Fashion & style
fromEsquire
2 days agoThe Mens Shoe Trends You Should be Shopping This Spring
Transitional weather requires versatile footwear choices, including fisherman sandals, canvas sneakers, and backless loafers for spring.
What we needed was to build brand relevance with the younger generation. Content creators became a crucial part of Coach's marketing plan, with partnerships evolving to longer-term collaborations.
U.S. Soccer just dropped its new USMNT team kits this week ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and they're instant classics. If you expected the usual home whites and away reds or blues, hold on. This time around they went for it. We are given two kits, two distinct personalities, and a design process that actually involved the players who'll be wearing them.
CFGNY is having a big spring. The self-proclaimed 'vaguely Asian' art and fashion collective is in a group exhibition about the production and representation of Asian fashion at Pioneer Works, transforming the third floor into a cardboard-lined shipping container filled with studio portraits shot in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a growing fashion hub.
Patel's bespoke shoes were black, white, and yellow, and featured a number 9 on the side to signify that he is the bureau's ninth director. A "K$H" logo on the tongue is Patel's personal logo (FBI directors have personal logos now), and a skull from the Marvel character Punisher appeared across the back of the shoe, along with the FBI's slogan "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity."
Nike have drawn inspiration from arguably the USA's greatest-ever shirt, the glorious denim stars shirt from the World Cup in 1994. The refreshed imagining looks very different but the clues are all there. The USA hosted World Cup 1994 and stole the show with a denim-effect beauty of a kit that celebrated the 'stars' part of the Stars & Stripes.
Whether you're pulling out the stops with pockets, prints or preppy know-how, you can't go wrong with showing off the lightweight outerwear this spring. Along the way, I clocked a lot of really cool jackets, and damn did the wearers look good.
Specifically, the company is focusing on the production of its newest, weirdest shoe-a giant soled laceless running shoe with a single-piece toe box made of "hyper-foam" plastics sprayed on by robot arms. The plastics are 40 percent biofoam, and the shoe is made of just eight pieces; On says its minimalist approach saves on the shoe's carbon footprint.
New Balance has turned its "dad shoe" image into a driver of growth. According to a recent CNBC report, New Balance sales were up 19% to $9.2 billion in 2025. The sneaker giant grabbed market share from rivals like Nike, per the report. New Balance told CNBC that it could reach its target of $10 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2026.
Nike has been on a downward trajectory; its share price tanked under the previous CEO, John Donahoe, who was ousted last September in favour of Elliott Hill, a 32-year veteran at the company who was brought out of retirement to lead it back to growth. At the heart of its problems was Donahoe's hyper-focus on growing direct-to-consumer sales. Before Nike, he was a leader in the tech space (eBay, PayPal and ServiceNow) and came in with a vision to have more shoppers buy directly from Nike.com.
Now, returning in 2.0 trim, it's been treated to a New York-inspired update thanks to the folks at HSDT. Proportions and comfort have been elevated, while the sneakers' visual language has taken shape through features inspired by NYC's everyday structures. This continues the brand's "The Architecture of Everyday Life" ideology, focusing on scaffolding and steel beams, stairwells and sidewalks, mesh fences, utility grates and metals.
Brands love to insert themselves into cultural conversations or piggyback on buzzy current events, a strategy sometimes called newsjacking. But it can happen without seeking, or even wanting, the attention. The borderline absurd virality of a Nike tracksuit evidently worn by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as he was taken into the custody of American captors is the most high-profile recent example-but it definitely won't be the last.
While the silhouette might be ubiquitous, this collab is singular to Thom Browne. Released in three distinctive colorways - a stealthy black and tonal grey suede, along with a glossy white leather version that drops later in March - the freshly reworked sneaker is instantly reminiscent of Browne's signature stylings, complete with a university stripe grosgrain pattern across the lace catcher, heel tab and insole insert, and designed with luxury materials and cross-stitch finishing that fit right in with the brand's renowned tailoring.
Crocs unveiled its first new global brand platform in nearly a decade to better appeal to a younger generation of consumers, according to a press release. "Wonderfully Unordinary" centers on self-expression and real-world experiences in a culture "saturated in imitation and algorithmic sameness," Crocs said. The titular anthem spot depicts a pair of featureless store mannequins as they come alive and grow increasingly human after being outfitted in Crocs' signature porous clogs.
I had to blink the first time I landed on the product page for the Nike ACG Ultrafly Trail. I'd seen lots of promotional assets ahead of the release (see here and here), where the trainer is caked with mud. But in the end, it's hi-vis orange - and like any other brand-new shoe, being sold without a stain or scratch.