Vintage advantage
A significant number of Nike and adidas shoe designs in 2023 contain leather, as retro styles enjoy a resurgence and brands push the idea of premium materials.
With a retro renaissance comes a leather renaissance, if releases from big sports brands including Nike and adidas are anything to go by. Following many years of producing shoes from synthetic woven and knitted textiles, the pair have made a noticeable return to leather for the latest styles.
This year, multiple footwear releases from Nike have either been full leather or suede or included a leather or suede option. Its basketball brand Jordan has made an even deeper commitment, celebrating its anniversary and Retro Collections with a host of leather and suede designs. Similarly, German brand adidas has unveiled around one third of its launches with leather options, highlighting a clear trend for the material. Partly, this is fashion: a huge focus on ‘throwback’ styles has seen designers digging into their archives to replicate early designs, staying true to the original materials.
Nike’s first collection with skateboarder Leo Baker “channelled iconic shoes from the vaults”. Featuring a buttery leather upper with suede overlays in high-wear areas, the SB React Leo also leans on leather’s durability. Similarly, its first collection with basketballer Devin Booker, the Nike Book 1, is inspired by his restored 1972 car Chevy Blazer K5, which has a vintage exterior but a high-tech engine. On the outside, a workwear-inspired canvas and twill upper adds durability, while a suede collar and leather across the forefoot provide more reinforcement and a “familiar, plush, broken-in feel”.
The Converse Weapon was introduced in 1986 and redesigned this year as part of a collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara, founder of Japanese brand Fragment Design. Featuring a full leather upper, the Converse x FRGMT Weapon’s leather woven tongue features an original Converse Weapon-branded label and terry cloth lining, “allowing the next generation of creatives to discover the silhouette for themselves”.
Luxury association
It is to this next generation that the brands will be hoping to convey leather’s association with luxury. During the 2010s, sports brands’ promotion of leather declined, which some suggested could be for fear of any backlash against the material and associated mistruths. Just before the pandemic, French testing body CTC’s Yves Morin said leather’s decline in footwear was because sports brands didn’t like it, but Jon Clark, CEO of tannery group Prime Asia, disagreed, naming Nike and adidas among his biggest customers. “It’s about trends,” he said, “and about value for the consumer. It’s just not true that Nike and adidas did not like leather, but they have to sell to the trend.”
As the knitted upper trend waned – partly as Flyknit and Primeknit became cheaper to copy – brands looked for a material that could capture the luxury and retro feel, and command a premium price. This push towards luxury is evident at adidas, whose colourful collection of leather Samba shoes in collaboration with producer and designer Pharell Williams in May namechecked Ecco Leather; even the shoelaces were leather. The raw materials, sourced from the Netherlands, use the tannery’s water-saving technology which saves 20 litres of water per hide, adidas stated, resulting in a higher colour fastness and better performance.
World Leather’s Market Intelligence author highlighted this statement: “The fact that this very traditional shoe is made of leather is actually less big news than the explicit naming of the leather supplier and the clear and direct reference to the material used. Whether it was Pharell Williams’ special wish to use leather is absolutely irrelevant, except that after the Kanye West flop adidas was probably being careful not to bring another marketing problem into their company.”
It might not be as irrelevant as first thought; Mr Williams clearly loves leather – his own collections as a creative director of Louis Vuitton this summer featured multiple leather designs. A later collection with adidas under his brand Humanrace was described as “luxury footwear, born out of a desire to celebrate the craftsmanship and heritage”. “We’re instilling high-quality materials and craftsmanship back into footwear,” said Williams of the collection.
Colour and comfort
More leather designs followed over the summer at adidas: in July, it launched a leather Superstar design, first launched over 50 years ago. A collaboration with accessories designer Tulie Yaito led to a luxurious take on the iconic Forum Hi, featuring white pebble leather, cowhide, blue and red ostrich-embossed leather, green suede, embossed cut-out leather and faux pony hair. A tie-up with menswear brand Wales Bonner also presented the WB Samba in two versions: one in a neutral colour palette with a nubuck upper and leather stripes, the other with a silver leather upper and crochet stripes.
Leather has not only found a home in the lifestyle-orientated shoes, but adidas is also bringing it into the performance categories, notably using it “in fresh ways for football”. In May, it unveiled ´adidas Football for Prada´, with the Predator Accuracy, the Copa Pure and the X Crazyfast “reimagined with luxury materials, meticulous craftsmanship and design details synonymous with Prada’s Linea Rossa”.
Adidas’ golf division has also embraced the look. This summer, it launched several retro golf designs. The MC87 4D draws inspiration from a model introduced in 1987, the Tiverton, which featured wing-tip styling, brogue stitch detail and croc texturing with a classic leather upper. MC87 4D is made from “premium water-resistant leather” and has the first 4D midsole in a golf shoe. From the same family, the MC80 features a rich leather upper with Boost foam in the heel.
“Over the last 18 months we’ve noticed golfers wanting more vintage designs, and we’re in a unique position where our archives provide some amazing product inspiration,” says Masun Denison, global footwear director at adidas Golf. “The biggest surprise that golfers will discover is how comfortable these shoes are out of the box, but then they’ll notice the stability and traction to go along with the rich finish in the upper.”
New direction
While the signals seem clear, our Market Intelligence expert urges caution. These styles might not be the ‘volume’ sellers, and it is hard to guarantee where the market will head. “One should not be deceived,” he says. “Apart from the product descriptions, hardly a word is being said about it anywhere. Perhaps this is because it was not that long ago that the word ‘vegan’ had almost prophetic significance in footwear marketing, too. The brands are not interested in the material as such. If the story and the look sell, the trend will grow; if sales are poor, it will end as quickly as it began.”
However, he does concede it is a “clear change in direction”. The subtle marketing, pushing leather as the luxury option, will help to convince the younger consumers of its appeal, especially when the designs are “co-signed” by influencers and sports stars. A move away from synthetics could also offer more options for circularity, as Puma is finding with its Re:Suede initiative.
“Even though we are not authorised to mention further projects at this point, we can still say that projects of this kind do not only exist at adidas, and a return of leather at other brands is being hotly discussed,” adds our insider. “What this ultimately means for the leather pipeline in the coming years will of course depend on success with consumers.”
The new Superstar XLG features a leather upper, an EVA sockliner, an elevated platform outsole and a retooled shell-toe.
Credit: Adidas
