Sneaker Brand Report

If you’ve not looked at your Spotify Wrapped yet, where have you been? The music streaming giant sent out its annual round-up of your year’s top hits at the back end of 2021, and now all the Christmas songs have died out, your streaming has finally got back to normal.

It can be an emotional rollercoaster, taking you back to songs you used to love, people you used to love more, and nights out you thought you’d forgotten. It can even inspire your future listening.

But what about if it wasn’t music that was being wrapped, and instead it was sneakers?

If you’re anything like us, (and we guess you are, given the website you’re on,) you’ll have had more than a few sneakers this year. We look back at which ones have been the most popular, checking out everything from how often they’ve been looked up through to the most in-demand silhouettes and talked about trends.

Nike coming out on top of the most searched-for sneakers is the footwear equivalent of Adele being your most listened-to artist. It's not surprising. It’s nothing new. But it’s still really very good.

Nike was searched for 89.2 million times in 2021, making it by far the most in-demand brand. Whether it’s an old classic or the release of a brand new colourway, Nike keeps on making the headlines. Is it a brand that will ever go out of style? If it does, we don’t want our feet to find out.

Check out the latest Nike release dates.

We love adidas sneakers here, but according to our global data, they’re only loved five times less than Nike by the sneaker buying public. Thay take second place with yearly searches of 16.6 million, by no means a number to be sniffed at, but a long way back from their fiercest rivals.

The two have a long-standing battle for top spot, but it’s a fight that keeps getting harder. As new designers, brands and looks enter the market, competition only grows stronger, making it more of a challenge for one brand to capture everyone’s attention. Have adidas got what it takes?

Put adidas’s release dates in your diary.

When Kanye West, or Ye as he now goes by, does something, people listen. Whether that was his hugely successful debut album, College Dropout, his marriage to Kim Kardashian or his short-lived presidential campaign, he gets attention wherever he goes. The same is very much true of his Yeezy sneaker collection. By collaborating with adidas, Ye created one of the most in-demand trainer brands of modern times, seeing people queue up overnight to be the first to get their hands on a pair.

In 2021, the Yeezy brand racked up 15.6 million searches.

See when the next Yeezy sneaker drops.

Just like with a song, even though you might have loved it at the start of the year, it doesn’t mean you still will in 12 months’ time. We’ve looked at the sneakers that are trending highest, working out who was top dog in January 2021 versus whose value has shot up since.

New Balance are by no means new kids on the block. The Boston-based brand has been going strong since 1906, but in the past year they’ve gone from strength to strength. Interest boomed by 42.85% over the last 12 months, and there could be a few reasons why.

They really upped their collab game in 2021, teaming up with brands like Aimé Leon Dore and Franck Muller - the watch maker favoured by one Christiano Ronaldo. If that wasn’t enough, New Balance even received royal backing, with Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton revealing them to be her favourite kicks. Can’t hurt, can it?

If you didn’t have a pair of Converse during your rebellious teenage years, where were you? But the brand is proving to be more than just a youthful statement, having seen a 23.53% increase in interest during 2021. What started out as a basketball shoe has turned into a real rock ‘n’ roll favourite, and recently teamed up with Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown to drive home their teenage appeal. On top of that, they just announced the launch of their Pokemon collection to celebrate 25 years of catching them all.

They implied they could make you jump as high as a legend. And while they’ve never been scientifically proven to help you slam dunk like a star, they have become something of an icon in their own right. Air Jordans are one of Nike’s most popular brands, and every time a new release drops, new fans join the hordes of old ones waiting in line to buy them.

In 2021, they became one of a number of fashion brands to enter the world of Fortnite, offering players the chance to wear their sneakers in the game. Coincidentally, in Fortnite you actually CAN jump that high.

Has a sneaker ever made you mad? Do you ever look at a new silhouette and feel overcome with joy? For a lot of us, sneakers are more than just things we wear - they’re a way of life, and that can stir up some pretty strong emotional reactions.

We looked at the top sneaker brands’ performance on social media throughout the past year to see who was causing us to feel what.

If you wanted a laugh in 2021, Yeezy was the brand to turn to. Ye’s brand encouraged more laughing reactions than any other sneaker, with their bold, confident approach to marketing bringing smiles to our faces.

Frankly, if it comes from the mind of Mr West, there’s a good chance people will enjoy it.

How can you not love Air Jordans? Reaction to the brand on social was almost all positive in the past year, as love hearts flooded out in support of the basketball sneaker. If they don’t leave you high, they’re not really doing their job, are they?

Wow. That’s the sentiment Nike left us with this year. The brand just keeps on innovating, bringing new outlines, new colourways and new celebrities to the party time after time. Just when we think they can’t get any better, they prove us wrong, leaving our jaws dropped and our eyes wide open. More! More! More!

We’re not sure what it was about Vans in 2021 that left us feeling blue, but they saw more sad reactions than any other brand. Maybe they remind us of times gone by, or our fleeting youth, or when we did our first ever ollie and thought we’d be the next Tony Hawkes. (Spoiler: we weren’t.)

