For Kim Jones’ first foray into Dior Homme’s sneaker sector, he debuted this B23 High Top Oblique at Paris Fashion Week during the Spring/Summer 2019 season. Clearly drawing design inspiration from the iconic Converse Chuck Taylor, this luxurious remix features the Dior oblique pattern printed on a canvas upper, accented by a mesh overlay and a calfskin pull tab. One of the cleanest luxury sneakers on the market, this is a must have for any fan of premium, elevated classics.

Maison Margiela’s Replica sneaker, aptly named for this carbon copy of a classic German Army Trainer, is just the right combination of style and function. German giant adidas originally produced what it called the Bundeswehr Sportschuche or BW Sport in the 1980s for the West German Army. Some 500,000 soldiers were issued BW Sports, but once the Berlin Wall fell, many pairs began to find their way to Army surplus shops and thrift stores around Germany. They were discovered by Maison Margiela in the 1990s and he immediately began incorporating the vintage sneakers into his collections before finally producing his own Replicas in the mid-2000s. These low tops feature white leather construction with grey suede and a beige rubber sole and go with just about anything.

Taking design cues from 1980s basketball kicks like the Jordan III and the Avia 880, Virgil Abloh’s first sneaker design as the creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton is a throwback to the golden age of hoops. Released in low, mid and high top designs, these feature premium leather construction and handwritten Louis Vuitton branding on the sides. Made in Italy, each shoe reportedly required six hours of stitching to assemble and is made of 106 components—20 of those on just the sole alone. A hit among streetwear and high-fashion enthusiasts alike, these low top LV Trainers should be on everybody’s list this year.

There’s an undeniable trend when it comes to luxury sneakers: they tend to resemble those we’re already familiar with. In the case of Fear of God’s 101, the iconic silhouette referenced is the Vans Era. The 101 is crafted from snuff suede, with panelling on the heel and toe box. Like the Era, the 101 features a padded collar. Interestingly, the 101 uses a slightly tilted sole that gives the impression that the shoe is leaning forwards.

The 101 was introduced in June 2018 and has become a key component of Jerry Lorenzo’s offering at Fear of God. It’s a silhouette that can easily be paired with the brand’s myriad looks, with dark, solid colorways working well with Fear of God’s more elevated offerings and the multi-tone ones working with the more streetwear-influenced pieces.

Perhaps most interesting of all, is the fact that Fear of God has an established relationship with Vans, having released a number of collaborations in recent years. The 101 feels like more of an homage that a rip-off—an ultra high-end take on a classic everyday silhouette.

A perfectly elegant and tasteful shoe, it’s no wonder that the Gucci Ace takes major design cues from the legendary adidas Stan Smith. (If you removed the green and red Gucci stripes from the sides, you may have a hard time telling them apart.) When you have a silhouette of this magnitude, you’re able to do pretty much anything from a design standpoint, which is why the Ace has been a blank canvas for a variety of bold motifs Gucci has presented over the past few years, especially those under creative director Alessandro Michele–including its bee and snake designs, not to mention those bearing the house’s all-over monogram print. However, for longevity and investment, this plain white leather pair is still the best of the bunch.

These Balenciaga Track Trainers resemble a circulatory system, with the outer cage resembling a system of complex overlapping veins coursing throughout the human body. Reminiscent of sneakers like the Nike Huarache or Air Presto with an outside cage surrounding a cozier sock-like structure for your foot, these Balenciagas are technologically advanced (or, for some overdesigned). A departure in design and utility from the popular Triple S model, these Track Trainers skewer the breathability and ventilation of the modern running sneaker—despite the multiple overlays—with a plush interior liner and an augmented back sole designed to propel you forward. Balenciaga branding is everywhere from the sole to the tongue. While not recommended, it’s plausible to believe someone could actually jog in these on a dirt road if they wanted to–but why would they? No matter where you go with these on your feet, the over-the-top design will definitely turn heads.

As we’ve seen with previous entries on this list, it’s not uncommon for a luxury fashion house to borrow elements of famous sneakers when designing their own, and this take on a Jordan court classic from Saint Laurent is no different. In case the red and black color pallette didn’t give it away, this is the luxury brand version of the Air Jordan I. It’s not shocking, seeing as how the Jordan I (along with the closely related Nike Dunk) has served as inspiration to designers like Rick Owens in the past as well. This is certainly a luxurious reimagining, constructed completely of calfskin leather in Italy, with a padded ankle and Saint Laurent branding on the tongue. Saint Laurent has always been inspired by rock n’ roll chic, especially under the guidance of Hedi Slimane, who made the brand edgier and younger by refocusing the brand’s overall direction towards the style of his musical inspirations. While these pull their initial inspiration from the hardwood, the Court Classic SL/10H fits the Saint Laurent rock n’ roll aesthetic, and would go perfectly with any one of Saint Laurent’s legendary garments from Slimane’s Saint Laurent reign—from its biker jackets to its hyper-skinny denim.

