Sneaker Trends Revisited: Velcro, Vintage, Platforms and Eco Builds

In December 2021 we listed five sneaker trends to look out for in 2022: Velcro straps, vintage silhouettes, platform soles, sustainable materials and Ye’s futuristic Yeezy shapes. Dated coverage shows four of them in real 2022 releases or stories, and for the fifth, adidas ended its Yeezy partnership on 25 October 2022. Here is what each pick turned into, and what we could not confirm.

• Velcro straps: the Billie Eilish x Nike Air Force 1 High dropped on 25 April 2022 at $170, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
• Vintage: the New Balance 550 is a basketball model from 1989 that returned in October 2020, according to Complex.
• Platforms: Converse’s Run Star Motion came out in August 2021, and Highsnobiety was writing about it as a 2022 trend by April of that year.
• Yeezy: adidas announced on 25 October 2022, in its own release, that it was ending the partnership with Ye and production of Yeezy branded products.

  Did Velcro straps become one of the 2022 trends?

  Yes, in a narrow way: two Nike Air Force 1 collaborations carried Velcro straps, the Billie Eilish High released on 25 April 2022 and the Stussy Mid scheduled for 13 May 2022.

  

  The Billie Eilish x Nike Air Force 1 High dropped on 25 April 2022, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which gave the price as $170 and said the oversized Velcro straps were inspired by the Alpha Force Low and Air Trainer 3. We cover that pair in our Billie Eilish Air Force 1 article.

  The second was the Stussy x Nike Air Force 1 Mid, which Sneaker Freaker said would land on 13 May 2022 as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Air Force 1. On 23 December 2021 we described it as a leak, so the date Sneaker Freaker gave came 141 days later.

  The working: 8 days were left in December, then 31, 28, 31 and 30 for January to April, then 13 in May, which adds up to 141. These are the two strapped pairs we found in dated coverage.

  Which vintage pairs were back in 2022?

  Our 2021 list defined vintage as anything from before the 1990s, and the three pairs we named all fit.

  

  Complex describes the New Balance 550 as a basketball model from 1989 and dates the reissue to October 2020, through Aimé Leon Dore, with a second collection in April 2021. According to Sneaker Freaker’s history of the 550, dated 3 May 2022, the pair had a brief run in the late 1980s and then disappeared for three decades, and it said the retro return encompassed everything great about New Balance in 2022.

  Wikipedia records that adidas released the adidas Forum in 1984 and relaunched it in 2020. Reebok’s own product page says the Club C has been the ultimate tennis shoe since 1985, and as of 6 October 2026 it still lists a Club C 85 Vintage LTD. Our retro sneakers article takes the wider look.

  Were platform shoes a real trend in 2022?

  Yes, going by April 2022 coverage, which put Converse’s platform models and the Vans platform range in the news within eight days of each other (18 and 26 April).

  

  Highsnobiety reported on 26 April 2022 that the Run Star Motion, released in August 2021, and its sibling the Run Star Hike were what “the kids are actually wearing”. According to Highsnobiety, Converse’s squiggly platforms cost $120, and Google search results for “Platform Converse” had only ticked upwards since the Motion came out. For Spring/Summer 2022 both shoes received new seasonal versions, including a floral-embroidered Hike.

  On 18 April 2022, Sneakerjagers wrote that Vans had a great selection of new styles with platform soles, and its list included the Old Skool Platform.

  What did Nike’s sustainable builds turn into?

  Nike’s sustainable builds went from a 2020 experiment to a second Billie Eilish Air Force 1 collaboration set for December 2022, starting with the Space Hippie line we named. Dezeen reported on 7 February 2020 that the four Space Hippie designs were made from scrap from Nike’s factory floors, and that Nike claimed 90 percent recycled content in the upper and 15 percent recycled waste rubber in the outsole. Our Space Hippie article has more.

  

  By 2022 it had reached the Air Force 1: The Hollywood Reporter said the Billie Eilish High was crafted from 18 percent post-consumer recycled content, with an upper made of 80 percent recycled materials. Hypebeast reported on 1 December 2022 that the Air Force 1 Low reused scraps from the High, with a release set for 13 and 14 December 2022.

  Hypebeast quoted Billie Eilish on what she wanted the project to say.

  “I want my collaboration with Nike to tell a story that not only highlights the importance of recycling but also reminds us that we need to take better care of our planet.”

  What does Veja say its sustainable shoes are made of?

  Veja says it has made sneakers with ecological materials since 2004, and it was the first sustainable brand we named in December 2021. According to Veja’s own project page, read on 6 October 2026, it uses Brazilian and Peruvian organic cotton for the canvas and laces, Amazonian rubber for the soles, and “various innovative materials” made from recycled plastic bottles or recycled polyester.

  The same page says Veja’s sneakers are produced in factories in Brazil and Portugal, and that more than 4,382 tons of Amazonian rubber have been purchased since 2004. It adds that the founders traveled to the Amazon rainforest to meet the wild rubber producers in person. The page describes the brand’s materials in general terms and does not mention the V-10, the model we named in December 2021, so we cannot tie these figures to that model.

  What happened to the Yeezy shapes we flagged?

  adidas announced on 25 October 2022, in its own release, that it was ending the partnership with Ye and production of Yeezy branded products. Our 2021 list named the Foam Runner, the 450, the NSLTD BT and the KNIT RNR, and we cover the first of those in our Foam Runner article.

  

  On 19 May 2023, adidas announced in a second release that it would begin selling some of the remaining inventory from the end of May 2023, the first time products had been available since the termination, with a significant amount donated to organizations combating discrimination and hate. That release also says the company went ahead with already committed production orders after the partnership was terminated.

  Variety reported on 5 March 2025 that adidas said all inventory from the partnership had been sold. Our own termination article follows the story.

  The five picks side by side

  The table below is a scorecard for the five picks, with the date each source gives and a price only where a source printed one.

  Pick	Pair or event	What the dated source records	Source
  Velcro straps	Billie Eilish x Nike Air Force 1 High	Dropped 25 April 2022 at $170	The Hollywood Reporter, 25 April 2022
  Velcro straps	Stussy x Nike Air Force 1 Mid	Release date given as 13 May 2022	Sneaker Freaker, 10 May 2022
  Vintage	adidas Forum	Released 1984, relaunched 2020	Wikipedia
  Vintage	Reebok Club C	Tennis shoe since 1985	Reebok, read 6 October 2026
  Vintage	New Balance 550	Basketball model from 1989; reissue collections October 2020 and April 2021	Complex, 13 May 2021
  Platforms	Converse Run Star Motion	Released August 2021; $120 per Highsnobiety, April 2022	Highsnobiety, 26 April 2022
  Sustainable	Billie Eilish x Nike Air Force 1 Low	Release set for 13 and 14 December 2022	Hypebeast, 1 December 2022
  Yeezy	adidas partnership with Ye	Ended 25 October 2022, remaining stock release announced for end of May 2023	adidas, 25 October 2022 and 19 May 2023

  Four of the five held up in dated 2022 coverage, and adidas ended the Yeezy partnership in late October. Each date above comes from a page we opened on 6 October 2026, and a price appears only where that page printed one. Market prices move and are shown for reference, not as a promise.

  For the next two yearly round-ups, see our 2023 sneaker trends and 2024 sneaker trends articles.