The fashion world is in an ongoing battle for the ‘It’ sneaker of the season, with brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Chloé and Balenciaga vying for the most coveted (and ‘gramable) luxury kicks, but there is a new contender: Givenchy just announced that its JAW sneaker debuted in stores today, and a closer look suggests the shoes will bring some fierce competition to the aforementioned fashion houses.
The men’s sneaker made its actual debut in February during Paris Fashion Week, when the brand’s artistic director Clare Waight Keller paired the shoe with her so-good-it-looks-real faux fur coats and sleek athletic wear that walked the runway for the brand’s Fall 2018 collection. It’s the first sneaker
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Waight Keller was inspired by vintage track shoes from the ’60s and ’70s and high-tech looks from the ’90s to create the JAW, which is named for the teeth-like details on the black rubber soles. It also has an exaggerated silhouette that is similar in scale to Balenciaga’s overtly chunky soles and Louis Vuitton’s hyperbolic arches. But what sets it apart is the sneaker’s nylon and leather-tipped construction, which has a sock-like interior underneath the high-top ankle. The first iterations of the sneaker will come in all-black and all-white, but Givenchy plans to add three-color iterations in blue and red later in the season, when the shoe is likely to pick up steam.
