Forget flowers and chocolates, take a look at these six love-themed sneakers to gift your sole mates this Valentine’s Day 2022.
Conventional Valentine’s Day gifts are often woefully transient. A stunning bouquet? Wilted in a week. A box of chocolates? Gone in an hour. A pair of sneakers, though? We’re talking years. More, if they’re worn very, very gently. Kindly. With love.
Fine. I will concede the point. Sneakers aren’t typically something you’d gift on Valentine’s Day. Shoes are not an especially romantic gift, unless it’s a glass slipper promising a lifetime of royal nothingness — or if you and your boo swing that way (no kink-shaming!). If the shoe fits! If the season beckons!
And the season does beckon, especially at the Nike headquarters, where hero silhouettes like the AF1s and Dunk Lows are showered with love hearts and pastel and charms. Dior harks to Greek mythology with a dedication to Cupid, while Gucci goes quite literal with L-O-V-E printed on the side of their signature Ace silhouette. Not kicking it with these kicks? There are always flowers. If you’re boring.
6 love-themed sneakers for your sole mate this Valentine’s Day 2022:
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You’re meant to fall in love with these Dior D-Connect sneakers. In fact, it’s fated. After all, this pair is rendered in dedication to Eros, the Greek god of love (you might know him as Cupid; hence, “Cupidon”), a mischievous marksman very handy with a magic bow and arrow that strikes love into the heart of every target he hits. Aim your sneaker-clad foot very, very carefully when walking out in this pair.
All dressed up for Valentine’s Day, Nike’s Gen-Z stalwart — the AF1 Lows — ditches box-fresh white for baby pink and hits of bright crayon red. Run your fingers through the pair’s Swoosh and try to make out the words “Nike” and “Love” embossed over top — and once again as the sneakers exchange its signature deubré for beaded charms that spell out the same lovestruck sentiment.
The product picture only shows one side of the shoe, but you get the idea. Spelling out the word of the season, Gucci’s Ace sneakers ditches Web stripe for love; a firetruck red print graffitied over GG Supreme canvas, to be exact. Just in case the fiery laces and matching heel tab weren’t V-Day themed enough.
There isn’t a sneaker that says Valentine’s Day quite as well these Air Jordan 1 Mids, with its loving tribute to all colours pastel along the toe boxes and quarter panels, complete with a trio of roses stamped at the heel. Stop and smell! Or maybe don’t. Not when they’re worn, at least.
It’s Valentine’s Day. If there’s a day for froufrou and frills, it’s definitely this. These Nike Dunk Lows step up to the occasion with a darker (but still pink!) colourway in magenta and maroon. A pretty ruffled line of tulle outlines the pair’s Swooshes and gives it its nickname: the “Lingerie Dunks”. Thanks, Twitter.
There’s nothing quite like a personalised gift. It says you care. You listened. You saw this, and thought of them. Dolce & Gabbana’s Portofino sneakers — already emblazoned with scrawls of love and Valentine’s Day-appropriate iconography — let you do the talking. Specifically at both heel counters, where you can leave behind a customised message.
Some ideas: Your initials. A word that makes you both laugh. Your shared Wordle starting word. Though, make sure it’s relatively short; the system won’t allow words that overflow onto the upper.
This article first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong.