Sneakerheads have spoken: Here are the most-wanted sneaker brands of 2024
Sneaker resale platform, StockX, unveils this year's most coveted sneaker brands. Plus, the sneakers dominating holiday wishlists.
Casual dressing, post-pandemic, has evolved from a vibe to an every day sartorial norm that’s made one type of footwear — sneakers — acceptable for the gym, the office, a stroll in the park to an evening at the bar.
It’s why plenty of fit checks now start with dressing the feet first because nothing epitomizes a “smart casual” look more effectively than a pair of sneakers.
Millennials, and Gen Z most likely already own multiple pairs of sneakers for daily wear.
But they’re also savvy collectors of rare and hard-to-find sneakers on platforms such as StockX, a leading online marketplace best known for buying and selling new and unworn sneakers. It has since expanded into clothing, electronics, collectibles and trading cards and crossed 50 million trades on its platform in 2023.
StockX just released its annual trend report highlighting the most coveted sneaker brands of 2024 at resale, and the most-wanted styles on holiday wishlists.
Here are the findings:
Sneakerheads pump up Puma and Asics: StockX said searches for Asics grew the fastest on its platform over the past year. One style in particular — the Asics Gel-1130 saw a more than 1,000% jump in year-over-year trades.
Puma emerged as another top-searched brand. Its retro Speedcat style saw a 2,638% surge in searches on StockX while the Puma Palermo saw a 669% jump.
“I'm actually not surprised at all that we've seen these other brands emerging and it’s because there are a couple of things that are happening,” Drew Haines, StockX merchandising director for sneakers and collectibles, said in an interview with Bagable.com.
“In sneaker culture, and with sneakers in general, it’s always been a space that was dominated exclusively by the Jordan brand and Nike. They’ve had this huge moat against other brands,” Haines said.
“Adidas then made huge inroads with its Yeezy partnership many years ago. Obviously, now that’s coming to an end,” he said. “To me, New Balances, Asics, Adidas’ non-Yeezy business like their Sambas, Gazelles, Handball Spezials, Campus 00s that have done well on StockX is all way overdue. These brands are getting some much deserved respect and interest from consumers, which they hadn't really had a few years ago.”
Most desired sneaker collabs of 2024: You can’t count out Nike’s sneaker dominance just yet.
Even as the sneaker giant struggles with a host of challenges, including a lack of new compelling styles and increased competition from brands such as Hoka and Swiss brand On Running, Haines said Nike and its Jordan brand are still “head and shoulders leader in the sneaker space.”
“From a trade perspective, Jordan and Nike are still our two largest brands in footwear. But, their composition of our trades and I think their composition of market share in general, has decreased. Other brands are basically closing the gap,” Haines said.
Still, a few Nike silhouettes did have a standout year on StockX. The Nike Air Force 1 Low Cactus Plant Flea Market Fuchsia is ranked No. 1 for the highest average price premium on the platform. The last sale price on StockX is listed at $771. The Jordan Jumpman Jack TR Travis Scott University Red, from Jordan and Travis Scott, saw a 201% average price premium on the platform, where its last sale is listed at $400.
Elsewhere, the report said the Adidas AE 1 collection, born out of Adidas’ first-time collaboration with NBA star Anthony Edwards, is a success on StockX, as are performance sneakers from brands such as On Running (which is seeing a 180% increase in searches for its sneakers).
A comeback for retro sneakers: Anything retro, even “vintage” is having a moment with younger shoppers. StockX said the Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 collection has seen a nearly 850% uplift in trades over the past year, with searches for the brand up 375%. The brand, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, debuted the Mexico 66 silhouette in 1968.
For Adidas, searches for its Spezial silhouette have surged 543%.
“When you look at Adidas’ new Samba, Gazelle, Handball Spezial, Campus and New Balance and Asics’ latest styles, these are definitely all in the same vein of the late 90s, early 2000s,” said Haines.
“I'm a 90s baby. I had a pair of Sambas for my first day of school. For Millennials/Gen Z who grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s, so much has changed over the last couple of years, he said. “Things are more expensive, we’ve been through a pandemic and lockdowns at home. I think our whole generation is a little bit jaded. When you feel this way, you want something that reminds you of easier times, like the cool retro runners that we saw our parents wear in the 90s.”
Most wanted on this year’s holiday wishlists: Sneakerheads are hinting at their top gift choices. These include Jordan 4s, Yeezys, and Dunks as among the most wished-for products on StockX wishlists.
Besides sneakers, Haines said other popular footwear on StockX going into the holiday season are Ugg, Timberland and Crocs.
“We only launched Ugg about two years ago but we always see tremendous volume for them in November, December and in January,” he said.
“Timberland boots, the classic six-inch wheat boot, have also done very well. This maybe goes back to the popularity of nostalgia but also as a rising workwear trend,” Haines added.
Lastly, Crocs, believe it or not, has a growing fanbase among sneaker fans.
“With Crocs, it’s all about licensing. No one in the footwear game has thought about footwear in the way that toy companies think about movies, for example. Crocs has,” said Haines. “Pokemon, Shrek, Cars, Naruto, these are all Crocs collaborations. Crocs is having a ton of success with these. The Lightning McQueen Crocs came out a while ago and they’re still one of our top-selling products in our entire shoes category.”