes of paint. Shoes were packaged in a box reading: “We are all cut from different fabrics but together make a whole. This is for our family and for all Kids Of Immigrants.” More than just a statement, Vans donated money $5,000 to A New Way Of Life, a non-profit assisting women with life after incarceration.
9. Nike Dunk SB: elephant: 2020 was the year Nike invested a considerable amount of energy building excitement for its Dunk SB silhouette. Interestingly, while collabs with Travis Scott, Ben & Jerry and StrangeLove generated a huge amount of buzz, none of our six panelist selected them. Vis-a-vis panelist KiCKS0L0GY’s selections, we chose the Dunk SB Elephant. Inspired by Nike and Atmos‘ 2017 Air Max 1 collab, the shoe’s classic color story speaks quietly while carrying a big stick.
8. New Balance 327: various colors. A-list athletic brands place a high priority on launching new silhouettes every year, but rare is the shoe that wins hearts and minds straight out of the gate. While the New Balance 327 is inspired by ’70s era running silhouettes, it still feels thoroughly modern, boasting a curvy-yet-angular proportions that look amazing on the foot. It’s a very nice added bonus that the retro-running shoe was cooked up by a woman, Charlotte Lee (her initial sketches above), a New Balance designer based in Manchester, England.
7. Air Jordan 1 High OG Dior: The joining of Jordan and Dior can be viewed as something of a changing of the guard in fashion reflecting not just the growing power of sneaker and streetwear culture but also Nike as a company. None of this would matter of course if Dior designer and confessed sneaker head Kim Jones‘ rendition of the Air Jordan 1 didn’t knock it out of the park with a shoe deftly marrying the best of both labels. This was a shoe made to flex, which
6. Nike Vaporwaffle and Sacai: sail: While Nike and Sacai‘s Vaporwaffle didn’t light up sneaker culture as brightly as last year’s LDWaffle, the silhouette remained widely popular and landed on both Sophia Chang and Romy Samuel‘s top five lists. Credit the enduring popularity of the shoe among women in no small part to Sacai designer Chitose Abe, who’s been helping Nike deepen its connections with female customers since before it was cool.
5. Nike Air Force 1, Cactus Plant Flea Market and Swarovski: pure platinum. If there was anything problematic about sneaker culture in 2020, it was that there wasn’t a lot of wholly innovative design. Among collaborative efforts, Nike and Cactus Plant Flea Market made one of the more audacious statement with a Dunk sneaker impractically covered in Swarovski crystals. Celebrated in part for the unlikely choice, the shoe also reflected the expanded embrace by males of unisex items featuring traditionally feminine details. Case in point LeBron James who sported the first seeded pair of the sparkly shoes.
4. Nike Spiridon Cage 2 and Stüssy: fossil. In a year in which the word cozy embodied not just an outfit descriptive but an entire lifestyle, Nike and Stüssy’s Spiridon featuring a multi-textured knit and linen upper epitomized the trend. While a performance silhouette, the shoe conveyed a relaxed approach, speaking to the surf roots of the Southern California-based brand.
3. Nike Dunk High and Ambush: black/white. Nike has found a collaborative superstar in Ambush designer Yoon Ahn, who fits in perfectly with the brand’s wish to grow its connection with women while also expanding unisex offerings. Ahn’s Dunk was the final fire release of the year and was marked by a straight color story made dramatic by a raised Swoosh that extended past the back of the shoe. The extended Swoosh was inspired by the souped-up motorcycles known to be used by 50s-era Japanese Bōsōzoku (a youth subculture) underscoring a drama-filled year that for better or worse frequently felt extra long.
2. Air Jordan 4 and Union Los Angeles: guava ice. Union Los Angeles knows good collabs and the West Coast boutique’s take on the Air Jordan 4 while initially controversial was dope because it was rooted in the true story of how Union owner Chris Gibbs personally customizes the shoe when he wears it. In a celebration of community during a time of COVID-19, Union added depth to the effort by Union partnering with five black-owned, Los Angeles businesses to elevate their stories, products and missions via social media, seeding efforts and fundraising connected with the drop. Putting the chef’s kiss of the effort, Union pulled off a near seamless online launch that successfully thwarted the bots.
1. Air Jordan 4 WMNS and Off-White: sail. Released in July 2020, Air Jordan and Off-White’s Retro 4 WMNS handsome sail-colored sneaker captured the imagination a broad swath of women from hardcore sneaker heads to fashion lovers who are only casually interested in kicks. For a period the shoe was so pervasive on Instagram feeds, at some point it was hard not to feel fatigued by the sight of it. Still, among Virgil Abloh‘s many successful efforts with Nike, this one perseveres as one of his greats, worthy of no less than Mount Rushmore status.

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