Better Together: The SS23 Sneaker Collab Report

Dive into this season’s strongest pairings—they won’t be around for long.

ASICS and Kiko Kostadinov, Clarks Originals and sacai, Fear of God and Birks: The collabs of SS23 make a solid case for the fact that some things are better together. Cop them when they drop and step into something unique—they’re here for one season only.

Fear of God x Birkenstock

It feels like yesterday when the rumor of a Rick Owens x Birkenstock collaboration was the hottest fashion gossip. Both brand purists, so to speak, the Rick Owens partnership marked the beginning of a new chapter for Birks, previously relegated to the crunchier set. Since then, Birkenstock has collaborated with the likes of Stussy, Fendi, and Valentino, but the Essentials collection is perhaps the most harmonious matchup of them all. If you’re an earth tone lover and a devotee of the Jerry Lorenzo uniform™, then you’ll need a pair of Essentials x Birkenstock on foot to reach nirvana.

Clarks x sacai Hybrid Wallabee

The Wallabee is beloved, with a long history that encompasses Jamaican rude boy culture and New York hip-hop in the 1990s. Clarks debuted the shoe in 1967 and now sacai updates the moccasin-inspired classic for SS23. Japanese designer Chitose Abe rethinks the silhouette, making it bolder and more expansive with a large midsole and lugged platform bottom. If you’ve ever wanted to feel 10 feet tall stomping city blocks in desert boots, now you can.

Blumarine x Suicoke

Industry legends Blumarine, of Italy, and Suicoke, of Japan, join forces to offer new levels of sophisticated comfort. Suicoke imparts its embossed interior sole, lauded for its superior sensation and support, on an unlikely partner: a rubber platform slide. Though not so unlikely—perhaps all that was keeping the platform slide from versatility was this very touch. With glittering silk straps to match, this collab looks as good as it feels.

VETEMENTS x New Rock

VETEMENTS is no stranger to the collab. “The idea was always to take the iconic, the most recognizable product from their brand, and put it into a VETEMENTS frame,” Demna told of the SS17 collection, in which there were 18 collaborations. For SS23, VETEMENTS casts its specter onto other haunts, this time of a more goth variety, partnering with New Rock, the subversive Spanish leatherworking stalwart, by remodeling its iconic platform footwear silhouettes. VETEMENTS remixes each New Rock model’s back embroidery, as well as branded, embossed hardware, offering up thigh-high chain-link boots, studded platform gamer ankle boots, as well as the classic platform sneakers, available in black or camo, each one dressed in VETEMENTS.

New Balance

This year brings a massive slate of New Balance collabs, with partners including Queens rapper and gourmand Action Bronson, the much-hyped NY streetwear label Aimé Leon Dore, the LA label Bricks & Wood, and Montreal’s own minimalists JJJJound, to name a few. Some of the collabs boast flashier colorways, like Bronson’s Baklava 990v6 or the original camo print designed by Chicago sneaker connoisseur Joe Freshgoods. The Freshgoods collab is an especially pleasant surprise, as last year it seemed that his partnership with New Balance had reached its end—clearly that’s not the case.

ASICS Andersson Bell, Kiko Kostadinov, Awake NY

Looking for the perfect colorful yet tasteful, creative yet comfortable, alternative yet recognizable sneaker? Look to ASICS. The Japanese footwear GOAT has been creating classics since 1949, and when it comes to collaborating, ASICS has a discerning eye. Each ASICS collab features a dependable model as the foundation—or canvas—onto which its partners can build and extrapolate. Andersson Bell opts for colorblocking and elevated details, while Awake NY dabbles in spring-adjacent suede colorways. Kiko Kostadinov, perhaps the most sought-after, always delivers with a viscous-seeming bolstered gel detail.