What are the biggest sneaker releases of 2025? We can’t wait to arrive at that debate in about 11 months time. Seriously—the Complex staff is already salivating at the thought of the conversations, complaints, and wimpy responses that our inevitable best sneakers of 2025 list is guaranteed to engender. But we’ve got a long way to go. We don’t want to look ahead too much—it’s important to consider each of the sneakers releasing this year in the context they arrive in. And, obviously, none of them have arrived just yet. Still, we want to look ahead at what’s to come for sneakers in 2025 and try to predict which of the shoes that we already know about will be most impactful.
As per usual, we need a few disclaimers before we get there. The first is that this is not a ranked list, the list is not in order—it feels silly to try to judge the relative hype of stuff that hasn’t even come out yet. The other is that the sneaker release date information around each of these is subject to change as most of the shoes on here haven’t been officially confirmed by the brands. The other is that we tried to focus on big, special, monumental shoes, so some of the launches coming that don’t feel like they’ll be as discussion-generating (the return of the Diamond Turf, the questionable return of the “Gamma Blue” Jordan 11s, the 100th return of the “Metallic” Jordan 5s) were left off the list. Now that all that is out of the way, let’s get to what did make the list.
Expected Release: June 2025
Here we go again. Another sneaker that once stood out as one of those grails that wasn’t even within the realm of possibility for everyday sneaker collectors like you and me. Undefeated 4s were sacred, they were always considered to be one of the all-time greats, and now you’ll have the chance to actually buy a pair. Whether you consider that to be a good thing or a bad thing, there’s no denying the fact that when this pair drops this summer, it is going to make waves. Unlike the Wu-Tang Dunk, another elusive shoe that just released at retail, the Undefeated 4 benefits from using one of the most popular silhouettes on the planet right now—the Dunk High is still a big shoe, but its momentum is grinding to a halt. There are rumored to be two versions of the Undefeated 4s when they touch down in June, one with the original Jumpman on the heel tab and another with a “Nike Air” stamp. Usually Nike Air is preferred by the masses, but if you ask me, Jordan Brand should have stuck with the Jumpman this time around, keeping it more true to the original 2005 design. —Ben Felderstein
Expected Release: Holiday 2025
The “Black Cat” Air Jordan 4 was never a bad sneaker. When it was originally released in 2006, it was welcomed by fans and sold well. Purists may have decried its use of nubuck for the lace wings and heel tab, but it was largely well received. It wasn’t, however, a sneaker that the masses were clamoring for the return of. It was just a good retro, lacking the prestige of an original colorway or rarity of a collaboration. Along the way though, something happened. Between 2006 and its first return in 2020, interest grew, and the retro became bigger than the original ever was. And in the years since, it became even more coveted, hitting four figures on the resale market. In 2025, the “Black Cat” will release for the first time as a fully hyped sneaker. Air Jordan 4s are hotter than ever, and the version’s combination of wearability and popularity should mean we’ll be seeing an awful lot of these on feet once they hit again. —Zac Dubasik
Expected Release: TBD
When Anthony Edwards’ Adidas AE 1 debuted in late 2023, there was no pressure. Anticipation for the model was basically nonexistent—it was the debut signature sneaker for a player who’d yet to really make his mark on the league, from a brand that hadn’t had anything resembling a hit in the basketball category since the heyday of Derrick Rose’s line in the early 2010s. What a difference a year can make, though. 2024 saw Edwards defeat the defending champion Denver Nuggets en route to his first conference finals appearance, win a gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics, and have his first shoe named Sneaker of the Year. In other words, the Adidas AE 2 has real expectations now that it needs to live up to. Edwards has been doing his part on court—the Timberwolves have been inconsistent, but the highlights keep coming, and his stats this season closely resemble last season’s. And interest in his next sneaker is strong, based on the fact there have been multiple leaks purporting to be the AE 2, all of which Adidas has denied. It’s unclear when we’ll actually get our first look at the AE 1’s successor, but what is obvious is how much more interest there will be this time. —Zac Dubasik
Expected Release: 2025
Like it or not, Tom Sachs is back. This feels like a pivotal year for the New York artist, who went from being a darling of Nike’s collab roster in the 2010s to a weirdo outcast after reports surfaced in 2023 about all the weirdo behavior he’d allegedly been engaging in. (Screaming at employees, showing up to Nike calls in his underwear, nicknaming a storage space at his studio the “rape room,” etc.) Nike let him cool off for a year before announcing late in 2024 that it was again working with Sachs, and promised another entry in his acclaimed Mars Yard series for 2025. Do people still care though? If you scroll the comments sections on social media about his Nike work, it feels a bit like his second chance is being rebuked by sneaker buyers. Whether or not those people are in the minority, and whether those who want his shoes can look past the allegations that the guy “brought up sex and bodies a lot” around employees, will determine whether the Tom Sachs x Nike Mars Yard 3.0 is back to blockbuster status or just a bust. —Brendan Dunne
