Four children’s brands are putting the fun back in footwear with clever, interactive design concepts.
Skechers combines two of kids’ favorite things — sneakers and gaming — in a super-cool collection called Game Kicks. The shoes incorporate a fully functional game feature with light and sound action. Styles include the Nitrate for boys and the Swift Kicks-Super Skillz for girls, both of which display a Simon-inspired match-the-pattern game. Also available is the Damager III, detailed with airplane-shaped buttons on the toe for aerial-fighting game play.
Skechers Swift Kicks – Super Skillz sneaker, $50; skechers.com
Skechers Damagers III sneaker, $65; skechers.com
For artistic types, U.K.-based startup Skribbies offers simple high-top sneakers with a whiteboard-like surface, allowing kids to color and draw on them with markers for a personalized look. When they’re ready to change things up, the design can be wiped clean. Priced at about $50, each pair of shoes comes with a set of markers, a sheet of decorative stickers and a fabric wristband for erasing drawings.
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Skribbies customizable sneaker, $50; skribbies.com
Skribbies customizable sneaker, $50; skribbies.com
Also bringing customization to kids is Plae. The San Francisco-based brand makes sporty shoes, sneakers and boots featuring interchangeable tabs. The tabs, which retail for $4.95 a pair, are available in dozens of different colors, prints and materials — including plenty of fun seasonal and holiday options — allowing kids to perfectly personalize their look.
Plae shoes with interchangeable tabs, $54.95-$79.95; goplae.com
While light-up shoes have been a mainstay in the kids’ market since the Nineties, POP Shoes has taken the technology into the future. The Canadian brand makes statement-making sneakers with LED lights in the soles that can be turned on and off and have three settings: slow flash, fast flash and continuous. The best part? The lights will never go out, thanks to a USB charging socket built into the shoes. Prices range from $108 to $123.
POP Shoes Sherbrooke Blue Steel sneaker, $91.80; mypopshoes.com
POP Shoes St. Laurent Botanic Black low-top sneaker, $85; mypopshoes.com
