‘You’re an MP... get them off’

Has Hancock killed the Stan Smiths trend?

In 2022, the swiftest way to kill a trend is to see it championed by a Tory, a royal or Balenciaga. This week, Adidas’s Stan Smith shoes managed the triple after they were worn by the former health secretary Matt Hancock and royal-by-marriage Mike Tindall as they left the I’m a Celebrity … jungle as losers. In November, the disgraced fashion label Balenciaga marketed their own battered pair of the tennis shoe for close to £700.

Released in 1963, briefly discontinued in 2011, and resurrected in the mid-00s, Stan Smiths have for the past decade been to Gen X what Converse were to the NBA. Adidas’s most profitable shoe, by 2020 they had sold more than 100m pairs. They remain the most affordable item to infiltrate high fashion – seemingly untouched by inflation, a pair still costs about £45 – becoming the sweet spot between streetwear, fashion and tradition, beloved by Jay Z and Pharrell Williams as much as Kate Moss, Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller.

For Daniel-Yaw Miller, the editorial associate and streetwear expert at the Business of Fashion, it’s surprising they’re still making headlines. “In 2022, Stan Smiths are everywhere and nowhere,” he said. “Their big appeal has always been that they are trend-avoidant – that’s why people loved them.”

Constructed from white leather accented by a green heel tab, they are deliberately minimal, bordering on bland. According to Stan Smith himself, the former tennis player and shoe’s namesake, this is what makes them remarkable. “It’s very comfortable. It’s very plain. There are no bells and whistles,” he told GQ in 2019. They are also the footwear of the everyman. “They’re consistent and timeless, and very inoffensive – that’s the point; if you wear them, you blend in,” said Miller. Helpful if, like Hancock, you’re trying to rebrand yourself as an ordinary guy.

Global politics has always been more consumed with footwear than it would care to admit. From Italophile Rishi Sunak’s £490 Prada loafers, the New Balances preferred by Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Emmanuel Macron, US Democratic politician John Fetterman’s Margiela work boots and the many Converse, worn by Kamala Harris and Theresa May.

The last great Stan Smith moment was Barack Obama who marked his post-presidential phase by wearing a pair to visit a foundation in Malaysia in 2019. Not since 2011, when the then Celine designer, Phoebe Philo, appeared from backstage wearing Stan Smiths after her show, had a pair of trainers caused such a sensation.

Stan Smiths might have fallen into fashion purgatory, but they are alive and well in tech circles. In one of the “lavish” party videos posted on TikTok, attenders were allegedly given a pair among other gifts. The videos leaked as the social media firm was making huge layoffs. They are also something Adidas will be banking on, after the fall out with Kanye West whose Yeezy line accounted for as much as 8% of their bottom line. “It’s not a great time for Adidas,” said Miller.

So what should we be wearing? This week, good eggs such as David Hockney and Stormzy wore Crocs. The glamerati – including Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson and Jenna Coleman – are fans of Hoka. Nostalgic trainers such as Adidas Gazelles are a favourite of Brad Pitt.

The luxury e-commerce site Yoox say New Balance 327 and Nike Air Force are the biggest sellers of 2022, while Miller prefers Asics – “they’re affordable, have a lovely shape”, and feel “relevant” because of their association with disenfranchised subcultures. Or you could simply look to Hancock’s girlfriend, Gina Coladangelo, who greeted the MP in vegan Vejas.