YOUR GUIDE TO BALENCIAGA SHOES AND SNEAKERS
Balenciaga boasts an extensive list of coveted footwear, from the cutting edge to the wonderfully - at times confusingly- absurd and borderline unwearable. Here are our top picks from the Truss Archive, with a season-by-season breakdown of Balenciaga’s best men's footwear.
BALENCIAGA TRIPPLE S
The Triple S Trainer, so named because it features three stacked soles (or at least appears to), has found itself the blueprint for high fashion chunky sneakers - colloquially referred to as ‘stompers’ - after its debut at Balenciaga’s Autumn Winter 2017 Paris show.
BALENCIAGA TRACK & TRACK.2
Balenciaga’s propensity for layering was taken to new heights with Gvasalia’s ‘Track’ sneaker for Autumn Winter 2018. The trend continued for the release of the ‘Track.2’ for Autumn Winter 2019, which featured over 176 mesh and leather panel pieces layered together to form the futuristic and somewhat skeletal shoe.
BALENCIAGA TYREX
For Spring Summer 2020, Balenciaga debuted the Tyrex, a sneaker based on human anatomy’s muscular system of interweaving and overlapping tissues. For the Winter, the sneaker would see a Moto Boot upgrade.
BALENCIAGA BOUNCER
The Balenciaga Bouncer, formerly the ‘Defender’ was released for Spring Summer 2022, a rugged sneaker with a twisted tire-like sole encasing much of the shoe. It has seen multiple iterations since its launch, such as the screw studded Bouncer of this year. Balenciaga House tropes include the European shoe size on the toe and a pre-worn look.
BALENCIAGA X-PANDER
The Balenciaga X-Pander of Spring Summer 2021 taps into the 90s running sneaker aesthetic, with a futuristic descending heal system to give it that Balenciaga edge.
MEN'S BALENCIAGA BOOTS AND SHOES
MOTO BOOTS
For Autumn Winter 2017, Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga debut, the house released a selection of dirtied motocross-style boots. For Autumn Winter 2020, Balenciaga fused its Tyrex sneaker with its classic Moto boot The Moto boot would see an updated silhouette for the Autumn Winter 2023 Ready to Wear collection, with an aggressive Cuban-style pointed toe.
CROC BOOTS
Nobody could have predicted the rise of the humble croc into high fashion circles, the holy shoe of choice for campsite-roaming dads and beach-faring families. Balenciaga’s Croc Boot was released for Spring Summer 2022, memes suggesting the ‘Croc-Marten’ and other Croc crossovers predated and perhaps inspired this. Balenciaga’s Croc boot did away with the holes however, making them water tight.
STEROID BOOTS AND SHOES
For Balenciaga’s Spring Summer 2023 New York runway show, the house debuted their new ‘Steroid Boot’ and ‘Steroid Derby’, cartoonish all-black pieces of footwear constructed entirely from EVA foam, and produced in clownish proportions and silhouettes.
RHINO DERBY
For Balenciaga’s Spring Summer 2021 Paris Runway show, the Rhino Derby, so named because of its tusk-like pyramid-shaped toe, debuted. All-black smooth calfskin, a chunky EVA sole and its Made in Italy credentials make it a wearable luxury statement shoe, famously donned by Keith Urban.