Expected Release: February 2025
Any time one of the original Air Jordan 1 colorways is rumored to release again, it’s going to make headlines. This year, that’s happening twice. 2025 is the 40th anniversary of Air Jordan, which means that the brand has some major releases planned, including new versions of the “Royal” and “Banned” Air Jordan 1s. While both colorways have released fairly recently (2016 for the “Banned” and 2017 for the “Royal”), this time around they’ll have the original shape that’s more true to the 1985 pairs. Air Jordan 1s aren’t nearly as popular as they were three to five years ago, but you can make a safe bet that these two iterations will make serious waves when they touch down. —Ben Felderstein
Expected Release: February 2025
This is how you know Nike is trying to bring the feeling back. Like some of the other retros on this list, the “Galaxy” Foamposite feels like a litmus test for the extent to which sneaker collectors care about the same things in the 2020s that they did in the 2010s. If you were vaguely into footwear when this heavenly body of a basketball shoe first released in 2012, you were doing everything in your power to get a pair. You were hounding your local retail shop about holding you down for the release, or you were on Craiglist offering to trade a used car for them. Even if you didn’t want the “Galaxy” Foams on feet, you would have bought a pair to flip if you had the chance. Will you in 2024? Nike’s recent return to form for the beloved Foamposite line has been reasonably well received, if a little lacking in big bangers. If there’s any shoe that can restore the allure—not just to that line but to hyped-out Nikes in general—it’s the “Galaxy” Foamposite, a sneaker that was every bit a big banger when it first arrived. —Brendan Dunne
Expected Release: Spring 2025
Everyone watches women’s sports and everyone wears women’s sneakers. Don’t believe it? Check the numbers—Sabrina Ionescu’s Nikes are the most popular basketball shoes worn across the NBA. Nike will deepen its roster of WNBA signature models this year with the release of A’ja Wilson’s first sig, a launch so anticipated that Wilson had to let the world know conclusively last year that, “Of Course I Have A Shoe.” There’s scant information about that shoe available right now, but whatever is coming has the potential to capitalize on a pivotal moment in the history of women’s sports. Nike isn’t the only brand deepening its investment in the women’s game by the way—Reebok is also readying the release of a signature model for Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese. —Brendan Dunne
Expected Release: April 2025
Action Bronson had one of the best sneakers last year, in fact three of them, with his New Balance 1906R collaboration. They were a great follow up to his original 990v6 project from 2023. For 2025, the Queens native has another 990v6 on the way. In true Bronson fashion, it’s one that looks like it’s going to grow on people over time. It’s white, with shades of red, black, blue, and an aged-looking midsole. It’s an unusual combination, but it works. I’m sure there will be a story about the shoe’s inspiration: red like a wine made from grapes from the Caucus mountains, or the blood pouring from the throat from a gladiator that lost his life. Yellowed midsole like the dough on a lamachun. Blue like the Mediterranean. White like the robes worn by Greek philosophers. Sign me up. —Matt Welty
Expected Release: April 2025
My friend Jacques Slade said this sneaker is as big as Undefeated x Air Jordan 4s and rumored PlayStation x Nike Air Force 1s. I respectfully disagree, but that’s not to say it isn’t a big, mainstream shoe. The Kobe 8 “What The” is certainly more mainstream than Undefeated x Air Jordan 4s and could sell better than PlayStation Air Force 1s (maybe). We ranked this shoe the 10th-best Kobe sneaker of all time, and while, personally, I like a lot of Kobes over these, I get the love for them. It’s one of the few good “What The” shoes. It’s pretty much just these and the Dunks. The Kobe 8s landed in a golden era of Nike Basketball, right before the Kobe 9 came out as a love-it-or-hate-it shoe (the Lows are amazing, though). We’ve seen more and more Kobes come out. The anticipation has cooled off a little bit, but people love Kobes, especially ballers. So expect these to be big. —Matt Welty
Expected Release: Summer 2025
The original “Neon” Air Max 95 colorway has come back too many times to count—not that it’s a bad thing. We wouldn’t complain if a staple sneaker like this was just always available. This time though is supposed to be different. This is supposed to be the one we’ve been waiting and asking for. As confirmed by Nike’s SNKRS Showcase, when the Air Max 95 drops this upcoming summer, it will do so with its original-style big Air bubble, mimicking the midsole design as it appeared in 1995. Retros of the Air Max 95 have featured smaller Air units, with long-running rumors suggesting it was due to environmental concerns. Nike hasn’t revealed how or why they’re not able to make the bigger Air units now, but their return has led to the most anticipated version of the sneaker in a long time. In addition to the original look, an SB version has also been confirmed to be arriving for the silhouette’s 30th anniversary. —Zac Dubasik
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