The Best Sneakers of 2019

Image via Complex Original

This sneaker got booed at the Complex Sneaker of the Year panel at ComplexCon, and that’s one of the most absurd things I’ve seen in sneakers. If you don’t know why the first autolacing basketball sneaker makes a list like this, I don’t know what to tell you.

Often we praise true-to-form retro sneakers, collaborations that push the boundaries, both on creativity and on the resale market, when we talk about the best sneakers of the year. It’s good to see a model that pushes innovation get some recognition. This isn’t the first time the brand has used this technology, but the first time it’s had a practical use. At over $500, these sneakers still aren’t accessible to most, but it’s a start. —Matt Welty

Aimè Leon Dore had a big year, maybe its biggest since launching back in 2014. The New York-based streetwear brand opened its first flagship space back in February, and impressed with consistent apparel offerings that ranged from clean sweatsuits to knit sweaters depicting a young Michael Jordan taking flight. New Balance also had itself a solid year, highlighted by sought after projects with Bodega and the wonderfully-timed signing of Kawhi Leonard to help relaunch its basketball division on his path to the 2019 NBA Championship.

Some of the best work each brand did in 2019 was with each other. NYPD had to shut down a lineup for their Fall/Winter collaboration centered around the 990v2 and 990v5, which are worth noting as honorable mentions from this busy year of releases. But the yellow-tongued pair from the Spring/Summer pack of 997s is the one that makes our list.

It was the more limited of the two 997s, only releasing in-store and online at ALD. It had no problem selling out, and even still holds value on the resell market with pairs flipping for upwards of $300.

In an era of collabs that add components and layer logos to create a brand new look, this is just a clean take on an original. The colorful pebbled suede hits on the tongue and heel pop against the mostly grey and white upper. The floral insoles are a nice touch. The quality, both pairs are NB Made in USA releases, is obviously on point too. Teddy Santis had a lot of people who might not be into New Balance going after this shoe in 2019. That doesn’t just happen for no reason. —Mike DeStefano

When I was a “super-senior” in college, I got my first pair of Yeezys. For an early graduation gift, my mom bought me a pair of Chocolate 750s off of the Facebook marketplace. The unrelenting Kanye stan and sneakerhead inside of me could not have been happier; I posted a cheesy Instagram photo and genuinely thought I was hot shit. Three years later, people are copping Yeezys for under retail and 22-year-old me is confused. 

All that being said, I think the new 380 has a chance to send a jolt of energy into Kanye’s polarizing Yeezy line. Starting things off with this bold “Alien” colorway, it will certainly be interesting to see what follows with this new model. Hype will be high for the first drop, as the debut colorways of any Yeezy model garner attention—just look at the Turtle Doves, the Belugas, or the Wave Runners.

If you think the 380’s build looks a little familiar, then you’re right: the shape and structure of the shoe is awfully similar to that of the Ultra Boost Uncaged. Of course, it does come with some signature Kanye touches that include a thicker, cloudier midsole and an upper pattern that will lend to some intriguing colorway patterns down the road. We haven’t had much time to see the 380s sit on the secondary market yet, but as I was finishing this blurb, I did get a Yeezy Mafia push notification saying they sold out on Yeezy Supply, so we should find out soon. At the end of the day, it would be hard to argue against the 380 being the best Yeezy product to come out of 2019. —Ben Felderstein

If you’re not a G-Dragon fan, at least when it comes to music, we don’t blame you. Not that he’s not talented, but the K-pop star has had a limited scope of success crossing over into the American market. Still he remains an international superstar and is probably known, at least in the States, more for his style than tunes. 

With that said, he’s still a style influencer and fresh off his mandated military service he’s grabbed his first Nike collaboration in a shocking manner. Why? It’s a shoe that’s more than meets the eye. On the surface it’s just a black and white Air Force 1. It also has a flower on the tongue, but who cares about that. The real detail is that the upper wears away, revealing a splatter painting on the shoe. A lot of these so-called tearaway shoes take massive amounts of wear or manipulation to reveal the underneath layer. The G-Dragon AF1s only took minutes of wear for the paint on the upper to crack. There’s also a Korea-exclusive pair with a red Swoosh. Good luck getting your hands on those. —Matt Welty

Some people weren’t too happy that ComplexCon’s Sneaker of the Year panel back in November didn’t feature the Travis Scott x Air Jordan VI. “Why do we need to put two Travis Scott collaborations on the list,” was a question thrown around at the office. At the end of the day, making TWO of the year’s most desirable releases shouldn’t be penalized. A great shoe is a great shoe. So, we’re admitting our error and righting our wrong here. 

While people didn’t go quite as crazy for the VI as they did for Scott’s Air Jordan I from earlier in the year, it still had an insane amount of hype surrounding it. Like all of the rapper’s collabs before it, this one sold out in what felt like seconds to the dismay of his loyal fanbase and immediately fetched big numbers on the resell market despite its high $250 retail price. The Houston rapper was given the opportunity to modify another classic Air Jordan too. Without a Swoosh to flip, he opted to put a cargo pocket to the ankle collar of the shoe’s olive green upper. Bright orange detailing, extra yellow laces, Cactus Jack logos on the heel, and a glow in the dark outsole further set this apart from your usual general release colorway. The ad campaign was just as unique, unexpectedly featuring NFL legend and former Jordan Brand athlete Randy Moss in fishing gear rocking the earth-toned design.