Similar in structure to the ubiquitous Yeezy Boost 700s, the Acne Studios Rockaway Sneaker is, according to the brand, “reinterpreted from the American sportswear of the '90s.” You can see that clearly, with a more chunky look made famous by every brand from Nike to Tommy Hilfiger in the ’90s, reimagined to great success in recent years by brands like Fila and adidas. These minimalistic all-black lace ups are a must for those who haven’t bailed on the chunky shoe trend just yet, but want something with a little more panache than sneakers from the sportswear giants.

Leave it to Prada to provide a futuristic take on the athletic trainer. While slightly slimmer than its “Thunder” counterpart, this OG Cloudbust still sports an eye-popping chunky rubber sole. It features mesh housing, rubber inserts and leather detailing, but the sole is what’s really going to turn heads here, as its appearance is not too far removed from a luxury take on the pillowy sole shape seen on the Nike Vapormax. It’s all capped off with a rubber strap and Prada branding, making these one of the best options for athletic luxury.

Common Projects has had a chokehold on the “grown-up streetwear” shoe segment for a minute now, with its Achilles Low sneaker and ubiquitous Chelsea Boot dominating for a few years now. Founded in 2004, Common Projects began as a, “mission to explore refined iterations of classic footwear.” As we’ve already seen with the Gucci Ace, if you rip from the adidas Stan Smith, you can never truly go out of style, which is why the Achilles Low needs to be on this list. An elevated version of the adidas classic, these Italian-made lace ups feature crisply constructed leather with rubber soles and the signature Common Projects gold-stamped serial numbers. Stripped of any in-your-face branding, these are a necessary, entry-level pick for anyone looking to instantly elevate their sneaker game in 2019 (without feeling like they’re diving head-first into the world of streetwear).

Every list needs an outlier and this entry is that outlier. Neither Miharayasuhiro or Nigel Cabourn fit neatly into the luxury category in the same way that the other brands on this list do, so it’s fitting that their collaborative shoe is an equally odd fit.

While the shoes are clearly inspired by Converse’s iconic Chuck Taylor, the eclectic duo opted to reimagine the silhouette rather than simply render it in high-quality materials. A distorted rubber sole, that appears as if it were a size too big and melted, is a stark contrast to the trim outsole we’re used to, while the upper has been reworked using distressed fabrics.

It’s an odd shoe, but one fitting for both cult brands. While it may not be as elegant as some of the other offerings on this list, it serves a niche!

Much like PS0906, the Rick Owens DRKSHDW Ramone is largely original relative to other designer sneakers. Or, at least, it appears to be, with the Chuck Taylor reference a little more obfuscated, though certainly still present.

While Rick Owens has a number of other notable footwear silhouettes—Geobaskets, anybody?—the Ramone is the most versatile and accessible. While the proportions are typically Owensian, with an ultra-high cut and slightly exaggerated sole and toe cap, the silhouette itself is fairly easy to wear and, for the most part, the materials and colors used are quite palatable. Black leather is the usual choice for the upper, but Owens has used some more luxurious and unique touches in the past.

It’s arguably the one piece that non-Rick fans can work into their rotation—and that’s saying something.

The PS0906 was first introduced by Miuccia Prada for the Luna Rossa yachting team at the America’s Cup. While that’s not quite having your sneaker on Michael Jordan, one assumes that the crowd following the America’s Cup might be spending money at Prada. The sleek yachting sneaker entered Prada’s ready-to-wear collection in 1996 and has been an on-again, off-again hit for the Milanese brand ever since.

Crucially, what sets the PS0906 apart in the luxury sneaker realm is that it’s not overtly inspired by a sneaker culture icon—it bears some similarities to obscure squash and handball sneakers from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, but only when analyzed at a granular level. Really, that speaks more to the fact that the PS0906 was designed by people who knew what they were doing.

Made with leather and mesh, the PS0906 has been available in a number of color combinations over the years, but grey/black and grey/navy colorways have been most popular—though the grey and red version is a dark-horse candidate for the title of quintessential pair. Despite its origins as a yachting shoe, the PS0906 is undeniable a casual, style-first sneaker now.

And, last, but certainly not least, is the Visvim Skagway Hi, another sneaker that doesn’t fit as squarely within the luxury world, but when you consider the craftsmanship and the quality of the materials that Visvim uses on Skagways, it’s hard to make the argument that they aren’t luxurious.

Inspired by Converse and PF Flyers, and named for an Alaskan town, the Skagway is a classic high-top sneaker, meticulously crafted from premium materials. Often, as Nakamura is wont to do, the canvas uppers have been hand-dyed, and premium leather is regularly used for the inner lining and tab on the tongue.

While Visvim is best known for more unique silhouettes like the FBT, the Skagway might be most representative of Visvim’s artisanal, yet still accessible and familiar, nature.