The Sneakers That Mattered Most in 2025

THE DAILY DIGEST

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2025

Dear BoF Community,

The sneaker of the year conversation — or SOTY, as it's better known — is a cherished tradition among a certain subset of our readers. Streetwear publications and hypebeasts make their picks, then take their case to social media. By mid-December, a consensus emerges.

But we noticed something different happening this year. Nobody seems to agree on what shoes should make their top 10, let alone SOTY. That's partly down to challenger brands taking a run at Nike's longtime dominance in hype sneakers.

But our hunch was there was more to it than that.

With The Sneakers That Mattered Most in 2025, BoF correspondents Mike Sykes and Lei Takanashi set out to understand why the sneaker market is so fractured right now, and what it means for the future of the industry. They polled leading experts and nearly 200 BoF readers for their SOTY picks, and crunched the numbers on which sneakers got the most hype online and fetched big resale premiums.

Their reporting tells the story of a sneaker market that feels both stronger than ever and in a state of flux. And if you'd like to go deeper, subscribe to The Kicks You Wear, Mike Sykes' twice-weekly newsletter on all things sports and fashion.

Brian Baskin, Executive Editor

Also in today's Daily Digest:

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Rick Owens became the latest designer to stop using fur.
Fashion companies will need to unlock new efficiencies to drive growth, as levers such as cheap sourcing lose impact, says the BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2026.