Scott can’t really miss right now. From music festivals, to sneakers, to endless amounts of merch, few artists have had as big of a year. This reception of the VI is more evidence of how popular he truly is at the moment, and why Nike certainly isn’t done tapping him to do more projects in 2020 and beyond. —Mike DeStefano

I’m not the biggest fan of this shoe, or the brand that worked on it. But I understand why it makes the list. Mainly that the right people liked it, it was on trend at the right time, and it resells for a lot of money.

The brand, known for its use of smiley faces and Pharrell co-sign, reworked the VaporMax 2019, a model that’s not been associated with limited-edition models or hype releases. What brought the attention was the deconstructed design, complete with a Swoosh that’s detached from the upper, multicolored Air unit, and the label’s branding on the heel. More important, there was a friends-and-family pair that had a light-up sole and was posted online the likes of LeBron James. Instant success, right?

Personal feelings aside, I get why this is a good collaboration. Nike took a shoe, the VaporMax 2019, that isn’t associated with buzz, added a cool brand to it, made the sneaker unrecognizable from its original form, and somehow better, and people flocked to it. That’s all it takes sometimes. —Matt Welty

The “Bred” Air Jordan IV is one of those pairs that has released time and time again, but in 2019, Jordan Brand really seemed to go the full mile to give the sneaker the retro it deserved. The OG-style Nike Air branding returned to the colorway for the first time in two long decades, the materials were an improvement over the 2012 version, and it all came packaged in a throwback box complete with a plastic hangtag.

The staunch purists out there may have found things to nitpick—there were a bunch of Instagram customs that gave a more pronounced white look to the edges of the upper’s seams—but overall, this was what people had been waiting for. The shoe that Michael Jordan wore for “The Shot” was finally back in close-to-original form and it ended up being one of the best drops of the entire year. —Riley Jones

The hype of Virgil Abloh x Nike collabs may have slowed down a bit this year, but one exception to the rule in 2019 was the Off-White x Nike Air Force 1 "MCA." Sure, Abloh's put his spin on Air Force 1s before. The "MCA" version of the shoe in blue is probably the most limited of the silhouette next to the "MOMA" colorway that dropped last year. The shoe also marked a milestone for Abloh, who feted his first solo exhibition at the MCA this past fall where he encouraged his fans to take his DIY aesthetic and make their own one-of-one Air Forces. Some people took Abloh's advice to heart by getting a GR pair of Air Forces, painting them blue and snapping a red Home Depot hang tag on them. —Gerald Flores

This story starts all the way back in October 2018 on Travis Scott’s Instagram page. Scott had already gained considerable momentum from his Air Force 1 and Air Jordan IV collaborations, but what came next would put him in some truly rarified air. 

Accompanied by a “still cooking” caption, Scott gave the first world a look at his Air Jordan 1 via Instagram Story, but the hype really began to build when he started wearing it on his sold-out Astroworld Tour.

As Clark Kent said in this year’s ComplexCon “Sneaker of the Year” panel, “It’s really easy to mess up a Jordan 1 because the GRs are so good.” Clark went on to say that Scott definitely didn’t mess this one up, and I’m sure most of you will agree.

Looks-wise, this Jordan 1 is as strong as they come. Its reverse Swoosh helps it stand out from the pack, while Cactus Jack heel branding and a hidden stash pocket around its ankle collar provide important little details to further its strength. But the looks of the sneaker only account for part of this ranking. It’s the hype that went along with it. 

An argument can certainly be made that Travis Scott is the biggest name in hip-hop right now. He is a rockstar in every sense of the word, and his name carries serious weight when attached to a sneaker, especially a Jordan 1. It’s no secret that the Nike SNKRS app has had some infamously terrible releases, but none were as bad as the Travis Scott Jordan 1 on May 11, with the sneakers totally wrecking the app.

A long buildup, an attractive design, and hype from the top name in rap helped this Jordan 1 climb up the lists and grow in resale value. —Ben Felderstein

The beauty of the Sacai x Nike LDV Waffle is that it’s both old and new. Aesthetically, it has retro DNA, but is a completely fresh silhouette at the same time . When the sneaker debuted during Paris Fashion Week last year, it caught the attention of everyone in the sneaker-sphere as well as casual fans of sneakers. 

Designer Chitose Abe’s play on duality, which was part of a larger Sacai x Nike collection, combined two running shoes from Nike’s '70s archive — the LDV and the Waffle Daybreak. She also took the Noah’s Arc theme a step further with double Swooshes, double laces, double tongues, and double midsoles. Abe’s perfectionism reportedly even delayed the rollout of the shoe, which made hype for it grow even more. 

When it finally did drop in the spring of this year, it was an instant hit. People who were into high fashion were into them, OG collectors from Jadakiss to Fat Joe wore them, and at least 30 people at the Complex office had a pair in one of the five different colorways. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone to disagree that it wasn't the best sneaker of the year. —Gerald Flores