Over the last few years, the sneaker world has felt predictable and somewhat stagnant. The mainstream Goliaths—Nike and Adidas—keep printing money. Meanwhile, HOKA and On are lacing up at the front of the pack, carving out a lane for themselves in the performance arena. But here’s the fun part: even with those four heavyweights taking up shelf space, there’s still plenty of room for smaller labels and independent brands to create their own path.
Last year delivered a tidal wave of collaborations—some brilliant, some borderline unhinged, but the real story was in the silhouettes. The geriatric aesthetic refused to clock out, and torpedo-shaped sneakers started popping up everywhere. Add in high-end collabs and outdoors labels spinning off increasingly sick sub-labels, and it’s safe to say brand loyalty isn’t what it used to be. Sneakerheads are free agents now—and honestly, I love to see it.
With the footwear landscape pleasantly muddied, there’s never been a better time to get familiar with the independent and under-the-radar names doing things differently. From a Finnish hiking label teaming up with some of the world’s best multi-brand shops, to a Parisian skate brand, to a Japanese imprint meticulously recreating niche vintage military trainers—these are the six shoe brands worth paying attention to right now.
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Tarvas
Tarvas not only makes some of our new favorite winter boots—they also craft some of the best hiking-sneaker hybrids on the market. Founded in Helsinki in 2017 by Jukka Lehtinen, Pekka Keinänen, and Harri Saarikoski, the trio has quietly positioned itself at the forefront of the outdoor-meets-design movement, even collaborating with Vancouver shop Haven and fashion’s most inside-baseball newsletter, Blackbird Spyplane.
While the Explorer introduced the GORP-meets-grow-your-own-fiber crowd to the brand’s minimalist magic, it’s the Easy Hiker and Wanderer that have guys in a full-on footwear leglock—so much so that a few other labels seem to be tracing the silhouette with suspicious enthusiasm. Built for that city-to-country Finnish lifestyle, Tarvas feels poised for even bigger things. With new silhouettes on the horizon, it’ll be exciting to see where they hike next.
Village PM
Remember when skate culture was light-years ahead of fashion? Honestly, it still is to a certain extent—case in point: Parisian label Village PM. The brand, founded two years ago by lifelong skate pals Basile Lapray and Bram De Cleen, proves that skate style hasn’t just kept pace; it’s doing laps around the runway, at least when it comes to footwear.
They’ve cooked up what might be the most stylishly functional, semi-approach shoe in the game. At first glance, the silhouette nods to the 1997 Air Bakin—but reworked with actual skaters in mind. Think sticky rubber outsoles (not vulcanized) that grip your board, plus an asymmetric shape that contours to your foot’s natural form. Operating out of the French Alps, Village PM is blending skate utility with everyday wear in a way that feels genuinely fresh. I can’t think of another brand fusing performance-driven skate DNA with daily-driver versatility quite like this.
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