complex.com/sneakers/best-new-sneakers-2020/adidas-yeezy-foam-rnnr
1. Adidas Yeezy Foam RNNR
Adidas Yeezy Foam RNNR
Image via Complex Original
Release Date: June 26
Price: $75
Is it or is it not a sneaker? That's the biggest debate around the Adidas Yeezy Foam RNNR. The slip-on shoe, which is made out of foam created from algae, has been a talking point since it was first seen in early 2020. Kanye West and Steven Smith, the design director of Yeezy, unveiled the shoe at a Fast Company summit, trotting it out like it was a new iPhone, an innovation that would change the world. In some respects, that was true. Kanye has long wanted Yeezy to be a brand like Apple and an innovation like the Foam RNNR might help him do that, depending on the shoe's scale. The shoe has only released one time thus far, launching in June with the redesign of West's Yeezy Supply site. The first colorway of the Foam RNNR, a model filled with holes and a sloping shape that has brought comparison to motorcycles and automobiles, has an all-white motif inspired by his wife Kim Kardashian West's Armenian heritage. He named it "Ararat" after the mountain which stands as a national symbol of Armenia and is the fabled resting place of Noah's ark. But the Foam RNNR itself is inspired by West wanting to create a pair of stylish Crocs, and he did just that. Just like Crocs, which are having their own resurgence in the quarantine age, the Foam RNNR is a love-it-or-hate-it design. —Matt Welty
🔥 of course it is
4. Adidas Yeezy QNTM
Adidas Yeezy QNTM
Image via Complex Original
Release Date: February 16
Price: $250
Kanye West's foray into basketball was a long time coming. A Yeezy hoops shoe had been teased since the summer of 2017, when West was spotted alongside 2 Chainz playing basketball with the UCLA men's team in a pair of Wave Runner-like high-tops. That version of the shoe never released, but after a few haphazard sketches and work-in-progress samples, the Quantum (QNTM) was finally born. The Boost-cushioned shoe was released in February and came in two versions: a lifestyle iteration with exposed Primeknit and a performance "BSKTBL" variation with TPU reinforcements. The latter didn't take off on the NBA courts the way one may have expected—perhaps due to the shoe's heavy use of reflective 3M, which was rumored to make it ineligible for on-court use—but it was a strong introduction nonetheless. Its NBA All-Star rollout was one of the weekend's biggest, with all-terrain Sherp vehicles taking to the streets of Chicago to deliver pairs to fans. —Riley Jones
Dope and insanely comfortable from the brief time i owned them...but feels weird to call it shoe of the year just cus off its one limited release. Feel like it still has impact it can make kinda like how the Slides have
Was def a unique design and advancement i'd say. Actually felt like a technological feat that pushed past a regular croc and fit like a regular shoe
Dope and insanely comfortable from the brief time i owned them...but feels weird to call it shoe of the year just cus off its one limited release. Feel like it still has impact it can make kinda like how the Slides have
Was def a unique design and advancement i'd say. Actually felt like a technological feat that pushed past a regular croc and fit like a regular shoe
Actually felt like a technological feat that pushed past a regular croc
what makes u say this? never owned a pair so idk how they're different to experience from other shoes
QNTM my shoe of the year
Same , great shoe ... but maybe FOAM is the Yeezus of sneakers
Actually felt like a technological feat that pushed past a regular croc
what makes u say this? never owned a pair so idk how they're different to experience from other shoes
its hard to explain cus I also gave them up fast but basically i kinda agree with the sentence in OP talking about how Ye wants to be like Apple and this on a big scale could help
The shoe is kinda interesting cus it feels like you just have a regular pair on. Its sturdy, won't slip off and you can do more in it than a croc. I own the Slides which are comfortable and I was surprised that the foams blew them out of the water they're so soft. I don't have a whole lot of experience with it tho so this is just my opinion.
oh and all that on what feels like cheap recyclable materials for $75, his lowest price outside of the Slides. Ik from Ye's explanation too in vids that when they get dirty you can quickly wash them off. Feels like an multi-purpose sneaker with a lot of potential once it sells more. Just like how 350's rendered the Nike Roshe out of market these have that same potential with Crocs which are extremely widespread atm. Need more drops tho and for them to normalize like the Slides did (thanks to a lot of celebs and models)
definitely my favorite "sneaker" of the year. wearing them right now. easily the most comfortable sneakers ever.
its hard to explain cus I also gave them up fast but basically i kinda agree with the sentence in OP talking about how Ye wants to be like Apple and this on a big scale could help
The shoe is kinda interesting cus it feels like you just have a regular pair on. Its sturdy, won't slip off and you can do more in it than a croc. I own the Slides which are comfortable and I was surprised that the foams blew them out of the water they're so soft. I don't have a whole lot of experience with it tho so this is just my opinion.
oh and all that on what feels like cheap recyclable materials for $75, his lowest price outside of the Slides. Ik from Ye's explanation too in vids that when they get dirty you can quickly wash them off. Feels like an multi-purpose sneaker with a lot of potential once it sells more. Just like how 350's rendered the Nike Roshe out of market these have that same potential with Crocs which are extremely widespread atm. Need more drops tho and for them to normalize like the Slides did (thanks to a lot of celebs and models)
i gotcha
sounds cool i remember seeing them initially and thinking that there was no way they'd stay on feet, but yea after seein ye n others wear them i'm also surprised that the unconventional opening works so well
ye is also trying to get rid of laces on his recent models wonder if he thinks slip-on in general is the future
Need these foam runners
Nobody wears this in real life except rich ppl lol
wdym it's not even expensive lmao
Deserved.