These Are the Sneakers That Will Dominate 2020

Peter Verry

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2019 was a great year for sneakers.

Industry giant Nike delivered several must-have looks, rap megastar Travis Scott and Jordan Brand released collabs that owned the resale market, Puma gained ground on its competition with lifestyle standouts and Kanye West continued to offer looks with Adidas that sneakerheads sought out in droves.

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But what will be big in 2020?

Here, six sneaker influencers talk the brands and styles that will reign supreme next year.

Yaya Mazurkevich Nuñez

“For 2020, I see the top of the year having a heavy Adidas moment starting with classics and then leaning into new models. Everyone can agree that collabs for Adidas perform well so the latest basketball models are definitely going to do well [and] the effect of those releases may affect the entire brand. More obvious, Nike Dunk SB is back on the rise, especially now that they added the new ‘purple box’ for the new generations of SBs. Im excited to see all the new iterations of what the SB Dunk could be. New Balance is also a good contender for a really big comeback this year as well. All of their latest drops have gotten good responses and the comfort really gives them an upper hand.”

Henry “Henrock” Francois

“I thought people would get tired of Jordan 1s by now but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I feel like people started going hard for them when Kanye [West] broke them out in 2011 and they’re still hot. I expect them to continue to dominate in 2020. [Nike] Dunks seem to be really hot at the moment as well. SB Dunks have always had somewhat of a cult following but they’ve been dropping some heat lately. The Off-White Dunks just dropped so I’m sure that’ll bring some additional buzz to the model in general.”

Damaries “Kickitwitdd” Negron

“To me, what will dominate in 2020 are Jordan 1’s, Ewing’s [Ewing Athletics], Sacais, the return of the [Nike] Air Max 90 “Infrared” [and] LeBron retros. And I have a feeling we will see a new Air Max model that would infuse some of the models into one shoe.”

Ricky Shoebio

“I see us seeing more of the same as far as highly coveted collabs being very big in the year. Specifically, Travis Scott collabs and Sacai’s will do well given the right shoe. I think we all know by now Off-White will continue to do well, but 2019 also showed it will have to be the right shoe. I think the guaranteed successful collab will continue to be CPFM [Cactus Plant Flea Market] without question. Jordan has to continue the run they have been on by focusing on 1s, and giving opportunities to different people to create. Adidas and Yeezy have found the right balance of colorways, release schedule and slight change to keep them rolling through 2020 with no problem. Aside from the dominance among those, I can see Puma being very successful in 2020. The sportstyle division has tapped into a lot of quality over the last couple of years and with the hoops side and athletes going there it’s really laying the right ground work if the execute properly.”

“If you are asking what I’m looking forward to see the most? I would say I think Nike needs to something special with P.J. Tucker. Do like a PJ’s PE Pack with some of his favorite PE’s releasing them similar to how they did the Prelude Pack for Kobe [Bryant]. I think that would completely shake things up in sneakers.”

Jasmine Gonzalez

“The two brands that will compete for dominance in 2020 is Nike and Adidas. Nike will continue to create new stories, campaigns and tell the history of its iconic models that will retro. A major focus will go into Dunks and SBs [and] SBs will come back for a new generation. Adidas will be revived with the introduction of new Yeezy models and the release of Ivy Park products. Ivy Park x Adidas will be sold out everywhere. The new collab will provide clothing and sneakers to a demographic Adidas currently does not serve.”

Cid “The Kicks” Merisier

“Air Jordans will always be in the conversation. There is already a hype because they are releasing the Jordan 1 “Reverse Bred.” The Nike Dunk is making a huge comeback thanks to Travis Scott and Virgil [Abloh]. I [also] see great from Puma in lifestyle and Under Armour in basketball and running.”

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