Now that we’re officially 3 months into the year 2022, it’s time to take a deep dive into emerging sneaker trends. What’s currently hot? What’s not? Let’s find out below.
What’s staying trendy?
The all-time classic Air Jordan 1 silhouette is still receiving the same amount of hype throughout this year. Even though we haven’t seen as many hyped releases like the Mocha, Hyper Royal or University Blue Black, there still was a lot of demand for newly released colorways. For example, the Air Jordan 1 ‘Atmosphere’ (also known as ‘Bubblegum’) has seen a lot hype among both male and female sneakerheads, despite it only being released in Women’s sizing. The Jordan 1 is definitely here to stay.
Another silhouette that has regaining a lot of its hype since 2020 throughout 2022, is the Nike Dunk Low. Nike doesn’t seem to ever lose inspiration in terms of new colorways for the Dunks. So far in 2022, we’ve seen Nike dropping a Dunk collab with Union, a ‘Paisley’ pack of classic colorways and a collab with Doverstreet Market. We think the Dunk Low will see even more demand in the coming months of this year.
What’s currently trending?
Jordan Brand seems to be really pushing the Air Jordan 4 silhouette to sneaker lovers. Throughout 2021, we’ve seen some fire new colorways like the University Blue, Oreo, Taupe Haze and Shimmer. Even if that’s not enough, we finally got the long-awaited retro of the Jordan 4 ‘Lightning’. This colorway first debuted back in 2006.
Another unexpected trend is the emergence of the New Balance ‘550’ sneaker. With colorways that are an obvious shot at the classic Nike ‘UNC’ and ‘Syracuse’ colorways, New Balance is obviously coming for Nike’s market share. The collaborations NB did with Rich Paul and Aimé Leon Dore on the 550 silhouette, also seem to be very hot among many sneakerheads worldwide.
What’s making a comeback?
Even though the Air Jordan 11 isn’t high in demand on the European aftermarket, we think it’s a possibility that this sneaker will make a big comeback this year. For example, the Air Jordan 11 ‘Cool Grey’ has received lots of positive feedback among sneakerheads. Even though 11s usually see higher demand in the US compared to Europe, this sneaker did particularly well. Hopefully, sneakerheads in Europe will start to appreciate the Jordan 11 more throughout 2022.
Jordan 3s are a must-have in every sneakerhead’s collection. Yet, demand for Jordan 3s does seem to be quite low on the aftermarket. However, the Air Jordan 3 ‘Cardinal Red’ seems to be quite in demand among sneakerheads in both Europe and the United States. If Jordan Brand continues to push out likeable colorways, we might see an uptrend in demand for the classic Jordan 3 sneaker.
What’s falling off?
Did Yeezy actually jump over Jumpman? Throughout 2021 and 2022, we are continually seeing a decline in demand for Kanye West’s classic Yeezy Boost 350 V2 silhouette. Could sneakerheads be done with all the new colorways that have dropped and are still dropping of the 350s? Or are sneakerheads more inclined to purchase Yeezy Slides, Yeezy 500s or Yeezy 700s? Perhaps Jumpman slam dunked back on Yeezy and also took away it’s hype…
Written by Daniël Writer