• Men's Fashion Guides

The Hottest Trainer Launches This Week

Fragment Design x NikeLab Air Max LD-Zero

Six months is a long time in sneaker world. Way back in March, Fragment boss (and member of Nike’s crack HTM design squad) Hiroki Fujiwara bolted the LD-1000, a 1970s marathon shoe, to an Air Max 2014. Released for Air Max day, the Frankenkick disappeared quicker than, well, a limited release Nike designed by one of the most important names in streetwear. Understandably. If you missed out – and you almost certainly did – then dry your eyes. The LD-Zero is back, this time swapping navy for grey. You get the same nylon upper, the same bubble sole, and the same sense of disappointment when your size sells out before you can find your credit card. Available from 22 September at Sneakersnstuff, priced £170.

Nike Blazer Low

The Blazer Low is a fitting kick for collaboration: a skate favourite, it taps into Supreme’s genuine roots in the scene, which tend to be eclipsed by fuccbois fighting outside the store. If you can, take the dusky pink. Although odds are you won’t have time to choose. Available from 22 September at Nike, priced £85.

Adidas EQT Running Guidance 93 x Sneakers 76

The reissued Running Guidance silhouette hasn’t sparked quite the same clamour as some of Adidas’ other trips into the archive. Even though it’s been done up in primeknit and eye-popping colours, nothing’s quite got pulses racing. Pusha T’s murdered-out take on the 23-year-old runner is even still in stock in a few stores, which is perhaps the biggest embarrassment for any 21st century rapper. But this spin from Italy’s Sneakers 76 should change that. The bones remain, but the new skin comes with a history lesson; the blues are a nod to the sea that surrounds the store’s home city of Taranto, where mythology records that a dolphin saved Poseidon’s son, Taras, from a shipwreck. They’re suede though. So try not to get any actual water on them. Available from 24 September at Farfetch, priced £125.

Adidas x Kanye West Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Beluga

From gods to I Am A God. That’s right, it’s time for another round of trying to find someone to cover your shifts while you spend three days camped out for trainers. The latest Yeezy 350 colourway drops after Kanye burnt a lot of his fashion goodwill at NYFW – forcing models to stand in the sun until they pass out will do that – but for his fans, it seems few things can dull the zeal. If you didn’t like the original Yeezys, then these orange-flashed versions won’t change your mind. If you did, then the fact they’re divisive means you might actually get hold of a pair. And at least they’re more comfortable than his high heels. Available from 22 September at Farfetch, priced £150.

END x Reebok NPC CNL Abyss

Reebok’s annual hook-ups with Newcastle’s streetwear mecca END have been a blueprint for well-considered collaborations. They’ve taken popular but not too popular shapes (the Instapump Fury and Ventilator), dolled them up in premium fabrics and kept the colourways restrained, but individual. So everyone knows you’re rocking something rare, without the need for an obnoxious orange stripe (ahem). This year the pair take a dip into the deep blue, resurfacing with an NPC in precisely that shade, plus D-ring eyelets and rippled (you know, like the sea) lambskin leather. Although they’ll work better with your tailored suit than your wet suit. Available from 24 September at END, priced £109.

ARKK Copenhagen Raven Low-Tops

The terms ‘minimal’ and ‘Scandinavian’ are essentially synonyms at this point, so we won’t dwell too much on the Raven’s clean lines and palette. What is worth hovering on, however, is the construction: a neoprene-meets-mesh upper with the label’s signature crossed laces, which makes the trainer feel like something you’d wear in a remake of Logan’s Run. Blame athleisure (and Yohji Yamamoto) but asymmetric trainers, in futuristic fabrics, are certifiably a ‘thing’ this season. Normally, they come at Yohji Yamamoto price points. Pick up the Ravens instead and you can put those savings towards yet another pair of luxe joggers. Available at Arkk Copenhagen, priced £85.

Tom Banham

Jocks & Nerds deputy editor Tom Banham is an outerwear addict with bylines in GQ, Men’s Health and Mr Porter. He’s fascinated by the collision of high fashion and streetwear, but also knows his way around a soft-shouldered blazer. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @banham_tom