All The Cool Girls Are Wearing Dad Shoes Like It's 2014 Again

Vogue Arabia

11 hours ago

For Cecilie Bahnsen's spring/summer 2026 show at Copenhagen Fashion Week, the designer sent a flurry of models in airy, whipped cream-coloured gowns onto the stark concrete of an industrial site in Refshaleøen. On their feet? Chunky white and silver Asics sneakers, of the type one might have worn in the '90s for PE.
It makes sense that the models would be wearing Asics – the designer has collaborated regularly with the Japanese activewear brand. But this wasn't the only time I've seen blocky dad sneakers in a fashion setting of late. Alongside all the slimline Puma Speedcats and Prada Collapses, there seems to have been an unexpected resurgence of dorky, techy sneakers, the sort that scream 'American dad mowing the lawn'. Whether it's New Balance, Asics or Nike V5 RNR, the dad sneaker is becoming cool again (and I'm not just talking about the Asics Gel-Kinetic Fluent here, but basic trainers in grey and off-white colourways, the sort Larry David might wear to go for a run).The whole thing feels quite early 2010s, which is probably part of its appeal. Those old enough to remember 2014 will recall the advent of the term 'normcore', first coined by trend forecasters K-Hole, and quickly adopted as a sweeping phrase to describe a sort of intentional anti-style-yet-knowing basicness. 'Sometime last summer I realised that, from behind, I could no longer tell if my fellow Soho pedestrians were art kids or middle-aged, middle-American tourists,' wrote Fiona Duncan for The Cut at the time. 'Clad in stonewash jeans, fleece, and comfortable sneakers, both types looked like they might've just stepped off an R-train after shopping in Times Square.'
But has enough time passed for this sort of style to be making its way back around? I mean, yeah, probably – kids are romanticising iPhone 4s and Instagram filters from the same era. Even so, I don't necessarily think we're experiencing a resurgence in the normcore style , exactly, but it stands to reason that we might be similarly gravitating towards anti-trend styles (what's cooler than an ugly PE shoe in a sea of Dries Van Noten?) As my colleague Daniel Rodgers wrote back in January during fashion week, after wearing a pair of Balenciaga Triple S sneakers from 2017: 'Looking terrible – or in this case, just plain old corny – is really a very liberating thing.'Of course, the resurgence of the dad sneaker could be down to the ongoing rise of Asics, at least in part. According to Stock X's mid-year trend report, Asics continues to be the number one growing shoe brand, up by 71 per cent this year, with the Gel-1130 its top selling silhouette. And when one silhouette becomes hypey, similar iterations tend to follow (which is what we saw with the Samba). 'This season, we're seeing a distinct shift toward tech-infused silhouettes, characterised by sleek, dynamic uppers and innovative sole structures,' Anissa Jaffrey, PR and collaborations lead at Asics SportStyle Europe, told British Vogue earlier this year.
Either way, I'm kind of into it. I like my trainers to be trainers, not flat little lace-ups – I want to be able to run for a bus in them. And no, these aren't to be worn clean girl-style, with leggings and pulled-up socks plus a green juice. These are to be worn the way God intended: with a zip-up fleece, mom jeans and an A-Z map in a bum bag.