Anger is never a feeling you want associated with your brand, but unfortunately for Salomon in 2021, that’s what they got. The trail running kings always prove popular with anyone looking to leave the road behind, and the XT-6 was a standout model of the year, however the brand proved less popular with other sneaker fans.

Social media isn’t all about likes, you know? If you have a million followers and get an average of 1,000 likes, that’s a whole chunk of your audience who aren't interested in what you’re talking about. We’ve looked at the sneaker brands getting it right, attracting the highest rate of engagement compared to their number of followers.

And for once, Nike doesn’t come first.

Instead, it’s Yeezy who takes the crown. On average, 28% of their fans engage with their posts, showing that they’re speaking the language their audience enjoys. Their posts attract an average of 46,848 likes and 612 comments, no doubt helped by a consistent string of celebrity endorsements.

Saucony comes in second place with 13% engagement. The brand specialises in long distance running shoes, so appeals to a niche target audience that is much more likely to enjoy the things it posts. Their content receives an average of 3,010 likes and 39 comments, showing that sometimes a smaller audience can achieve greater results.

PUMA is next with a 9% engagement rate. They employ some of the biggest names in sport to promote their brand, such as Lewis Hamilton and Neymar, who help them attract an average of 53,780 likes and 648 likes.

Nike, on the other hand, comes at the bottom of our list. Despite having the most social media fans, only 2% of them regularly engage with their posts, leaving a huge number of followers uninterested.

Sneakers are big business. For the right person, the right design can go for thousands, and even more if it’s an original kept in mint condition. We’ve looked at the average price premium that each brand sells for at auction. This shows the percentage of the original price that the sneaker then goes on to earn. Nike, it’s your time to shine.

If you own a pair of classic Nike sneakers, and they’re still in good condition, you could be looking at a hefty pay day. The brand’s products sell for an average premium of ​​678.36%, meaning you could get back more than six times the amount you originally paid for them. At auction, a pair of Nike sneakers sells for an average of £417. If you’re wearing a pair right now, it could be worth taking them off and never wearing them again.

It’s not just the main Nike brand that could earn you big money - one of their sub-brands could, too. Air Jordans are one of the most in-demand sneakers on the market, and could sell at auction for around 361.59% of their original price. The right pair could go for as much as £315 on a good day, so keep them off the courts and in the closet if you want to cash in.

adidas sneakers often pack a retro punch, and that sees them do well when it comes to auction. Classic sportswear fans can’t keep their hands off adidas silhouettes, and pay an average premium of 92.75% to get a pair for themselves. That’s an average price of £95.

Combining the price premium, the social media engagement, the search numbers, social engagement and beyond, we’ve ranked the ultimate sneaker of 2021. Check out the results below and see if your favourite sneaker makes the cut.

Based on how many people have viewed each silhouette online, we can officially reveal the best designs of the past 12 months. Have you been wearing one of the winners?

Timeless. Effortless. Unbeatable. First worn by its namesake Michael in 1985, the Air Jordan 1 silhouette hasn’t changed much over the past few decades, but its look remains ever popular. No matter what colour, what design or which celebrity is seen wearing them, they continue to be the most popular sneaker, taking up 27% of the overall searches in the sneaker sector. A real slam dunk.

Another vintage basketball-inspired sneaker that still proves popular is the Nike Dunk. First released in 1985 (the same year as the Jordans), they started out in a series of colours to match college basketball teams, but are now available in a huge range of customisable options. With a promise of being just as good on the streets as they are on the courts, the Dunk takes up 18.4% of all online views.

Nike continue their domination of silhouettes with the Air Force 1, which takes up 10.70% of online views. The Air Force 1 started life in 1982, as the first on-court shoe to feature Nike technology. And while other versions were created, the 1 has kept its place as the people’s favourite.

High tops just hit differently, don’t they? 2021 was the year of University Blue, as these Jordan 1 High OGs UNC Blues earned 10.23% of all sneaker views online. The retro silhouette, coupled with eye-catching colourway and incredible comfort make these shoes ones you won’t want to take off in a hurry.

These particularly rare shoes feature a leather and mesh upper, techno grey accents and a pop of red from the Jumpman logo on the tongue. Combined, Jordan 4 White Oreos make for one attention-grabbing pair of shoes. They retailed for around $250 dollars when they first hit the market, but can be bought for much more at auction now.

A modern twist on a design classic, the Nike Dunk Low Retro Black White used key features from the original 1985 inception, while adding a bold new colourway to bring it to life. Released at the start of 2021, they soon flew off the shelves for a retail price of $133.

Want to stay on top of everything worth knowing about sneakers? Of course you do. We keep tabs on all the latest trends, meaning you’ll be the first to know about the next best releases.

We’ll show you what’s hot, what’s getting warmer, and where you can buy all the best looks for the best price. Where else would you rather be?

Nike was top dog in 2021. Keep your eyes on The Sole Supplier to see if they can keep their crown in 2022.