These may look like a regular pair of sneakers, but you can’t judge a book by its cover (as cool as it looks). These collaborative kicks are the work of Moonstar in cahoots with Buck Mason. Moonstar has been in the business of footwear for generations upon generations—since 1873 to be exact. They got their footing by making traditional Tabi shoes and evolved to master the vulcanized rubber process. Each shoe uses a unique method which requires the clay-like rubber to be applied by hand before the shoes are literally baked in a kiln. The result is a higher-quality sneaker with more character and soul (heh) than the competition.
Ortiz (yes, again—the guy went through a 5-year-long white sneaker phase) loves his Moonstars because of how comfortable they are—and how beautifully they break in, like a rare pair of vintage sneakers. “These are the kind of sneakers that vintage fiends drop serious cash for at highly curated so-called ‘thrift’ stores,” he says. “The difference is that you don’t have to worry about these crumbling to pieces.” Are they worth twice the price of other alternatives? If you dig slow-made, well-crafted garments with a great story, absolutely.
Bowen Fernie
More White Sneakers We Love
What to Look for in White Sneakers
If you’re new around these parts, allow us to formally welcome you to the most exuberant, expressive, anything-goes era of menswear yet. (It’s as fun as it sounds.) But if “exuberant”, “expressive”, and “anything-goes”, aren’t the first three terms you think of when you picture white sneakers, well, we’re with you. The platonic white sneaker should still be cool, but it should also be resolutely classic. Timeless. Time-tested. And that matrix is exactly what guided our selection process here, which nods to the buzziest white kicks of the moment, but remains firmly grounded in the silhouettes that have endured, decade after decade, no matter which way the trends tailwinds blow.
Our seven winning picks speak to that tension more ably than we could’ve anticipated. Each of them is as classic as they come, but taken in aggregate, they offer a telling snapshot of the fashion zeitgeist at this very moment. The discourse-dominating Adidas Samba is duly represented, ditto the very online Salomon XT-6, but so is the Converse Chuck Taylor—and Moonstar’s brand new, retro-inspired riff on a charmingly old-school deck shoe.
When it comes to homing in on the white sneakers that feel right for you, lean on the same matrix, and prize longevity above all else. The names in the mix above earned their status (and their spot on this list) through sheer consistency; they might be inadvertently trendy now, but their pedigree means they’ll still look cool, classic, and whatever other adjective you’re chasing a decade down the line.
How We Tested
Simple, really: We wore them ourselves. Before we did that, though, we put out an internal call to the GQ Recommends team soliciting firsthand (or, uh, firstfeet) experience to guide our search. The ask was mercifully straightforward: If you could only wear one pair of white sneakers for the rest of your life, which would you choose? The answers, as you might expect, did not disappoint—and they kept trickling in, prompting us to reevaluate our winning picks with every new contribution.
The list we decided on reflects the breadth and depth of our search—and the difficulty involved in culling hundreds of options down to a mere handful. Looks were a crucial consideration, sure, but so were craftsmanship, quality, and comfort. We tested sneakers made from lightweight canvas, mesh, leather, and a mix of all three. We tested skate shoes, running shoes, basketball shoes, tennis shoes, and a whole lot of fashion-first sneakers we’d be scared to scuff.
Based on those evaluations, we ran the numbers, collated the anecdotal evidence, and emerged with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best white sneakers for men right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs. Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative pair on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
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